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As I hauled my bags along the quay on a beautiful bright sunny Saturday afternoon there she was, the three masted Schooner Trinovante. Soon I was ensconced aboard and being made very welcome.

What immediately impressed me, the “yachtie”, was the space on board. I was used to narrow confines of racing and cruising yachts and having no room to store anything. As I had recently completed my RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Theory Course, my prime aim for sailing onboard was to take some sextant readings.  John and Su and the rest of the crew were all sympathetic and, more importantly, helpful.

I found the running of the day to day sailing on board Trinovante very different from my previous sails. I was used to, I suppose, a more regimented watch bill. However, the relaxed running of Trinovante was down to the obvious professionalism of both John and Su.

Cloud cover meant that sextant sights were not as plentiful as I would have wished. I did however get some sights on the trip across the North Sea which proved surprisingly accurate. To ensure that I would be able to do the astro navigation workings I had brought everything but the kitchen
sink and then forgotten my  essential  Sight Reduction Tables! That meant all the workings for the sun run sun etc, except the meridian calculations had to be completed at home.