Final Formal On-Water Day

Lise, Emma, Dayna and Lea on the foredeck

We had a full program of things to show the girls on Saturday for our last proper session. Laura will get a chance later to discover the joys of anchoring, outboards, oil in the engine and the pleasures of an inflatable.

A very kind fellow newly with the ASCC came early on Saturday and fixed the anchor winch for us but we thought the girls should learn how to drop and retrieve the anchor the old fashioned way first.

All of them were a little reluctant to yell back at the skipper but finally realised that it was the only way to successfully communicate. So we anchored and pulled it up a couple of times by the Dawn Fraser Pool. Having parked ourselves it seemed like a good time to also take them for a little spin in the inflatable and let them have a test of steering the outboard. They also discovered how hard it can sometimes be to get the bloody thing started. But all of them could see the advantages over rowing.

Next we hoisted the sails. At least our girls did. Karina had a hard time sitting back but we managed to tie her down for a while and let them get on with it. No wind though so we motor sailed to the main harbour before a nice 8 knot breeze kicked in.

On the way our budding rock stars (slang for highly paid professional sailors) proved they remembered all the previous lessons about right of way, cardinal marks etc. Way to go!

The another opportunity to rehearse dropping the sails and anchoring as we stopped at Athol Bay for lunch and a lesson in chart and map reading. And a swim. And mud cake.

When it was time to go they all jumped to and almost without prompting got the sails up and set. So we thought we might as well put out the pole on the headsail as well. That proved a little more complicated. Not because of our trainees but because we do it so rarely we forgot how. We eventually got it up and had a nice run most of the way to Balmain.

The last lesson was how to get invited back: tidy up, do the dishes and TAKE THE GARBAGE WITH YOU.

It's been a great experience for us all and we expect to see all the girls out as crew in the future.

Day 2 for the ACON girls

What clever young salts our ACON girls have turned out to be. We all met at the pontoon again on Saturday and without much ado hoisted the sails and set off for the main harbour. Laura, who missed out on the race a fortnight ago, was excited about going under the bridge. Lease was proudly sporting an excellent reef knot in the rope holding her pants up. Once under way they all demonstrated that they remembered the rest of the knots they learned last time. That's more than can be said for some of the regular crew!

We did a lot of tacking as they all got used to the process and the effort with the winches and then we picked up a mooring at Milk Beach in Rose Bay. After a quick bite to eat we set them all a rowing test. Get in the dinghy, row around the boat, return to the ladder and get out again.
Lea works it out

One by one they set off and not one of them capsized, lost an oar or had to be rescued. We did have Julie on standby to jump in but it wasn't necessary. It had occurred to me as Emma was getting the hang of the "oars in unison" thing that maybe we should have attached them with a long line but as it eventuated it wasn't needed.
Laura in the dinghy

And then we put up the sails again and sailed home. We seem to have a new crew in the making.

Returning the Favour

When ACON so kindly sponsored Sisterhoodlums' trip to Chicago for the Gay Games our part of the bargain was to teach four girls to sail.
Lea, Lise, Emma & Laura

We had our first day on Saturday 31st March. Laura, Lea, Lise and Emma met us at the pontoon in Balmain. We all got acquainted and the girls told us a little about themselves. Then we started the training. First they all practised getting into a dinghy and then out of it on to the back of Cheshire Cat. Seems simple but can be a bit daunting for a beginner. And more so since the new dinghy is quite wide and therefore quite hard to get into the middle of. But no-one went into the drink!

Next was knots. Julie had supplied each of our new team with a folder containing basic knots, a sailing for dummies paper and a piece of rope. Good thinking Best Mate! So Dayna ran through the basic hitch, reef knot and bowline. And within a few minutes all the girls were tying them like naturals. It will be interesting to see if they remember them next Saturday.

How to use the head followed. Again simple but essential knowledge. They all took more notice when we made it clear that whoever blocks to loo unplugs it again.

Then with the water police cruising by (they who threatened to book us last time we lingered too long on the pontoon) we decided to head out and sail. As it was quite windy we elected to stay up the more sheltered Balmain end of the harbour. First we showed them how to raise the sails then how to use the winches, explained the basic principles of tacking and had them all take turns. By then stomachs were rumbling so we went for the "dropping the sails" and "how to pick up a mooring" lessons and settled down for lunch and our turn to tell them a bit about ourselves.

Cheshire Cat on the mooring

After lunch we took to the water again. This time we gave them all a turn on the wheel. That's always fun as the novice learns not to oversteer and end up wiggling back and forward across the harbour. I kept a bit of an eye on the other boats in the area so they wouldn't think a drunk was in charge. And more winching. And then the how to tie up to a jetty/pontoon lesson. And as with everything else we did that day all four girls proved to be naturals. They learned quickly, worked hard and generally got the hang of the process. It was good to see their confidence on the water build as the day went on.

So then, as we were shorthanded for the race the next day, we asked who would like to join us. Almost bowled over in the rush we were. Poor Laura had an essay to write but the others all agreed to turn up for another day of punishment. You can read about that at the Cheshire Cat blog

And check back here for the next adventure in a couple of weeks.