Channel 16

The beginning of September often welcomes the start of many things; the first day of School, the first term of University, the new Autumn wardrobe. For me, this year September was the start of my first stint of solo sailing.

Having been working for OC Sport since the end of June, a huge company which incorporates the Artemis Academy, I had the fantastic opportunity of being on 'the other side of the fence' for this year's Academy selection trials, spending the week as a 'selector' rather than a 'candidate'. I was a bit nervous at first; was it all a trick? Did I have to repeat the grueling, 56 hour sleep deprived process of fitness, psychology testing, boat building and problem solving?

Luckily the only test I had to repeat was a scramble up 'Jacob's ladder', a string of horizontal wooden poles that sway treachously in the wind. I reached the top in half the time as the others, saving myself from becoming scared silly with the height. But would my bleep test scores hold up against the other girls? Would I be out done on the weight lifting? Would there be any ingenious boat designs, showing up 'Chasing Miles', my sturdy bookshelf which floated successfully in 2011?

By round 2 of the selections I started to enjoy myself, rather than worry about how I would be faring against this year's bunch; munching through baguettes and chocolate cake, driving a 90 horse power RIB around at high speeds, and going to sleep in a comfy bed each night meant I had it easy.

This was a nice change since during the lead up to the event there had been a lot to do at Artemis HQ. The night before my first ever solo sail, I had a 14 hour day getting the boats ready. Luckily the sun was beating down for my swim in the marina, with three boat's bottoms needing a good clean. Winching up the heavy, smurf coloured corporate sails by 2pm the next day, I was off for a beat up the Solent in a steady 8 knots, then on to Port tack for the majority of the trip. Although there wasn't a lot to see, there was an abundance of entertainment on board provided free of charge by Channel 16. I had 3 coastguards to listen to, boats with names like 'Scooby Doo' asking for radio checks, and two mad French (or possibly Spanish) men, who spent four hours on end whistling to each other, like two birds from tree to tree. It was a bit strange, and started to get creepy when the sun disappeared and there was only the stars and a dodgy head torch for light. Occasionally their whistling was interrupted by an angry German man, but his shouting was soon cut off with some Calvin Harris tune. So while all this was kicking off, I busied myself with making cups of tea and practicing going 'down below' for more than 5 seconds at a time, without worrying that I was about to crash into a container ship or piece of land.

 By 9.30 in the evening I wasn't far off Portland Harbour, but then the breeze shut down big time. I carried on sailing, not wanting to put the engine on until I got to the entrance. When I did flick it on, a cloud of smoke came out the back of the boat and there was no propulsion forwards. With disasters quite often coming my way, I was half expecting it- but also a bit annoyed at myself for having probably caused the problem. Over the next few hours, I tried making a paddle with a lid and a boat hook. Needless to say it didn't work, and things were getting desperate, with some ships, the odd buoy, and the break water to avoid. Soon enough though 2.5 knots came through, and I could sail onto the pontoon, drop the sails, and finally hit the sack at 3am.

I had really enjoyed my first solo sail; it was good to have to deal with a problem and become more confident in myself. With two more trips to do at the end of the week, I was itching to get out on the water again, and anticipating what other issues were going to arise....