19/06/15 TNS440
Greetings from the English Channel! Having spent a very pleasant evening in Cherbourg last night, some of us are heading ashore for dinner, we ‘left the wall’ at about 11 o’clock bound for Poole. Winds have not been in a particularly helpful direction so we initially started out using engines but managed to set a couple of sails after lunch. The masts have been busy with plenty of voyage crew clambering up to the platforms and some even to the very top! Before dinner we were treated to a demonstration from some of the ‘Leadership at Sea’ participants on how ships used to measure speed using a block of wood tied to a rope with knots in it chucked over the back of the boat (hence the term knots for speed). We’re still under sail moving at a graceful 3.5 knots under clear skies with the sun setting, plenty of large ships to spot, and our first sight of home literally minutes ago!
James (Aft Starboard watch)
