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Rememberance Parade 2009
On Sunday 11th November 2009 Christchurch sea cadet Unit turned out in there best uniform and ready to march through the town center. the parade departed the Royal British Legion at 1000 hours, the parade marched through the center of Christchurch up to the Priory Church. The parade waited outside while the wreaths were being laid in remembrance of the fallen soldiers from past and present wars. the parade then went in to the church, the service lasted about an hour and then the parade reassembled ready to march back towards the Royal British Legion. when we reached the legion the parade was dismissed at about 1200 hours and allowed to go into the legion for some food and drink.
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Sponsored Kayak
During the summer the cadets participated in a sponsored kayak. They kayaked from The Boat House to Bournemouth Unit (if they were seniors) and if they were Juniors they kayaked to Perch Pool. All the monies raised went to the Neonatal Unit at Southampton General Hospital. Well Done to all the cadets that took part.
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T.S.T Lord Nelson 19-25.10.09
Day 1
We got to the port at around 1300. We handed our passports to Neil (the first mate) and went down below to stow our kit and to have a safety brief and a talk from the captain. After this we got kitted out with wet weather gear and boots. At 1600 got underway and motored out of Southampton Waters. That evening, we anchored off of Rhyde (I.O.W)
Day 2
At 0800 we got woken up for breakfast. 0915 we had a brief from our watch leader. We then lifted anchor at 1000, destined across channel for Cherbourg. It was a straight 15 hour sail to the outer harbour anchorage. Within this passage I was on watch for four hours at a time throughout the day. This includes; Helming, Look Out and filling in the Log.
Day 3
We lifted anchor at approximately 0930, we were called to harbour stations at around 1000. This involved passing lines to the shore party. From 1100 we had shore leave until around 1900 where we sat down and had a Trafalgar night meal. After the meal, we had more shore leave until we left port the following day.
Day 4
We left Cherbourg at 1000 headed for Weymouth. This was my mess duty day, where we had to help in the galley preparing meals for the rest of the crew. Due to this we got out of doing watches. We entered the Solent at approximately 0000 and dropped anchor.
Day 5
0800 we got up, another early morning. Today was a mess around in the Solent, slowly making our way to Cowes. At 1800 we dropped anchor just off Cowes and had the rest of the evening to socialise as a crew.
Day 6
We entered Cowes Harbour at around 0900, due to busy shipping we had to be extremely accurate with our timings. We managed to dock the ship at 0930. We then had Happy Hour (Cleaning Stations). After Happy Hour had finished we had the day to ourselves in Cowes. At 1800 we took a water taxi up to The Filley where we had a great evening. We got the last water taxi back at 0000.
Day 7
Leaving Cowes behind we headed back home. The day was filled mostly with admin and paperwork. We got to the dock, at 1200 where we were free to go home to our families.
I thoroughly enjoyed my voyage aboard T.S.T Lord Nelson, it was one of the best weeks of my life..
LC Baker
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Offshore Yachts September/October
On the 26th of September 2009, three cadets from Christchurch Sea cadet unit left Southampton airport at 8:25 in the morning and took the plane to Guernsey. When we arrived in Guernsey airport, we travelled by bus to St Peter’s Port where TS Vigilant, a thirty five foot yacht was based.
After putting our kit away, we were allowed shore leave into the town. During this we met the rest of our crew and the crew from TS City Liveryman, the sister boat. All of whom were very nice.
On Sunday morning, at high tide, we left St Peter’s Port and started to sail to Sark, a journey of four hours. Sark.
After spending the night in one of Sark’s picturesque coves, we set sail for Cherbourg and with a perfect wind and tide, we completed the journey in eight hours. In Cherbourg.
we went with the skipper to Carrefour, which is a major chain supermarket, and stocked up on provisions. During the next day, we practiced mooring onto pontoons and all the different methods of doing so.
Early the next morning, we forced ourselves out of bed and prepared the boat for the fourteen hour straight sail from Cherbourg to Portsmouth. A couple of hours into this, we crossed the main shipping lanes where huge container ships steam through at twenty to thirty knots (about 23 to 35 mph.)
After arriving in Portsmouth we had another full day before we had to go home, so the sailing master of TS Royalist (another Sea Cadet Corp ship) went out with us and we learnt about tacking, jibing and how to retrieve a man overboard. At the end of the week we took the train back to Christchurch station having thoroughly enjoyed all that we did.
Below is a map showing the places we visited, logging a distance of 175 nautical miles and completing the RYA competent crew qualification.
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Map of our Voyage
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ASTO Small Ships Race2009
L/C Nick Shepheard spent a week with cadets from Slough and Ashford Units taking part in the ASTO Small Ships Race onboard the SCC yacht TS City of Liveryman. Here is my diary of the week’s events.
Saturday 8th August 2009
We arrived at Slough Unit at 0630; we then got the minibus to Euston Station for the 0830 train to Glasgow. The train to Glasgow took around 6 hours and then we changed and took another train to our final destination at Inverkip. The yachts were waiting for us at the marina so we were divided into two groups and told which vessel we would crew. We had a short safety brief on board before setting off for Greenock which was the starting point for the race. On arrival we dressed the ship and then had a full safety brief.
Sunday 9th August 2009
We got up at 0730, got dressed and then had some breakfast. As there was no sailing today we were given a choice of activities to do, some people chose to do curling and some people chose to go to the leisure centre. I went curling, something I had never done before, and ended up getting to the final. In the afternoon we went to the leisure centre and spent the evening ashore in Greenock.
Monday 10th August 2009
We awoke around 0730 and after breakfast headed out for a practice race. There was a lack of wind so it made the start very slow but it did eventually pick up and the race got underway. The race was a good opportunity for the crew to get a feel for the vessel before the start of the main race tomorrow. After the race we headed back into port and got ready for the crew party later on that evening. At the party it gave all the crews to get together and wish each other good luck for the race to Ireland tomorrow. The awards for today’s races were given and we picked the prize for coming 3rd in our class.
Tuesday 11th August 2009
We left the harbour at 1100 and took the time to practice. We made our way to the start line and we were underway at 1430. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening racing. We did alternate watches throughout the night, spending three hours on watch and three hours sleeping. We each did 2 watches. We stayed close to other boats at the start but as we reached the Irish Sea we spread out to attempt to gain an advantage as the sun started to go down.
Wednesday 12th August 2009
We continued sailing through the night and until we reached the Irish coast and we crossed the finish line at 0651. We then continued to sail into a bay at Bangor where we anchored for lunch. We stayed at anchor for a couple of hours before we started to make our way into Belfast. On arrival in Belfast we dressed the ship before going ashore and enjoying the Belfast evening.
Thursday 13th August 2009
We spent Thursday around Belfast looking around the various stalls and ships and then in the afternoon we went bowling. In the evening we went to the crew party and prize giving. Our overall finish was 3rd place, 3 minutes behind the SCC yacht TS Vigilant. After the crew party we went onboard some other ships from the race and meet the crews.
Friday 14th August 2009.
The end of a fantastic weeks sailing and time to pack our bags ready to leave for our journey back to Slough Unit. Before we left we stood on the bow of one of the boats and had a crew picture taken before making our way to the airport where we checked our bags in and made our way to departures. We did not have to wait long before we boarded the plane for the journey back to London. We arrived back at Slough Unit and said our goodbyes before making my way back to Christchurch
It was a really good week spent meeting other cadets, seeing all the yachts taking part in the race and having the opportunity to have a lot of fun.
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Bournemouth Air Festival!
The weekend of 20th -23rd August, the unit participated in the Bournemouth Air Festival. On the Thursday, Friday and Saturday night different cadets went and stayed onboard RFA Mounts Bay which was anchored of Bournemouth Pier in the bay.
The cadets took part in activities such as helping the first aid team demonstrations, helping in the galley preparing the meals and tour guiding the public around the ship. When not helping out the cadets got to watch the Air Show from the flight deck or the bridge.
The cadets didn’t just go onboard the boat there was also a stand on the promenade to advertise the Sea Cadets and during the evening some of the cadets went and helped out in the gardens with respect top helping the evening entertainment run smoothly.
On the whole all of the cadets had a good time weather afloat or ashore and working alongside Bournemouth and Parkstone units the Air Festival worked well on the cadet’s behalf.
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On the landing craft for the trip out
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on the flight deck of Mounts Bay
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Cadets visit HMS Raleigh!!!
On the 14th June 2009, 7 cadets set off from Christchurch train station, this was the start of a long week ahead.
By the time they reached Plymouth train station, RN Personnel were waiting to escort them to HMS Raleigh. As soon as they arrived at Vigilant Squadron, they got changed into their uniform and settled down for the evening's instruction.
Throughout the week the cadets participated in various activities; Assault Course, Life Support Training, Orienteering, Sea Survival, Firefighting, Damage Control, Visit Onboard HMS Courageous and a visit to the RN Submarine School.
For evening activities the cadets took part in Swimming and various Physical Training Exercises.
After the cadets had been getting up at half past six, every morning for a week, the cadets had a well deserved lie in.
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Help needed
We are always on the look out for new staff. They do not necessarily have to have experience of the Sea Cadet Corps or Navy (although this does help) but they must be available to spend two evenings a week (Tuesday and Thursday) plus some weekends at the Unit.
We are still looking for more adult help especially in the summer when out on the water; if you think you can give an hour or so, let us know as we are starting to prepare for the summer now.
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