Sail School September 2009

Wow! This must have been the best sailing school ever at the Tingira Boat Club!! After seeing all the fun to be had in Vagabonds on Sunday Sailing days, quite a few of our long-standing members decided to join in the fun.

As Margaret put it "I'm not going to sit there like a frog on a log. I want to be out there too."

So who signed up? Margaret, of course, closely followed by Jill and Kerri and Billie. Sid was the first man to confirm and Jill bulldozed Chris into it. (Secretly, I think he wanted to all along ....) Then Judy Sampson, fresh back from NZ, added her name to the list.

Our stalwart instructors for the course were Michael, Lindsay, Peter D and Peter L, Bob, Colin and our Fearless Leader Guy. We were also ably assisted by Guy Le Plastrier who helped when instructor numbers were depleted. And many thanks to Robert and Brian in the safety boat.


The first day was a beauty. Shame we had to waste a fair bit of it in the classroom. But we managed to get the swim in and the basic capsize without sails in shallow water.

The weather in the rest of the week wasn't so kind to us, with that mammoth dust storm and high winds causing swells up to one metre in the bay. Not the best for novices!!


THROWING A ROPE






Need a tow?

Then you need to learn how to toss a rope across to the safety boat crew.

And here are Chris and Billie doing a splendid job of it.

Margaret is coming to grips with the technicalities whilst Sid is striding up for his turn at the lassoo.

And you need to know your knots. The rolling hitch is a really hard one to master, particular when you are rolling about on a sail boat. This is the one that is used when you are about to get a tow.

Michael gives Jill some one on one instruction whilst Judy, Margaret and Sid sort it out for themselves.

TACKING AND GYBING ON THE SIMULATOR

Tacking and gybing skills can be practiced on land by placing the Vagabond on the simulator. This allows the boat to move around as though it was in the water. The instructor can simply stand beside the boat and explain how it works ... without getting wet.

Above: Judy and Jill get put through their paces and Sid and Billy take their turn at the tiller.

Now it's Chris's turn ...

Followed by Kerri ....

GETTING READY TO GO OUT
First rig your boat and then take to the water. The brave sailors rig their boats before heading off into the bay.





































AND THAT STORM ....
Salamander can barely be seen on the left and Chris and Jill's boat is hazy in the distance.

Not so hazy but those waves are pretty choppy.

Those waves are pretty high too. I just wish I could photograph the gusts of wind. Another photo of Chris and Jill's boat out in the storm.

But it cleared eventually and everyone went out sailing.It was a great week. Well done everybody! Now we expect to see you all out there on Sundays, enjoying the Vagabond Sail Days with the rest of us.

Alpha Bravo Charlie calling Xray Yankee Zulu

Just a couple of pics from Brian Sutton who attended the VHF Radio Course held at the Boat Club on 19th September.

Did you know that all owners of VHF radios on their boats now have to have a licence? Or that water police are checking up on you?

I hope you were one of the people who did the course!

Not paddling your own canoe

Wow! Sundays are fast becoming THE day down at Tingira!! Yesterday was pumping, so to speak!!

We started the day around lunch-time with a pre-sailing meal of bubble and squeak and toasted ham sandwiches. This was leftovers of the fantastic baked ham dinner that Peter and Kerri Deane cooked on Friday night. And it was just as good second time around!

Then it was time to start rigging up boats, as the tide came in.

Our new member Ted Upton has had his outrigger down at the Club for the past few weekends and this has brought in a great many non-members eager to try their hand at paddling a long canoe/dragon boat/outrigger.( I'm not sure of exactly the specification of Ted's boat but it requires six people to paddle, one of which must be proficient at shouting

"HO" at appropriate moments, at which time the paddlers switch blades to the other side.)

Yesterday we had seventeen children at the Club. 17!! That was fantastic!! Most of them too young for sailing lessons but all of them eager to get out on the water in a sailing boat. Mike Stephens brought up "Debbie Jane" and took out four at a time. Don Carmichael had "Hot Canary" on the water, also filled with eager sailors, whilst the rest of us used all the Vagabonds to take out a great many adult members and guests.

Our Sailing Master was delighted to welcome his daughter Monica and let her try her hand at the tiller. Monica herself was less than delighted when Peter Deane guessed her age at 17. (She's 26). Just wait, Monica! When you get to our age, ten years off your age is a HUGE compliment!!

Jill Ashton and Annette Sutton had sneak previews of sailing before they start their sailing course on 21st September. Talking of which, so many members have signed up for this course!!! Apart from Jill and Annette, Kerri Deane, Marg Calvert, Billie Cavanagh, Chris Ashton and Sid Cooper are all starters. Woohoo! I can see a ladies race coming up in the not too distant future!! (Sorry, Chris and Sid, I wasn't including you two in that comment!!)

It was too good a day to stop when night started to fall. Some of us diehards finished off the day with fish and chips at Chris & Jill's place, after watching yet another fantastic sunset from the Tingira Boat Club. How lucky are we???