Atlantic Adventure Begins for FCS Crew

 

With the sun unexpectedly shining in a late October light wind and the temperatures at a Mediterranean 17c, our First Class Sailing crew gathered at Gunwharf Quay to begin their voyage to the Canaries aboard Challenger 2.

Their skipper is Neil Montague and his plan was to take them across to Cowes for the night and to fuel up , followed by some training exercises the following day in the Solent and then head towards Biscay.

As with all of these adventures the skipper has a mate, Chris Price, who has recently completed a round-the-world trip of his own. The watch leaders are Iona Taylor and Dave Fletcher.

(L to R)Iona Taylor, Dave Fletcher, Neil Montague and Chris Price

Familiarisation and Acclimatisation

The moments before leaving were all about getting to know each other, picking a bunk and the skipper hosting the first crew talk.

They will be divided into watches with one watch being on deck at all times. A member from each watch will be designated cook for the day. One crew member is actually a chef and had brought their own knives so they should eat well!

Getting to know each other

An item on board that everyone was excited about was the new sails. You can tell the mainsail is fresh out of the sailmakers loft by its bulky stiffness and dazzling white shine in the sun. It should have a great shape once hoisted.

This is the sign of a new sail

The Bay of Biscay

We’ll be hopefully receiving a regular blog from the crew as they sail south and all will be looking forward to crossing the notorious Bay of Biscay. Will she be a friend or will she be a challenge?

What the crew can expect is some long stretches of good sailling, improving climate as they head south, even though the UK seems to be basking in an Autumn Summer, and the satisfaction of quality time at sea in good company.

This adventure is the first of three legs, the second being the ARC Rally from the Canaries to St Lucia. There are spaces left on the return leg in 2018 Antigua to Portsmouth (4th Jan – 8th Feb),  you can find out more here.

Posted by: First Class Sailing