P.L. Eagles
On 24th May, Stefan, Jaz, Jack, Billy, Remel, Matthew and I went to HMS Bristol, an navy ship, where we would be staying for the next week.
We arrived that day and were shown to our messes where we would sleep. Everyone from the 4th Streatham were split up into different divisions (the groups you were put into for the week), which allowed you to socialise with way more people. However we could still see each other in the games room after dinner, where most people would hang out before lights out.
The week’s activities started off very well. We marched down to the marching square where we would practice drills. The weather was fantastic! The man in charge of drills was very loud and keen to get us doing the drill perfectly, which most of us managed before the afternoon was over. When the drills were done, we could go back to our mess to have a quick break before dinner. Food really wasn’t as bad as everyone was expecting – the dining hall was about a 10 minute walk from the ship, and the meals were quite good!
The rest of the week went fantastically, with great weather. The sun was out every day, and the water was very warm, as I found after my sailboat capsized 4 times! The rest of the activities were also incredibly fun.
We had a day trip to a place called ‘Action Stations’ where we took part in several different team activities, including a moving climbing wall (scary!), rock climbing, a reaction test and a rocket building competition.
More of the activities which went on in the week included yacht sailing, dingy sailing (which ended up getting VERY wet) and power boating when we went to the Isle of Wight at up to 30 knots - my favourite activity by far. I think everyone’s least favourite activity was probably the hike. It was a 9-10 mile hike if you didn’t get lost. Ration packs were our meals for our hiking day in the South Downs. However nearing the end people’s spirits were lifted when we bumped into Hugh Dennis which was quite funny.
All in all, it was a fantastic and challenging week which I would strongly recommend to anyone. I would love to go back to HMS Bristol in the future.
