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And, despite us being in warmer climes, I slipped into warm trousers, shirt, fleece, wind proof jacket, hat, cloves and safety belt and crept out of the berth area and up onto deck.

Just as well we had our sea legs on

I stopped at the main cabin door as I could not see anything on deck - the ship was in total darkness and it was rolling about a little.

After a couple of minutes, Kathy, from my watch, also arrived on deck and I could see she was wearing light coloured trousers, so I followed her across the deck, up stairs and through the chart room, then up the stairs onto the bridge where we took over from the off going watch.

If they only knew...

We were passing about four miles offshore Tenerife under a clear sky, but the moon was blocked out by clouds and there were many bright stars in the clear sky. The lights of coastal towns and villages on Tenerife were clearly visible from the ship.

Galley crew perform miracles in confined spaces

It was an incredible feeling to be helming this 490 tonnes of ship on a calm starry early morning.

It seemed ghost-like with the square rig sails out aloft, the only sounds being that of the wind in the sails and the waves on the sea.

Here I was, helming this ship in the Atlantic with one look-out on each side of the bridge, the rest of the crew catching what sleep they could and possibly oblivious to the fact that the man on the helm was registered blind!! What an experience for me.

During our watch, we also put up more sail and reset sails - again quite a task for four novice crew working on deck before sunrise!

Going aloft has to be a thrilling part of sailing

At 0800 we were relieved by the oncoming watch and went below for breakfast. Not everyone was up to eating breakfast as they had not adjusted to constantly moving decks, walls and anything not secured!

One cook didn't spoil the broth

We continued sailing towards La Palma, being buzzed by dolphins who obviously enjoying racing the ship. We were progressing at around 5-6 knots, under sail and without engines.

During the day we had further safety drills, changes to sails, lunch and "smokoes", which are effectively refreshment breaks when juice and hot flasks of are secured on deck for drinks (juice, tea, coffee and hot chocolate).

It's almost obligatory to have cake, biscuits etc, all made on board by the one cook, who also made the three hot meals each day!! The galley was only about 8ft by 6ft, with a wash and preparation area about the same size! So they performed miracles.

By evening time we were approaching Santa Cruz harbour on La Palma and were back on the watch. This was now the Last Dog Watch from 1800 through to 0800.

After a lot of hard work we were secured on the quay and moved the gangway into place. After the watch was over and we freshened up, it was time to go below for the mess dinner.

Following dinner, groups went ashore and everyone returned to ship to get a good night's sleep.

The next day we were having a land based tour of the island, with lunch in a restaurant.

Tuesday 7 Feb

After breakfast our transport arrived for a tour of the island. The clouds were low and it was raining, much like a summer’s day in the UK!

Fortunately the rain stopped after a while and we had a good tour of the island, though when we were at the edge of the volcano rim, we were in the clouds with poor visibility.

The countryside is dramatic, to say the least

The de San Antonio volcano last erupted in 1974, so is still classed as being active. The island does have quite a high rain fall and the rich lava has resulted in dense foliage.

The island has large banana plantations and good wine production. The vines grow along the ground, to avoid damage from the high winds. There had been a lot of storm damage over the winter to the islands trees, particularly at high altitudes.

Back on land

Our tour included a traditional lunch at a good restaurant, the Salta si Puedes in Los Llanos de Arideane, the capital of the island. After lunch most of us had difficulty keeping awake, as tiredness, lack of sleep and the fresh sea air affected us, or was it the wine!?

We returned to ship by 1900 and had our evening meal aboard. Those not on watch went ashore and explored aspects of Santa Cruz, including one of the popular bars.

And in the evening... time to relax with a drink

As the wind had got up, the gangway was raised for safety reasons, since the ship was pitching and rolling a lot. We had to return to the ship on the hour, when the gangway would be lowered for a few minutes.

We all had to be back on board by midnight in case the captain decided to go to sea for safety reasons, as the ship was being blown onto the quay. In the event we did stay in harbour.