The Year 9 BHS sloop adventure was a truly unforgettable experience where we learnt many things, including how to steer a helm, tie knots, the science of buoyancy, and even the history of sailing. Every day was fun and exciting.

When we first arrived, we were split into three groups: forewatch, mainwatch and mizzenwatch.

Learning about the different parts of the boat in our watches was our first group activity. After that, we had a delicious lunch provided by Ms Branco, our fantastic chef, who even allowed us to help her with cooking!

After lunch, we went sailing for the first time. We learnt how to dress the winches, put up and use the sails, steer the boat, and even how to tie a few important knots.

On a typical day, we would wake up at around 7.30 and go straight to morning exercise, have breakfast and then clean the boat in our different groups.

We had interactive lessons during the day, and sometimes watched educational films to consolidate the information we had learnt.

After our daily sailing, we had time for swimming and free time during the day when we played cards, helped cook or told funny stories.

During the night and early morning we had night watches where we ran tests and put information into a logbook. This included observations on cloud coverage, types of clouds, water depth, and wind direction. It was an interesting and rewarding experience to learn how to properly execute these tasks on the Spirit of Bermuda.

We came home on October 5 with more than a few inside jokes after a really fun week where we all learnt a lot. Thank you Bermuda Sloop Foundation.