My first course was a very interesting learning curve. I had read up on theory in the RYA\u2019s Start Sailing guide, but not done much practice \u2013 basically, all I\u2019d done was the taster from activation, and being on the catamaran Cool Runnings in Barbados, not doing the sailing (apart from the brief periods when we were allowed to have a go with the wheel, and that once when I hoisted the mainsail!). This meant that it was OK for the shore part, but the actual sailing part I found a bit scarier. I remember thinking \u201cWow, I\u2019m sailing on my own!\u201d at the start. However, I was fine until I was doing the capsize drill and tipped the boat over the other way when I had just righted it \u2013 I admit I freaked out. Because of this, I was nervous before going on the Stage 2 (the recent course) but by lunch time, everything was normal!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both my sailing sessions have been at my local water body: Carsington Water in the Peak District. This reservoir was built in the 1980s, and is the 9th<\/sup> largest reservoir in England, so there\u2019s a lot of sailing room! The sessions were also with the same instructor from Carsington Sports and Leisure, though different participants were on each one. In the first course, we learned rigging the boat, basic sailing and tacking (turning the boat from going left across the wind to going right across the wind by turning the bow through the wind) from Beam Reach to Beam Reach \u2013 that is, 90\u00b0 away from the wind. A Beam Reach is one of the \u2018Points of Sail\u2019, directions towards and away from the wind. It is worth noting here that you cannot sail right at the wind: you need to tack. This is done by going on a zigzag course towards the wind. In Stage 2, we learned tacking Close Hauled to Close Hauled (another of the \u2018Points of sail\u2019, at an angle closer to the wind than the Beam Reach) The 5 Essentials, onshore and offshore winds, and even Gybing (sometimes spelt with a J, this means the same as tacking, except you turn the stern<\/em> through the wind instead of the bow). It was SUPER FUN, and must have shown in my face as apparently I came in grinning like the Cheshire Cat\u2026! If you live anywhere near the sea, a lake, a wide river\u2026 I totally recommend going on the water, as the list of places to go sailing is endless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After you can sail in all directions regardless of the wind, you are allowed to take a boat out on your own. Our instructor said at the end of my last course that he thought we could all achieve this, so hopefully Dad (who used to do dinghy sailing ages ago) and I might just be able to go out on a boat each. I hope this will happen this year, as I am eager to sail again!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hey Blog! This week I did something I started last year, an awesome chance inspired by Arthur Ransome\u2019s famous books \u2018Swallows and Amazons\u2019! In 2019 I did an event with Scouts called Activation, a yearly one-day event overlooking Carsington Water in Derbyshire. You get a taster session of each activitiy you pick, and one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-ed-in-a-shed-2"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/home-ed-in-a-shed.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/IMG_20220602_143842.jpg?resize=356%2C475&ssl=1\")
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