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Published: April 30th 2013
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After living in Antigua for a year I decided it was time to learn to sail! Antigua really is the Mecca of sailing in the Caribbean, so this was the place to do it I thought. After making some enquiries, I decided to make a booking with Miramar Sailing – a company based in Jolly Harbour where I live. Being a complete beginner, I was advised to book the RYA Competent Crew Course; there was also the opportunity to book this for a “Ladies only week”. Sounded like lots of fun I thought. As the date was getting nearer I had a couple of apprehensions: maybe I will get seasick, maybe I would miss technology (especially Facebook and email!) and how am I going to remember all the knots (making knots was never my strong point back in the girl guides!). Packing was supposed to be very light – another difficult task for me but I managed, in fact it’s quite liberating not packing makeup, high heels and carrying a selection of dresses and handbags – all of which are really not required whilst sailing on a yacht for a week (unless you are featuring in a Duran Duran video!).
Day 1
The arrangement was to meet at Brian & Pippa’s (owners of Miramar Sailing) villa at 9am. I immediately met my fellow female sailors: Jackie – a fitness instructor, originally from London but living in Antigua also (and actually a good friend of mine!), she was also taking the Competent Crew Course. Jo from Brighton was taking the Competent Crew course, and is possibly looking for a change of career so we’ll see in the future if sailing is it! Natalie, the most experienced of us all, grew up on boats with her parents, she had completed her Day Skipper theory course so she was now completing her RYA Day Skipper practical Course. Natalie is planning to further her career in the marine industry. Our instructor for the week was Heidi, she currently lives in Grenada, has been an Ocean Yachtmaster and professional skipper for 10 years and a Cruising Instructor for 2 years and she also originates from UK.
Our first task for the day was to unpack our belongings on board, then take a tour of the boat getting to know every little corner. As Natalie is the Day Skipper, as part of her tasks, she took charge of the provision lists, it was very interesting learning between us how to provision the boat, there is very little storage and of course the amount of time at sea has to be considered for fresh produce. We had 3 vegetarians amongst us – thank god there wasn’t a man on board as I’m sure they would not be impressed with this! However the other 2 girls were very accommodating and said they were more than happy to eat veggie with the rest of us for the week. After making the shopping list and then going through a full safety brief , we were all given our life jackets (these were to be warn at all times but won’t get in the way of our tans we were told!). We then set off to go to the supermarket – this was a short motor away, Natalie and Heidi instructed Jackie, myself and Jo on docking the boat. The 3 of us were taking the lines to the dock so this was our first task! On the way learning our first knot of the day! With Natalie at the helm we made a perfect docking and we were off for stocking up. We had already planned menus whilst on board so the shopping trip was very quick and easy (considering 5 ladies were involved!). We went back to the boat and after a bite of lunch (Cheese & Salad baguettes) were ready to sail! We headed to Falmouth, which took 4 hours. Each one of us took turns in taking the helm, short tacking down Cades Reef, in fact due to the wind we did a vast amount of tacking. I was so surprised we got to do all of this in the first few hours. The new terminology seemed daunting, so much to learn, it’s really like a whole new language. In between all of the tacks, Heidi taught us another 3 knots, we were told to keep practicing over and over, which is the best way. It was such good fun and the atmosphere and teamwork between the crew were excellent. After arriving in Falmouth next practice was mooring the boat – again a first for me! This also went smoothly. A well-deserved glass of wine was poured while we de-briefed. Heidi went through the course syllabus and the plan for the rest of the week – all sounded great! Then it was time to cook our first dinner. It was already decided earlier in the day that we would take it in turns in teams of 2. Jackie and myself were first up and we made Veggie Chilli & Rice. Finding our way round the galley was interesting, everything was so neatly tucked away so taking longer than expected (mostly due to finding items!) we finally got there and produced a nice meal (well everyone seemed to enjoy it). Jackie impressed the other girls with her waitress skills. Most were up for an early night, must be all that sea air! Sleeping arrangements = Jackie & Myself have decided to try and spend our first night sleeping in the cockpit so we’ll see if it’s too cold!
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Kay Crush
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Excellent account
Thoroughly enjoyable reading you should write a book I hope you write a lot more in the future.