Trying to be like Jesus today, not only in the "normal" way but also by having a little hike on the water :D Yes, today I was hiking whilst I was on the water, and it is great fun. Ok, so obviously I wasn't actually doing a Jesus and WALKING on the water, but I definitely WAS hiking. Hiking, for those of you who do not know, is the term used to describe the using of your body weight to counteract the force of the wind inn the sail that would push the boat onto its side and capsize it if no action was taking. The basic idea is to get as much leverage as possible, which means getting as much of yourself out of the boat as possible. This is what the footstrap (also called toestrap) is for: you put your feet underneath the toestrap and use that as an anchor, leaning the rest of your weight out on it.
A note of warning: such devices as toestraps CAN snap, so always check to make sure it isn't frayed before sailing. I speak from experience. For more information look back to the post in February entitled "Footstraps and Daggerboards".
It kills your legs to be fully hiked out for any length of time... oh, what is fully hiked out? It is as if you were lying on the floor, only your feet are both under the toestrap and from your bum to your head you are not supported by anything other than that toestrap-anchor. Instead, you're leaning over the water, and if any wave splashes against the prow it goes right into your face - again, learnt from experience. We were videoed today so that during the debrief we could watch them back and pick up on ways to improve. I MAY see if I can get a copy of my vid and post it here as I'm fairly impressed with it, though obviously there are ways I could have improved it. I was completely straight (almost too much) as I went for a hike on the water.
All in the day of a amateur sailor :D
More drinking games in our room tonight, I think I'd better go check and see what they're doing tonight... :S :S
Monday, 28 February 2011
Sunday, 27 February 2011
It's Sunday?
I didn't realise it was Sunday until lunchtime today. Yes, without the "get up for church" routine days can get lost very easily (I'm sure that I didn't have a Thursday this week, for instance). Thankfully I remembered in time, because the funny thing about church services is that they happen only once a week and if I'd forgotten to go I would not have been able to go until next week and I'd have spent this coming week being morose and unsociable... well, that's exaggerating a little. We were sailing AGAIN today and, for the morning at least, the weather was brilliant. Just as we were eating lunch it began to get darker and the rain came. It was a short afternoon session because we had to clear the dry room and fill in feedback forms.
My roommates seems to have booked our room out tonight (for the beginning bit anyway) to do drinking games, basically a supersized version of what they did last night. It's crazy to watch and I'm left wondering why they think that there is anything cool about it.
In the service this evening I'm going to talk a bit about what's been going on at my course and stuff, which should be cool. It's an elderly congregation that goes in the evenings, but that's fine, I think that they have a little bit of Taize music tonight planned as well (it's kinda a bring-and-share service, but they plan who's bringing and sharing before hand...)
Today (and it IS Sunday) I've had quite a few laughs. Starting this morning when I briefly flicked through facebook and saw that a good friend (previously mentioned on this very blog, in fact) has in fact gone and got herself a blog of her own. I laughed quite a bit. It's quite rare for people to actually listen to what I say... (actually that's just around here at the UKSA) I've checked out this blog for myself and found myself laughing again to see my own name sitting there on the screen with allegations (I would love to say they're false, but I can't really) that I'd pressured her into doing this... I didn't, but I did heavily SUGGEST that she did. Thought I should put that up in my defence. When I've seen how regularly she updates it I may link to it (with her permission of course, if I can get a reply out of her, you may be waiting another three weeks for a link :D )
One of the guys forgot to put his bung in his pico today and this caused him to capsize whilst we were being towed out, not that funny at the time, but now... yea a little funny. I was told off for being too nice today, I wouldn't yell at people when they were in my way (there are rules that govern when you can shout at people and for what reason) I wouldn't shout because I was happy with just maneuvering around them and giving way to them even if I had right of way... and as we were racing this apparently wasn't the best idea... oh well.
It's six o'clock, I need to get off and start heading off to church. another update finished, brush my hands off, stretch, start closing down windows... maybe I should publish the post before I close anything down, might be a good idea :D Have a good rest of your Sunday (YES IT IS SUNDAY :D)
My roommates seems to have booked our room out tonight (for the beginning bit anyway) to do drinking games, basically a supersized version of what they did last night. It's crazy to watch and I'm left wondering why they think that there is anything cool about it.
In the service this evening I'm going to talk a bit about what's been going on at my course and stuff, which should be cool. It's an elderly congregation that goes in the evenings, but that's fine, I think that they have a little bit of Taize music tonight planned as well (it's kinda a bring-and-share service, but they plan who's bringing and sharing before hand...)
Today (and it IS Sunday) I've had quite a few laughs. Starting this morning when I briefly flicked through facebook and saw that a good friend (previously mentioned on this very blog, in fact) has in fact gone and got herself a blog of her own. I laughed quite a bit. It's quite rare for people to actually listen to what I say... (actually that's just around here at the UKSA) I've checked out this blog for myself and found myself laughing again to see my own name sitting there on the screen with allegations (I would love to say they're false, but I can't really) that I'd pressured her into doing this... I didn't, but I did heavily SUGGEST that she did. Thought I should put that up in my defence. When I've seen how regularly she updates it I may link to it (with her permission of course, if I can get a reply out of her, you may be waiting another three weeks for a link :D )
One of the guys forgot to put his bung in his pico today and this caused him to capsize whilst we were being towed out, not that funny at the time, but now... yea a little funny. I was told off for being too nice today, I wouldn't yell at people when they were in my way (there are rules that govern when you can shout at people and for what reason) I wouldn't shout because I was happy with just maneuvering around them and giving way to them even if I had right of way... and as we were racing this apparently wasn't the best idea... oh well.
It's six o'clock, I need to get off and start heading off to church. another update finished, brush my hands off, stretch, start closing down windows... maybe I should publish the post before I close anything down, might be a good idea :D Have a good rest of your Sunday (YES IT IS SUNDAY :D)
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Sailing in the Storm
I've been sitting here on this computer one and a half hours roughly, maybe edging towards two hours, and I've come up with nothing to say except that today we had a thunderstorm when we were out on the water. We all had to capsize our boats so that the masts didn't become little lightning conductors and wait for the storm to pass. It was fast winds, bullet-like rain and dark clouds (oh, and lightning and thunder) and it was over in about five minutes. MUCH fun, the other half of the group were doing their power-boating and were about to cross the Solent, it was two miles away from them and they hightailed it back to the centre and never made the crossing :( They had a worse time of it possibly, because they were driving high speed into the bullet-like rain, making it even more painful.
That's seriously all I can say about today... more sailing, getting better gradually, really cool to feel the change as I begin to get smoother and better. Right then. That's all for tonight.
That's seriously all I can say about today... more sailing, getting better gradually, really cool to feel the change as I begin to get smoother and better. Right then. That's all for tonight.
Friday, 25 February 2011
Today, Tomorrow and Inbetween.
I actually have very little idea what to write about today. We were back to sailing again. Lots of tacking and going over basics again, but beginning to fine tune technique and improve skill. So we had a few "follow the leader" exercises where we did our best to keep behind the boat in front of us with the instructor at the very front. This is not easy, especially when you have to keep the wind direction in mind all the time, from knowing which direction you're sailing in relationship to the wind you know approximately how far in/out you need your sail, where you should be sitting in the boat, where your daggerboard should be, etc. Unsurprisingly, when sailing wind is important.
I think I should "name and shame" a certain Carys Harper (who has also gone away for a similar amount of time to myself but to France) as she has taken an extraordinary three-ish weeks to reply to my messages. Finally getting a reply was definitely a highlight of my day and, if she had one, I would here give you a link to her blog, but I can't as she doesn't have one (if you're reading this Carys then maybe you'll get the hint? :P)
Also, I've decided give a shout out to a rather amazing family in Amsterdam (I don't need to give one about a rather amazing family in Redhill cos it goes without saying). I'm missing being out there very much; cycling everywhere, looking out over Dappermarkt, and struggling to wrestle with the Dutch language. Having checked my emails for the first time in a few days I only discovered today that they, too, have apparently now got my blog address. (I'll apologise, but add that I thought that I had already told them through email) And, seriously, I really, really, really do miss being out in Amsterdam with them, now over a month ago :O :O !!! :( I enjoyed myself so much out there, and this isn't really in the same league, but it would be slightly foolish to compare the two experiences next to each other.
Tomorrow there should be a lot of theory as the wind conditions aren't looking that great and we need to cover it. I think we're going to look at some more knots as well (I love knots) Probably go out in the afternoon. I'm really looking forward to watching as we get better. Today's weather along with yesterday's weather has been rather amazing. I've been at this computer far too long (answering messages on facebook, an email, and then writing this) so I'm going to end this here tonight. Night all. I'll give you one guess as to my next destination. Yep, that's right, the bar.
I think I should "name and shame" a certain Carys Harper (who has also gone away for a similar amount of time to myself but to France) as she has taken an extraordinary three-ish weeks to reply to my messages. Finally getting a reply was definitely a highlight of my day and, if she had one, I would here give you a link to her blog, but I can't as she doesn't have one (if you're reading this Carys then maybe you'll get the hint? :P)
Also, I've decided give a shout out to a rather amazing family in Amsterdam (I don't need to give one about a rather amazing family in Redhill cos it goes without saying). I'm missing being out there very much; cycling everywhere, looking out over Dappermarkt, and struggling to wrestle with the Dutch language. Having checked my emails for the first time in a few days I only discovered today that they, too, have apparently now got my blog address. (I'll apologise, but add that I thought that I had already told them through email) And, seriously, I really, really, really do miss being out in Amsterdam with them, now over a month ago :O :O !!! :( I enjoyed myself so much out there, and this isn't really in the same league, but it would be slightly foolish to compare the two experiences next to each other.
Tomorrow there should be a lot of theory as the wind conditions aren't looking that great and we need to cover it. I think we're going to look at some more knots as well (I love knots) Probably go out in the afternoon. I'm really looking forward to watching as we get better. Today's weather along with yesterday's weather has been rather amazing. I've been at this computer far too long (answering messages on facebook, an email, and then writing this) so I'm going to end this here tonight. Night all. I'll give you one guess as to my next destination. Yep, that's right, the bar.
Thursday, 24 February 2011
The Night Before
Not much to say about today. Finished the powerboating course; in the morning we did some navigation theory and looked at different bouys and their indications and light sequences and also some chartwork. Now got my powerboat level two qualification, which allows me to drive a powerboat on my own, and also allows me to tow other boats from a powerboat. Did lots of highspeed work with the RIBs today, which was fun.
Yesterday night, however, was much more interesting. Someone I'd met at catalyst picked me up from Cowes and drove me to Newport and the same church that Catalyst had been held at. There was a house around the back which the church owned and we had the group in that. There were shortbreads and haribo to be had and cups of tea :D Generally we just had a laugh but had a few discussions that went on that were rather good (who knew church bells cost so much! :O)
Each of the main four peeps who originally started the group a few months back had brought their own contribution to the evening. They were some great guys and adults who wanted to see more action, more unity and more love going on within chuch communities. We also came up with the idea of an Obese English Church... yes, obese. We take everything in - singing, praying, reading the bible etc all this energy - but we do very little exercise and, just like obesity, it makes us lazier and kind of puts ourselves into a situation which has very real health risks, at least, spiritually.
One of our final conclusions was: but who are we to make such comments and conclusions? Who are we to say to the church "this is where you're not good enough; this is where you should be better"? For ouselves, we are called to be as humble as we can, and when we've acheived that, be humbler still. It's not to focus on other's inadequacies and faults, but upon our own, that's probably what we should be working on, rather than trying to change other people or change the church.
As we begin to go anti-culture, saying "I am sinful - end of, I'm not better than anyone else. I can barely stop from crying because of the evil that goes on. I won't fight to the last breath for what I deserve because I know I deserve nothing. I can't stop myself from striving towards justice and equality, but I refuse to judge others. I'll knuckle down to the job of carrying out maintenance on my heart so that it's pure. In everything I do I'll try to bring peace and if I come to be beat up because of this, well, so much the better." then everything begins to shift by itself.
Let's live this, even if it's not what we feel like doing.
This has rather been a splurge of my thoughts than a proper blog post of the sort it should be, but ah well. Tangents upon tangents of thoughts have produced this or, as I've heard David Ruis say before, my thoughts are rather like rabbits... one will pop up hop away and then another will and another and there'll suddenly be multitudes of them. (Our conversatoins yesterday night were very similar.)
Yesterday night, however, was much more interesting. Someone I'd met at catalyst picked me up from Cowes and drove me to Newport and the same church that Catalyst had been held at. There was a house around the back which the church owned and we had the group in that. There were shortbreads and haribo to be had and cups of tea :D Generally we just had a laugh but had a few discussions that went on that were rather good (who knew church bells cost so much! :O)
Each of the main four peeps who originally started the group a few months back had brought their own contribution to the evening. They were some great guys and adults who wanted to see more action, more unity and more love going on within chuch communities. We also came up with the idea of an Obese English Church... yes, obese. We take everything in - singing, praying, reading the bible etc all this energy - but we do very little exercise and, just like obesity, it makes us lazier and kind of puts ourselves into a situation which has very real health risks, at least, spiritually.
One of our final conclusions was: but who are we to make such comments and conclusions? Who are we to say to the church "this is where you're not good enough; this is where you should be better"? For ouselves, we are called to be as humble as we can, and when we've acheived that, be humbler still. It's not to focus on other's inadequacies and faults, but upon our own, that's probably what we should be working on, rather than trying to change other people or change the church.
As we begin to go anti-culture, saying "I am sinful - end of, I'm not better than anyone else. I can barely stop from crying because of the evil that goes on. I won't fight to the last breath for what I deserve because I know I deserve nothing. I can't stop myself from striving towards justice and equality, but I refuse to judge others. I'll knuckle down to the job of carrying out maintenance on my heart so that it's pure. In everything I do I'll try to bring peace and if I come to be beat up because of this, well, so much the better." then everything begins to shift by itself.
Let's live this, even if it's not what we feel like doing.
This has rather been a splurge of my thoughts than a proper blog post of the sort it should be, but ah well. Tangents upon tangents of thoughts have produced this or, as I've heard David Ruis say before, my thoughts are rather like rabbits... one will pop up hop away and then another will and another and there'll suddenly be multitudes of them. (Our conversatoins yesterday night were very similar.)
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Yet more
So when you think of powerboats you probably think of POWER. You know... speed, wind rushing past you, being chucked up and down as you hang on for dear life. Well, not today. The word for today, our first day of two doing powerboating, was slow. We covered lots and practised lots more, but everything had to be slow. Even travelling on the River Medina has a speed limit of six knots. The rain seems to like the powerboats, or dislike us when we're on the powerboats, I'm not sure which. Visibility began to drop this afternoon but we still continued on till four-ish. A good, cold day. Yet more powerboating.
Getting to know the group more, which is good. I won't describe our room to you so that I won't have to endure any sympathy or horror over something which is entirely adaptable to. I'm being picked up and going into Newport this evening to go to a bible study. Got a text on Monday inviting me from one of the people I met at Catalyst on Friday, mostly people my age or older, so should be great. Yet another trip to Newport.
The hospitality course which has been running is now finished and this is the last night for the people who were on it. The people in it are the "familiar crowd" of the UKSA to me as they were the biggest group during the kickstart course and it'll be weird not having them around.
Yea, I have not much else to say, I may experiment with only blogging every other day, just to give me a bit more to write abot each time that I do. Not decided on that yet though so we'll see... need to be going to get ready to be picked up though, so farewell for another night.
Getting to know the group more, which is good. I won't describe our room to you so that I won't have to endure any sympathy or horror over something which is entirely adaptable to. I'm being picked up and going into Newport this evening to go to a bible study. Got a text on Monday inviting me from one of the people I met at Catalyst on Friday, mostly people my age or older, so should be great. Yet another trip to Newport.
The hospitality course which has been running is now finished and this is the last night for the people who were on it. The people in it are the "familiar crowd" of the UKSA to me as they were the biggest group during the kickstart course and it'll be weird not having them around.
Yea, I have not much else to say, I may experiment with only blogging every other day, just to give me a bit more to write abot each time that I do. Not decided on that yet though so we'll see... need to be going to get ready to be picked up though, so farewell for another night.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
First Aid and Not Yawning
Spent all of today doing our first aid course. We've been split into two groups so there was six of us in our group. All theory and practising bandaging and stuff, but the guy could sense a stifled yawn like a metal detector... well it kept everyone alert. One guy randomly feinted about ten minutes in for no apparent reason. Small fit. he was taken to hospital and is OK, but still, made me very paranoid for the first half of the day and took great pains not to get dehydrated (as an empty 2L water bottle testifies) and not think about stuff that was TOO gory. I feel very much like I'd be much better at just phoning the ambulance or having it PRACTISED on me rather than actually have to do anything... ah well... time will tell, a lot of it was simply knowing the risks so that you could take steps to prevent them.
First day where it's been ALL theory, wasn't too bad for me, but others didn't like it so much. Apparently, and slightly worryingly, de ja vu and zoning out are both types of mild epilepsy... which is simply an "electrical storm in the mind" so i spent a lot of today NOT zoning out and constantly focusing on something. As a result I have 5 A4 pages of notes written down purely from memory... it's quite amazing how much you can remember if you actually pay attention... :D :D
Got a text from someone I met at Catalyst on Friday inviting me to a bible study tomorrow down in Newport. so that's tomorrow evening sorted as well. Not sure what else has gone on today... first hot lunch, (from the canteen) but it was just wraps so it wasn't even hot :( And my new room is interesting in the fact that i have very little room, but very decent roommates :D
First day where it's been ALL theory, wasn't too bad for me, but others didn't like it so much. Apparently, and slightly worryingly, de ja vu and zoning out are both types of mild epilepsy... which is simply an "electrical storm in the mind" so i spent a lot of today NOT zoning out and constantly focusing on something. As a result I have 5 A4 pages of notes written down purely from memory... it's quite amazing how much you can remember if you actually pay attention... :D :D
Got a text from someone I met at Catalyst on Friday inviting me to a bible study tomorrow down in Newport. so that's tomorrow evening sorted as well. Not sure what else has gone on today... first hot lunch, (from the canteen) but it was just wraps so it wasn't even hot :( And my new room is interesting in the fact that i have very little room, but very decent roommates :D
Monday, 21 February 2011
ANOTHER First Day
Today was the first day of the second course - or the second part of the course if that's easier to think of it as. And it was difficult. Well, I'm out of the room I was in, but, as often is the case, now I'm out I wish I was back; only person in a room with four bunk beds is much preferable to four people in a room with two bunk beds... the room is packed and I have pretty much no space still :( And it'll be like this for six weeks now... well, it's a challenge I'll just have to adapt to and make the best out of, I'm sure it will all work out fine, but it may take some getting used to. We had a tour for the benefit of the twelve guys joining the course today (yes, Carolyn is the only girl in a group of fourteen... at least it means she gets her own room... >:( ) and then talks from the head of catering and he head of accommodation and reception, both very lovely ladies, and very helpful. The guys seem to be cool, should be lots of fun with them, just need to get to know them better. After lunch we headed out onto the water, and were pretty much left to sail where we wished so that they could judge our competence.
Slightly scary, as quite a few of the guys have been sailing from childhood, and one has their own kayak with them, another their own paddle for the kayak. They seem quite a bit out of my league, but, hey, it doesn't matter, I'll get there. In some ways they have the harder job because it's likely (say the instructors) that they've picked up bad habits and will have to unlearn them... I'm hoping that levels our abilities... :S :S
The level required of us has, understandably, risen. This will be hard, but it should be possible. A lot of it involves simply getting our own ability to sail up. By the way, the next six weeks gets me my dinghy and kayaking instructor certificates.
Basically what we'll be doing in the next three weeks is sailing, sailing and more sailing. Sometime this week I'll be doing first aid and powerboat courses so that will get them out the way quickly. at some point there will be meteorology tests and radio ones too. we'll see how it goes, lots more detail, WAY more intense, Saturday afternoons should be devoted to one-on-one mentoring sessions so basically mostly a free afternoon. Oh, did I mention that as well as being out on the water pretty much all day every day, that there will also be some evening sessions of theory and video-something - watching videos recorded when we were on the water to pick up on ways to improve. So that will be some evenings filled up too :D yep, intensity has doubled, definitely.
It's also weird being in a big group. I'm still adjusting to all the changes thrown up today so this isn't the shortest or most cohesive blog, I'll try and better it tomorrow, as I always do. Used my phone for the last few days as the Internet was down over the weekend, but it's back up and running now so it's fine. Enough for tonight. That gives everyone more than enough to be getting on with. Long one tonight, lots on my mind.
Slightly scary, as quite a few of the guys have been sailing from childhood, and one has their own kayak with them, another their own paddle for the kayak. They seem quite a bit out of my league, but, hey, it doesn't matter, I'll get there. In some ways they have the harder job because it's likely (say the instructors) that they've picked up bad habits and will have to unlearn them... I'm hoping that levels our abilities... :S :S
The level required of us has, understandably, risen. This will be hard, but it should be possible. A lot of it involves simply getting our own ability to sail up. By the way, the next six weeks gets me my dinghy and kayaking instructor certificates.
Basically what we'll be doing in the next three weeks is sailing, sailing and more sailing. Sometime this week I'll be doing first aid and powerboat courses so that will get them out the way quickly. at some point there will be meteorology tests and radio ones too. we'll see how it goes, lots more detail, WAY more intense, Saturday afternoons should be devoted to one-on-one mentoring sessions so basically mostly a free afternoon. Oh, did I mention that as well as being out on the water pretty much all day every day, that there will also be some evening sessions of theory and video-something - watching videos recorded when we were on the water to pick up on ways to improve. So that will be some evenings filled up too :D yep, intensity has doubled, definitely.
It's also weird being in a big group. I'm still adjusting to all the changes thrown up today so this isn't the shortest or most cohesive blog, I'll try and better it tomorrow, as I always do. Used my phone for the last few days as the Internet was down over the weekend, but it's back up and running now so it's fine. Enough for tonight. That gives everyone more than enough to be getting on with. Long one tonight, lots on my mind.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
A Day of Progressive Volunteering
Alright I'm sorry this is cutting blog of the day a bit close but it's been a long day - great, but long. It began normally enough: breakfast etc. However we did actually get today off :D so i went to church and it was great. greeted warmly by those i knew and met some new peeps. i stayed around talking and started chatting to the youth leader's wife. the evening meeting was hosting a youth band and she was figuring out what chairs to move and where. i offered to help and them and after offered to begin setting up sound equipment. brief break for an hour or so and tried buying what i needed: knife, whistle, board pens, journal. but couldn't :( then I'd offered at 3 to be back for the band's arrival 2 set up instruments and then help with the soundcheck. then the actual service, which was immense, and doughnuts with hot chocolate (hot chocolate was nowhere near as good as Em's) praise night xp served me well and several times i was poked to c if i was angelic...matter of opinion i think :D :P finally packdown
Saturday, 19 February 2011
What turned out to be the last day
Today began well but everything that had been solid slid and morphed after breakfast when we discovered that all the vans were taken so we couldn't drive the trailer with the windsurfs on anywhere. we took a keelboat out in the morning but then the wind died so we came back in. Then Francis decided to go home this evenin as he had to be back for work on Monday. so he left about 3. Carolyn and i did a bit of theory with Martin ready for Monday when the next stage starts. also when he found out that we actually don't have any days off go the next 6 weeks he decided to let us have tomorrow off. i have a list of things i need to buy :( don't particularly want to spend the money but i guess i have to :( finally when i went to do my blog i found the internet was down so doin this on my phone. WHAT A CRAZY DAY. but i guess you get some like that. catalyst was gr8 but more to follow on that. rapidly using up my 1000 character limit. on th good side i can go to church in the morning tomorrow :D kickstart=finished.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Catalyst
So I'm off in about twenty, thirty minutes, but I've rushed up here to squeeze in a post tonight. To sum up the day: windsurfing is hard and sometimes I'm getting it, sometimes I'm not.
Right. the first Sunday I was down here I went to Cowes Baptist Church. It was an older congregation and they used what was called a "Baptist Hymnbook"; it hadn't crossed my mind before that Baptists would EVER have hymnbooks, but I took it as normal and duly held onto it for dear life so as not to lose it somehow. They had no lead singer, just a piano and so there was a cacophony of voices in the songs, sung to slightly different tunes and tempos, but it was homely and caused me to smile once or twice, it didn't really bother me. Just before the service began I was talking with this guy who turned out to be the pastor. He was extremely nice (as they all are) and told me about different youth things going on. He even said that there was a large youth group-church-thing in Newport which I should go to see - I haven't, I decided to stick with Cowes Baptist, as I think it's far more important that the people are nice than the way or worship is what I'm used to. And it is also good not to veer away from older Christians just because I'm young, in fact I should probably be veering towards them.
As an extra point, I am told that it is a very different kind of service in the morning. There are singers, drums piano, and - I'm guessing - guitars as well. Also there are far more people (100-ish) and there are young people and children. Just so you don't think I've landed in a church stuck in the past. they are excellent people.
So it ended up with him saying he'd give the youth worker my number and tell him to get in contact with me. This was duly done and I found out from the youth worker that there was this youth event called Catalyst happening this Friday (today). He even offered to organise a lift for me (I took the offer) As far as I can work out it is the equivalent of Praise Night, but I'll tell you what it's like tomorrow. Anyhow, I'm excited to go see some Christians my own age here and meet up and have a chat. Should all be cool. Leaving in 10-ish minutes. See you on the other side.
Right. the first Sunday I was down here I went to Cowes Baptist Church. It was an older congregation and they used what was called a "Baptist Hymnbook"; it hadn't crossed my mind before that Baptists would EVER have hymnbooks, but I took it as normal and duly held onto it for dear life so as not to lose it somehow. They had no lead singer, just a piano and so there was a cacophony of voices in the songs, sung to slightly different tunes and tempos, but it was homely and caused me to smile once or twice, it didn't really bother me. Just before the service began I was talking with this guy who turned out to be the pastor. He was extremely nice (as they all are) and told me about different youth things going on. He even said that there was a large youth group-church-thing in Newport which I should go to see - I haven't, I decided to stick with Cowes Baptist, as I think it's far more important that the people are nice than the way or worship is what I'm used to. And it is also good not to veer away from older Christians just because I'm young, in fact I should probably be veering towards them.
As an extra point, I am told that it is a very different kind of service in the morning. There are singers, drums piano, and - I'm guessing - guitars as well. Also there are far more people (100-ish) and there are young people and children. Just so you don't think I've landed in a church stuck in the past. they are excellent people.
So it ended up with him saying he'd give the youth worker my number and tell him to get in contact with me. This was duly done and I found out from the youth worker that there was this youth event called Catalyst happening this Friday (today). He even offered to organise a lift for me (I took the offer) As far as I can work out it is the equivalent of Praise Night, but I'll tell you what it's like tomorrow. Anyhow, I'm excited to go see some Christians my own age here and meet up and have a chat. Should all be cool. Leaving in 10-ish minutes. See you on the other side.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Changes
It is Thursday today, Friday tomorrow. That means I've been here almost two weeks now; already I'm changing. Today we went out windsurfing again and - THANK GOODNESS - I could actually do it today. I'm changed. My hands are beginning to harden, and it's a sore process, there are cuts on them from rope burns and a mark where I made a mistake with a rope. I look at them sometimes and I wonder two things: whether they're actually my hands, and what they'll be like by the end of this.
I've been completely unphased by any of this, from the leaving to the cold water. Yesterday was the first time I came back from a day on the water feeling like I'd done nothing, and it's the first of many I'm sure, but I still took it in my stride; when I climbed back on today I was determined to make it work and it came easily. There will be taller obstacles to get over and I've done relatively little yet, but the changes are beginning.
For the moment I still feel like I'm drifting, as a safetyboat that's just had it's anchor raised. At some point the engine will be switched on, put into gear and start to move forward. That is when I'll really begin to mature. Still, drifting is a massive step forward from being anchored and progress wll be soon to follow. I hope, never having done this before. Thankfully I have a great group of friends and family who have/are been through this, and just the knowledge of their backing and support is heartening. It is something solid and unshifting, except to gently encourage me forwards. It can be both good and bad that technology can lesson the gap of distance - sometimes lesson it too much - but this is the world we live in. It too is changing.
We thought we had a day off on Sunday, I thought I'd be able to get to the morning service of Cowes Baptist Church (keep following, I have a blog post idea/semi-plan in my mind for possibly tomorrow about what's going on church-wise over here) however, it turns out that we're down to do an extra day windsurfing. So that seems to have flown out a 5th-storey window and I can only wave at it sadly as it goes. My Sunday plan has changed, but day plans change frequently according to the weather here, so it's not too odd, only a little dissappointing that I'll miss an opportunity to go meet the whole church instead of the few who go in the evening.
Keeping it short (the length of these posts keep changing too) so I'll stop there for tonight. Check out Phillippians 4:8 one of the verses I've been looking at recently. Living has changed completely, and it will take getting used to living in a non-christian environment, on the otherhand it has hit home more about how important it is to live life in a way which is different and Godly, and it really isn't easy.
To the youth group: (another verse I've been thinking about recently) 1 Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in SPEECH, in CONDUCT, in LOVE, in FAITH and in PURITY.
You guys go for it loads, so go for it more :P :D :D You're seriously great. If you change PLEASE only change for the better... :D
I've been completely unphased by any of this, from the leaving to the cold water. Yesterday was the first time I came back from a day on the water feeling like I'd done nothing, and it's the first of many I'm sure, but I still took it in my stride; when I climbed back on today I was determined to make it work and it came easily. There will be taller obstacles to get over and I've done relatively little yet, but the changes are beginning.
For the moment I still feel like I'm drifting, as a safetyboat that's just had it's anchor raised. At some point the engine will be switched on, put into gear and start to move forward. That is when I'll really begin to mature. Still, drifting is a massive step forward from being anchored and progress wll be soon to follow. I hope, never having done this before. Thankfully I have a great group of friends and family who have/are been through this, and just the knowledge of their backing and support is heartening. It is something solid and unshifting, except to gently encourage me forwards. It can be both good and bad that technology can lesson the gap of distance - sometimes lesson it too much - but this is the world we live in. It too is changing.
We thought we had a day off on Sunday, I thought I'd be able to get to the morning service of Cowes Baptist Church (keep following, I have a blog post idea/semi-plan in my mind for possibly tomorrow about what's going on church-wise over here) however, it turns out that we're down to do an extra day windsurfing. So that seems to have flown out a 5th-storey window and I can only wave at it sadly as it goes. My Sunday plan has changed, but day plans change frequently according to the weather here, so it's not too odd, only a little dissappointing that I'll miss an opportunity to go meet the whole church instead of the few who go in the evening.
Keeping it short (the length of these posts keep changing too) so I'll stop there for tonight. Check out Phillippians 4:8 one of the verses I've been looking at recently. Living has changed completely, and it will take getting used to living in a non-christian environment, on the otherhand it has hit home more about how important it is to live life in a way which is different and Godly, and it really isn't easy.
To the youth group: (another verse I've been thinking about recently) 1 Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in SPEECH, in CONDUCT, in LOVE, in FAITH and in PURITY.
You guys go for it loads, so go for it more :P :D :D You're seriously great. If you change PLEASE only change for the better... :D
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
To Windsurf, or, not to windsurf
That is not a question, it is a statement and only the last half is realistic. Windsurfing is HARD. We spent the day morning learning how to set everything up and practising on the land. Early lunch meant we could get out on the sea sooner. Thank-goodness it was sunny today, otherwise it would have been awful. Luckily we have quite a few more days to practise. My hands are still sore from where I didn't use gloves one time on the dinghys. Learning more, picking up more. I'm extremely tired at the moment.
Dinner was great and the bread pudding for dessert was amazing with the custard. And today there was loads, the people serving piled it on my plate without me saying a thing, obviously I looked desperate... My mind isn't very focused tonight. Still listening to Lecrae's album and loving it. Had a few convos over the last few days with various people from home and church etc. all cool. all cool.
My waterproof watch is DEFINITELY waterproof :D which is goood :D
My wetsuit keeps me well warm, the sea was pleasant today and swimming in it was loads of fun, no colder than a swimming pool, or it felt like that thanks to the wetsuit anyway.
Rightt. Not going to write any more tonight. Finished.
Dinner was great and the bread pudding for dessert was amazing with the custard. And today there was loads, the people serving piled it on my plate without me saying a thing, obviously I looked desperate... My mind isn't very focused tonight. Still listening to Lecrae's album and loving it. Had a few convos over the last few days with various people from home and church etc. all cool. all cool.
My waterproof watch is DEFINITELY waterproof :D which is goood :D
My wetsuit keeps me well warm, the sea was pleasant today and swimming in it was loads of fun, no colder than a swimming pool, or it felt like that thanks to the wetsuit anyway.
Rightt. Not going to write any more tonight. Finished.
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Keeping it Short
Going to keep I short tonight. Pretty much had a geography lesson with a few chunks of physics chucked in this morning; it was all about the weather and waves and such; and here was I thinking I’d escaped geography and physics lessons forever…. Considering I last remember doing weather in year nine and waves in year 11 it was pretty simple.
I know I said we’d be going keelboating today, but the weather was against us and we weren’t allowed to take one out. Instead we pled into a minibus and drove around the island, stopping at various bays and beaches along the way. Interesting and cool. Discovered that the park we looked for yesterday doesn’t exist where it was supposed to… it is a small park to the north of where we are rather than a larger, 1-hour-walk-away park we tried to get to yesterday…
I saw the needles, and we went through Shanklin and Sandown. Parts of them looked familiar, I think it was near where we stayed when I came over with St John’s
Finally we prepared all the windsurfing stuff for tomorrow. Apparently it's going to be cold. We shall see. I have a sneaking suspicion that they're not being entirely truthful to us... it may well be freezing, I think. :D
Yea, that’s all for today I think, trying a million times a million percent to keep it short tonight.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Day Off #1 #Last?
So, my first day off today. Not sure how many more I'll be getting... anyway, I decided at some point today that I wouldn't really do a blog post, and that I'd have a "day off" but now I have nothing to do so I've relented. :(
Still up at the same time today - yes, I know: I'm crazy. I just didn't want to risk missing breakfast... Francis drove us to Newport, dropped us off and we walked around a bit. Visited Waterstones and, although I didn't get any books (gasp of surprise/shock/stunned-ness), I sneaked my card into the books that Carolyn bought and so got some Waterstones points on it :D yeaaaaaaa I'm cool...... I now have points worth £1.97 .... YAY! :D I didn't buy another book not only because I have my kindle but I'm in the middle of reading "The Bourne Ultimatum" already - if any of you love the films then don't read the books. The books ARE great... but they're also very different from the films... (for instance Conklin dies in the first film but is a major character in all three books)
I didn't buy any books, but I did get hold of a waterproof watch, which is useful when you're phone is allergic to the stuff and you're spending all day on the water. I also bought a little torch, though I thought I had one somewhere in my bag - maybe I should have checked - but it's bright and was cheap... I mustn't do any late night reading though... MUST NOT...
I didn't have lunch, don't really know why... it passed me by... I was reading in my room for an hour or two. Francis (the one with the car) has been off all day and Carolyn had her new books to read. We both got bored after that though and the day was lovely so I convinced myself and then Carolyn that we should go and do something. The first decent thing that appeared on the Internet search for tourist attractions in Cowes was Northwood Park... so off we set...
Helped along by a trusty GPS on my phone I navigated across roads, through treacherous terrain of potholes and tarmac, and even walking on roads when there were no paths! (don't worry; no one was harmed during this journey) Eventually we got to where the GPS said the park was, even possibly saw a glimpse of it... but we couldn't find an entrance. So we went all the way back... thinking about it, it reminds me of that kids book "We're going on a Bearhunt" because the (family?) spend ages going on the hunt and then when they find the bear the return journey takes place in a fraction of the time - from what I can remember. Similarly our return journey went really quickly.
Dinner came eventually :D :D I'd deliberately not snacked on anything or bought food after deciding not to have lunch. Going without food for a half day isn't going to harm anyone. Out of interest, I wonder where the structure of eating three meals came from... has it always been three? Or was it two meals at one point? I don't really know.
Anyway after dinner I came up to the cybercafe and sat down at this computer. Now I'm finishing, and it's rather exploded from what I intended to write. There is quite a lot to talk about. I think quite a lot, if I put all my thoughts down you'd all be here a lot longer.
Oh, tomorrow the three of us - Francis, Carolyn and myself - are off on a keelboat. which, from what I can make out, is like a massive dinghy, or small sailing boat. We'll have to see, but it should be comparatively dry. We may even go across to the mainland if the weather's good. Then for the rest of the week we're windsurfing. But for today, we have a reprieve.
Still up at the same time today - yes, I know: I'm crazy. I just didn't want to risk missing breakfast... Francis drove us to Newport, dropped us off and we walked around a bit. Visited Waterstones and, although I didn't get any books (gasp of surprise/shock/stunned-ness), I sneaked my card into the books that Carolyn bought and so got some Waterstones points on it :D yeaaaaaaa I'm cool...... I now have points worth £1.97 .... YAY! :D I didn't buy another book not only because I have my kindle but I'm in the middle of reading "The Bourne Ultimatum" already - if any of you love the films then don't read the books. The books ARE great... but they're also very different from the films... (for instance Conklin dies in the first film but is a major character in all three books)
I didn't buy any books, but I did get hold of a waterproof watch, which is useful when you're phone is allergic to the stuff and you're spending all day on the water. I also bought a little torch, though I thought I had one somewhere in my bag - maybe I should have checked - but it's bright and was cheap... I mustn't do any late night reading though... MUST NOT...
I didn't have lunch, don't really know why... it passed me by... I was reading in my room for an hour or two. Francis (the one with the car) has been off all day and Carolyn had her new books to read. We both got bored after that though and the day was lovely so I convinced myself and then Carolyn that we should go and do something. The first decent thing that appeared on the Internet search for tourist attractions in Cowes was Northwood Park... so off we set...
Helped along by a trusty GPS on my phone I navigated across roads, through treacherous terrain of potholes and tarmac, and even walking on roads when there were no paths! (don't worry; no one was harmed during this journey) Eventually we got to where the GPS said the park was, even possibly saw a glimpse of it... but we couldn't find an entrance. So we went all the way back... thinking about it, it reminds me of that kids book "We're going on a Bearhunt" because the (family?) spend ages going on the hunt and then when they find the bear the return journey takes place in a fraction of the time - from what I can remember. Similarly our return journey went really quickly.
Dinner came eventually :D :D I'd deliberately not snacked on anything or bought food after deciding not to have lunch. Going without food for a half day isn't going to harm anyone. Out of interest, I wonder where the structure of eating three meals came from... has it always been three? Or was it two meals at one point? I don't really know.
Anyway after dinner I came up to the cybercafe and sat down at this computer. Now I'm finishing, and it's rather exploded from what I intended to write. There is quite a lot to talk about. I think quite a lot, if I put all my thoughts down you'd all be here a lot longer.
Oh, tomorrow the three of us - Francis, Carolyn and myself - are off on a keelboat. which, from what I can make out, is like a massive dinghy, or small sailing boat. We'll have to see, but it should be comparatively dry. We may even go across to the mainland if the weather's good. Then for the rest of the week we're windsurfing. But for today, we have a reprieve.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Pains of Powerboating
Ah, today the warmth of the "Cybercafe" is most welcome. It is cold and wet here on the Isle of Wight and, although part of me is glad that yesterday was a beautifully sunny day for kayaking, I wish that our powerboat level one could have been done some other day. We didn't get changed into wetsuits or drysuits today, we just put some borrowed oilies (basically thick waterproofs) over the top of our clothes. Then we took out the little orange RIBs (powerboats, Rigid Inflatable Boat) out and learnt how to get them ready and everything, fairly simple. We also looked at anchoring them and tying them around bouys. Finally we learnt how to do the equivalent of a three point turn. Then came the painful part... We took that boat in and took out the bigger (with an engine almost 5X bigger than the orange RIBs) and faster boat to practise high speed manouvres... and oging that fast a small drop of rain feels like... well, painful. Fairly fast, lots of turns, all cool. Then back in and because we got it so quickly and we're a small group we got to finish early, about two-ish.
But now I'm nice and warm, as we finished early I felt justified in taking an extra long shower to help use up and make the best use of the exra time we've been given. Looks like this afternoon is going to be lazy... actually it's almost all gone now. In half an hour is dinner and I'm going to get bigger portions if i can tonight, I've been eating bigger lunches to compensate, apparently it's a roast dinner tonight tho :D :D :D :D
Day off tomorrow, we'll see what goes on. Might see if I can get in some cycling, as it's been too difficult time-wise to fit in a decent ride during the week. Also might see if the swimming pool is open at a convenient time, missing my early morning swims from the last few weeks. Otherwise, might see if I can get a trip into Newport, and going to probably go into town at somepoint to possibly pick up a knife and a waterproof watch.
Church tonight. Going to the same one as last week: Cowes Baptist Church. Will see if any of the youth turn up this week now they're not on their weekend away. There are youth events (Praise Night equivalent??) in the next few weks which I'm going to attempt to get along to which should be cool. And apparently there are quite a few young people around my age down in Newport so will see if I can meet up with them too. all going good.
Dinner in twenty minutes....
OOOOOoooooo Rehab by Lecrae is a great album with some great songs on and some great lyrics in the songs. Josh, if you've not been listening to it by now I'll not be happy, and if ou haven't been then I suggest you do. Anyone else, check it out, the style may not be what you like, but the lyrics are pretty amazing.
Right. Cool. Enough for today. Onwards.
But now I'm nice and warm, as we finished early I felt justified in taking an extra long shower to help use up and make the best use of the exra time we've been given. Looks like this afternoon is going to be lazy... actually it's almost all gone now. In half an hour is dinner and I'm going to get bigger portions if i can tonight, I've been eating bigger lunches to compensate, apparently it's a roast dinner tonight tho :D :D :D :D
Day off tomorrow, we'll see what goes on. Might see if I can get in some cycling, as it's been too difficult time-wise to fit in a decent ride during the week. Also might see if the swimming pool is open at a convenient time, missing my early morning swims from the last few weeks. Otherwise, might see if I can get a trip into Newport, and going to probably go into town at somepoint to possibly pick up a knife and a waterproof watch.
Church tonight. Going to the same one as last week: Cowes Baptist Church. Will see if any of the youth turn up this week now they're not on their weekend away. There are youth events (Praise Night equivalent??) in the next few weks which I'm going to attempt to get along to which should be cool. And apparently there are quite a few young people around my age down in Newport so will see if I can meet up with them too. all going good.
Dinner in twenty minutes....
OOOOOoooooo Rehab by Lecrae is a great album with some great songs on and some great lyrics in the songs. Josh, if you've not been listening to it by now I'll not be happy, and if ou haven't been then I suggest you do. Anyone else, check it out, the style may not be what you like, but the lyrics are pretty amazing.
Right. Cool. Enough for today. Onwards.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
FOOOOOOOOOOOD... and kayaking
18:44 the computer time tells me, almost two hours after dinner -- and I'm hungry! Anyway, let us see how long this takes me to rattle out tonight. I say rattle out... I put some thought into it during the day and then try and collect everything together at the end of the day, namely: now. It is drawing near to the end of Saturday, which is still hard to grasp. I either feels like I've been here much longer than that, or much shorter... the extremes swing two and fro unpredictably like a boom on a dead run. At the moment it seems like I've been here much longer than just under a week even though the time has shot past. Crazy.
And I'm still hungry, so I think I may talk about food tonight... Yep, sounds like a good idea to me. I love the food here, but let me begin by describing how you get it.
The dining room has two long chains of tables running down its centre, with other tables off agains the walls, with chairs enough for for to a table. At one end of the room there are wall-length windows and two large circular tables that can fit upwards of eight people around it and look out over the docks and boats. At the other end of the room there is a serving counter, behind which is the kitchen. The entrance is halfway down one of the walls, so that as you enter the windows are to your left and the counter is to your right. On the right of the counter there is a big blackboard and this is used during the evening meal to right up the menu. Underneath the blackboard there are trays of cutlery and underneath that are piles of trays. Against the wall is a table upon which are the drinks and plastic cups.
For breakfast you grab your own plate and serve yourself the food, which varies from day to day: full english breakfast, continental breakfast, scrasmbled eggs and bacon... all changing every day of the week, though perhaps it repeats each week. Lunch is usually packed and so I'll skip over it here. Supper/dinner/tea - whatever you want to call it - is slightly different as there are chefs behind the counter who have the pile of plates and serve you as you ask for it. Generally there are three different options and a whole variety of vegetables. I tend to randomly pick a main that sounds and looks good and then ask for a bit of everything when it comes to the veg section. Then you head over to the end of the counter, grab a bowl, and help yourself to pudding.
The food is really good. Tonight I had beef and mushroom pie, for instance, and lots of veg such as new potatos, carrots and peas. The puddings are slightly more variable: some have been a little bland, but others have been amazing (I advise you to try rice pudding and cinnamon and currants) and I'm hoping to have them again sometime. The only slight downside is: no seconds :( at least not as early on in the evening as we go... (Dinner is served between 5 and 7 and we go at 5) unfortunately at the end of a full day, at five oclock, I really want to eat. And so, because of this, around this time of night I am left feeling a little.... peckish... not exactly hungry, but not contentedly full either... nothing to complain about, just a little annoying.
I can't understand the people who don't like the food here... but then, as someone said to me, "you'll eat anything, Dan" which is almost true.
So I've talked about food... yea... probably not good for me to do, only made me think of food... ah well... right let's quickly cram in the rest of the day, OBVIOUSLY to mimic how fast it passed.
We've done five days dinghy sailing so far with a number of instructors, but mostly Martin. Today we had Martin again, and it was great to see him again, to catch up and regale him with the snapping footstrap and other such fond memories. First of all we went into the small onsite swimming pool and went through a little bit of basic theory before pushing out the kayaks into the pool (which was lovely and warm) and splashing about a bit and practising capsize recoveries, paddle strokes etc. A long, drawn out lunch and chat on the decking in the amazing sun and beautiful warmth and then we went out on the Medina (correct spelling? I mean the river that seperates West Cowes from East Cowes and leads out to the sea) and spent three hours or so paddling upriver. Drysuits not suited to kayaking so was in my wetsuit for the first time. All went well and when we were almost back at the UKSA we (substitute "I") had a go at paddling whilst standing up in a kayak. If you have ever tried this then you will know that this was just for a bit of fun as it is near impossible to stand up in a kayak without it capsizing, let alone paddle in it. Yes, I did go in, and it was lovely, the only part of me that felt cold was my feet :( Apparently, and surprisingly, I barely feel the cold at all, another person was shivering when we got back, and he hadn't even been in the water... A bit further on, as we were coming in, Martin made us stop and, partly as we had refused to do it on the first day, he made us - whilst in the kayaks - to do our favourite dance move. I sussed out, however, that all he wanted was to see us in the water and so jumped backwards into the water as my "dance move" knowing that it would be enough because it got the result he wanted. :D simple. And that was my day today.
Right, time to go, these are getting to long, I may try and shorten them. Too short, too long just like a main sheet when you jibe. My hands are really sore after the last day of sailing yesterday, but that is another post and may possibly have to include a picture. Goodnight for tonight. It is now 19:27 so 45 minutes... not bad, not bad at all. And as an extra note: I don't edit these much beyond a spelling check before I post or this would take ridiculously long, so if it's a bit rough, random or crazy then it's not because I think it's good, it's because I don't have the time to polish it up :D
And I'm still hungry, so I think I may talk about food tonight... Yep, sounds like a good idea to me. I love the food here, but let me begin by describing how you get it.
The dining room has two long chains of tables running down its centre, with other tables off agains the walls, with chairs enough for for to a table. At one end of the room there are wall-length windows and two large circular tables that can fit upwards of eight people around it and look out over the docks and boats. At the other end of the room there is a serving counter, behind which is the kitchen. The entrance is halfway down one of the walls, so that as you enter the windows are to your left and the counter is to your right. On the right of the counter there is a big blackboard and this is used during the evening meal to right up the menu. Underneath the blackboard there are trays of cutlery and underneath that are piles of trays. Against the wall is a table upon which are the drinks and plastic cups.
For breakfast you grab your own plate and serve yourself the food, which varies from day to day: full english breakfast, continental breakfast, scrasmbled eggs and bacon... all changing every day of the week, though perhaps it repeats each week. Lunch is usually packed and so I'll skip over it here. Supper/dinner/tea - whatever you want to call it - is slightly different as there are chefs behind the counter who have the pile of plates and serve you as you ask for it. Generally there are three different options and a whole variety of vegetables. I tend to randomly pick a main that sounds and looks good and then ask for a bit of everything when it comes to the veg section. Then you head over to the end of the counter, grab a bowl, and help yourself to pudding.
The food is really good. Tonight I had beef and mushroom pie, for instance, and lots of veg such as new potatos, carrots and peas. The puddings are slightly more variable: some have been a little bland, but others have been amazing (I advise you to try rice pudding and cinnamon and currants) and I'm hoping to have them again sometime. The only slight downside is: no seconds :( at least not as early on in the evening as we go... (Dinner is served between 5 and 7 and we go at 5) unfortunately at the end of a full day, at five oclock, I really want to eat. And so, because of this, around this time of night I am left feeling a little.... peckish... not exactly hungry, but not contentedly full either... nothing to complain about, just a little annoying.
I can't understand the people who don't like the food here... but then, as someone said to me, "you'll eat anything, Dan" which is almost true.
So I've talked about food... yea... probably not good for me to do, only made me think of food... ah well... right let's quickly cram in the rest of the day, OBVIOUSLY to mimic how fast it passed.
We've done five days dinghy sailing so far with a number of instructors, but mostly Martin. Today we had Martin again, and it was great to see him again, to catch up and regale him with the snapping footstrap and other such fond memories. First of all we went into the small onsite swimming pool and went through a little bit of basic theory before pushing out the kayaks into the pool (which was lovely and warm) and splashing about a bit and practising capsize recoveries, paddle strokes etc. A long, drawn out lunch and chat on the decking in the amazing sun and beautiful warmth and then we went out on the Medina (correct spelling? I mean the river that seperates West Cowes from East Cowes and leads out to the sea) and spent three hours or so paddling upriver. Drysuits not suited to kayaking so was in my wetsuit for the first time. All went well and when we were almost back at the UKSA we (substitute "I") had a go at paddling whilst standing up in a kayak. If you have ever tried this then you will know that this was just for a bit of fun as it is near impossible to stand up in a kayak without it capsizing, let alone paddle in it. Yes, I did go in, and it was lovely, the only part of me that felt cold was my feet :( Apparently, and surprisingly, I barely feel the cold at all, another person was shivering when we got back, and he hadn't even been in the water... A bit further on, as we were coming in, Martin made us stop and, partly as we had refused to do it on the first day, he made us - whilst in the kayaks - to do our favourite dance move. I sussed out, however, that all he wanted was to see us in the water and so jumped backwards into the water as my "dance move" knowing that it would be enough because it got the result he wanted. :D simple. And that was my day today.
Right, time to go, these are getting to long, I may try and shorten them. Too short, too long just like a main sheet when you jibe. My hands are really sore after the last day of sailing yesterday, but that is another post and may possibly have to include a picture. Goodnight for tonight. It is now 19:27 so 45 minutes... not bad, not bad at all. And as an extra note: I don't edit these much beyond a spelling check before I post or this would take ridiculously long, so if it's a bit rough, random or crazy then it's not because I think it's good, it's because I don't have the time to polish it up :D
Friday, 11 February 2011
Anti-Gossip
So another day ends and I'm left - STILL partly feeling like I'm still bobbing up and down - to update this again :D A fair amount of wind today, and some strong gusts. We all (all two of us - I'll get onto number three in a moment) capsized lots. When you're heading upwind the boat tends to tilt, toppling over, the idea is that you act as a counterbalance and keep the boat level but that's easier said than done and yesterday resulted in my dunking. If it goes over too far then you're gone, you're down. As I think I mentioned yesterday it is possible to jump over the boat and onto the daggerboard that, when capsized, sticks out horizontally. I perfected that today, doing it again and again and again. Anyone also on facebook, which, I guess, is most of you, will have seen that I also went in once too. I'm not too sure what happened, I just ended up in the water somehow. The drysuit performed admirably again and it was extremely enjoyable to be bobbing about in the water and even got some swimming in (tugging my boat behind me once I'd got it up the right way again) before I was told to get back in my boat and get back to sailing - honestly, it's as if that's what I came here to do.
In the sailing sessions we were just perfecting techniques and trying to pull together everything to help us sail better and at the end of the day we had a short theory lesson on how a sail works (laminar for the most) which was interesting and cool. Confident now and having great fun zipping around. It's almost a shame it's the last day of dinghy sailing... for a week or so.
I said that there were only two of us today, and I wasn't lying. Last night... well, let me stop there because this has been what has been on my thoughts today. This morning me and the other person got a text from "number three" saying that he was going to take the day to get some rest; he'd gone over to some family the night before. At 9 o'clock we met with our instructor for the day, who turned out not to be Rob from yesterday, but a new one: Jake. We told him where number three was and that he wasn't going to come today, we kind of had to, but I'd forgotten the strange propensity this place has for gossip. Five minutes later the chief-instructor passes by and mentions about our friend on some wild night out... nothing of which the facts hinted at. Throughout the day various instructors knew of and had heard of it and on the way back in after the afternoon sailing session as I wondered what I'd be writing about today, and I thought about going into detail about what number three had done, I suddenly thought that, in a way, it to was gossiping. So I decided to cut that out and instead put together some thoughts on gossiping here.
From day 1 we were warned by various people we met around that gossip and reputations are very easily garnered around here. It wasn't a problem to me, I tend not to do anything that anyone can pick me up on unless it is, in fact, a good thing, such as not getting drunk although surprisingly enough that's not that interesting to that many people. But now I'm wondering whether number three is going to have to live with this for the rest of his time at the UKSA. Granted, he's only here for the kickstart week, but still...
So I reached the decision that maybe I should start to do something about it, no, I don't mean start sticking up signs saying "no gossipping" but what about by trying to anti-gossip. I'm not sure where this idea came from, I'm sure I've heard it before elsewhere. What if I start spreading nice things about people, counter the bad with the good. And of course good doesn't "spread" anywhere near so fast as bad but it does pervade. So I'll try it out and see what happens, it's harder to do than it sounds, why not try it? Pull yourself up when you start talking about someone else in a way that focuses on what they've done wrong or a mistake they've made, look at things they've done well. Is anyone fully bad?
So. Anti-Gossip. That was my overruling thought today, it seemed to be today's theme as it were. back to normal tomorrow? What is normal at the moment? Well I think I'll deal with that tomorrow maybe. Kayaking tomorrow, Martin is back :D :D looking forward to seeing him again and telling him of my exploits with footstraps and daggerboards i.e. yesterday. Looking forward to the kayaking, my favourite of the three disciplines for the moment, though we'll see what I say after tomorrow, eh?
Comment if you want: anti-gossip a good idea? Or is there something better?
In the sailing sessions we were just perfecting techniques and trying to pull together everything to help us sail better and at the end of the day we had a short theory lesson on how a sail works (laminar for the most) which was interesting and cool. Confident now and having great fun zipping around. It's almost a shame it's the last day of dinghy sailing... for a week or so.
I said that there were only two of us today, and I wasn't lying. Last night... well, let me stop there because this has been what has been on my thoughts today. This morning me and the other person got a text from "number three" saying that he was going to take the day to get some rest; he'd gone over to some family the night before. At 9 o'clock we met with our instructor for the day, who turned out not to be Rob from yesterday, but a new one: Jake. We told him where number three was and that he wasn't going to come today, we kind of had to, but I'd forgotten the strange propensity this place has for gossip. Five minutes later the chief-instructor passes by and mentions about our friend on some wild night out... nothing of which the facts hinted at. Throughout the day various instructors knew of and had heard of it and on the way back in after the afternoon sailing session as I wondered what I'd be writing about today, and I thought about going into detail about what number three had done, I suddenly thought that, in a way, it to was gossiping. So I decided to cut that out and instead put together some thoughts on gossiping here.
From day 1 we were warned by various people we met around that gossip and reputations are very easily garnered around here. It wasn't a problem to me, I tend not to do anything that anyone can pick me up on unless it is, in fact, a good thing, such as not getting drunk although surprisingly enough that's not that interesting to that many people. But now I'm wondering whether number three is going to have to live with this for the rest of his time at the UKSA. Granted, he's only here for the kickstart week, but still...
So I reached the decision that maybe I should start to do something about it, no, I don't mean start sticking up signs saying "no gossipping" but what about by trying to anti-gossip. I'm not sure where this idea came from, I'm sure I've heard it before elsewhere. What if I start spreading nice things about people, counter the bad with the good. And of course good doesn't "spread" anywhere near so fast as bad but it does pervade. So I'll try it out and see what happens, it's harder to do than it sounds, why not try it? Pull yourself up when you start talking about someone else in a way that focuses on what they've done wrong or a mistake they've made, look at things they've done well. Is anyone fully bad?
So. Anti-Gossip. That was my overruling thought today, it seemed to be today's theme as it were. back to normal tomorrow? What is normal at the moment? Well I think I'll deal with that tomorrow maybe. Kayaking tomorrow, Martin is back :D :D looking forward to seeing him again and telling him of my exploits with footstraps and daggerboards i.e. yesterday. Looking forward to the kayaking, my favourite of the three disciplines for the moment, though we'll see what I say after tomorrow, eh?
Comment if you want: anti-gossip a good idea? Or is there something better?
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Footstraps and Daggerboards
So at last I'm on a computer and can actually type, which makes it much easier to type and doesn't restrict my blogs to 1000 characters. As I sit here I feel like I'm still on a boat, it's really strange. It feels like the boat is rising underneath me and then falling away again, whenever I'm still it feels like this and I'm not sure if it will go away as I get used to it or not :S We weren't even out on the sea for half the day because the wind strength grew too much and my other two course-mates decided they didn't want to brave the sea :(
Momentous occasion today. Before this morning I had not capsized. Before this afternoon I had not fallen into the water. (The only one of the group not to have done so, although this wasn't really an especially good thing as you need to capsize during the two weeks so that the instructor can see you can get the dinghy upright again.)
You may be asking how my dunking and my capsizing didn't coincide... Well, there is, in the very instant the dinghy falls onto its side, a technique that can keep you out of the water and, astounding to myself and you, I pulled off the "dry capsize" in which you leap over the side of the boat, which is lifting up to stick vertically into the air, and onto the blade of the daggerboard, which comes through the boat. Then, lean back slightly and it rights itself, and you leap back over as it does so. Big smiles for me :D :D :D :D First capsize and I pull off a dry one :D
My dunking is an entirely different and funnier matter. In the middle of these dinghys there is a footstrap. The idea is that you stick your feet under the footstrap and use it to lean out the boat, balancing it against the pull of the wind in the sail. So, there I was, skimming along: sail in, going upwind, daggerboard down, everything's right. As you accelerate you tip further towards the sail, if you don't balance it then you capsize... I DIDN'T capsize, but I had problems of another sort: the footstrap snapped. Let me make it clear to any readers that when you're leaning out, most of your body is out of the dinghy, you are not sitting on the edge you are sitting over the edge... and if your support goes then, well, I can safely say from experience, that you go head over heels back in the water before you know what's going on and end up floating like a bottle wondering what just happened. Drysuit came through again, thankfully, and I didn't get wet or cold particularly, it was just great fun.
No Martin today :( But we had this instructor called Rob instead. Cool guy, good instructor, and up for a joke. Apparently I earned his comedy moment of the week award with the snapping of my footstrap... :D :D I'm improving slowly. Getting more confident though I'm making far too many fluff-ups for my liking.
Ah well, getting on with everything. We have one more day of dinghy sailing, then we have Saturday kayaking - the one day we do of kayaking :( - and on Sunday we go on the powerboats and get (hopefully) our Powerboat Level 1s. Then on Monday I THINK we get a day off.... we'll see.... And then the rest of that week will be doing Windsurfing, which, I'm reliably informed, is going to be a lot colder than dinghy sailing. That;s fine, dinghy sailing hasn't been that cold at all to be honest.
Bar again I think this evening but, don't worry, I'm not turning into an alcoholic only the bar is the only communal place here, so it really is the only place to go. Unless I particularly wanted to remain in the quiet stuffiness of the computer rooms... which I don't.
Martin is back on Saturday, not that I know where he's gone... lol Rob tomorrow and on Sunday. Loving it here, being out on the water so much is great fun and its cool to see how going out every day improves you so rapidly, especially with tuition. My body still feels like it is bobbing along as I finish the post. They have been more frequent than I thought they would be, but it's something to do in the evenings and it's cool so I don't mind. I don't expect when I get to egypt in a couple of months that I will be updating very much at all because of the cost involved.
And a final note... I was thinking on the way back after the morning session that without the dryroom things would me extremely miserable. I don't really fancy getting into wet stuff every morning... If there was no dry room - such a simple thing - life would be much worse. It really is the simple things that make the difference. A bit like whether there is a footstrap in your boat or a daggerboard through its centre.
Momentous occasion today. Before this morning I had not capsized. Before this afternoon I had not fallen into the water. (The only one of the group not to have done so, although this wasn't really an especially good thing as you need to capsize during the two weeks so that the instructor can see you can get the dinghy upright again.)
You may be asking how my dunking and my capsizing didn't coincide... Well, there is, in the very instant the dinghy falls onto its side, a technique that can keep you out of the water and, astounding to myself and you, I pulled off the "dry capsize" in which you leap over the side of the boat, which is lifting up to stick vertically into the air, and onto the blade of the daggerboard, which comes through the boat. Then, lean back slightly and it rights itself, and you leap back over as it does so. Big smiles for me :D :D :D :D First capsize and I pull off a dry one :D
My dunking is an entirely different and funnier matter. In the middle of these dinghys there is a footstrap. The idea is that you stick your feet under the footstrap and use it to lean out the boat, balancing it against the pull of the wind in the sail. So, there I was, skimming along: sail in, going upwind, daggerboard down, everything's right. As you accelerate you tip further towards the sail, if you don't balance it then you capsize... I DIDN'T capsize, but I had problems of another sort: the footstrap snapped. Let me make it clear to any readers that when you're leaning out, most of your body is out of the dinghy, you are not sitting on the edge you are sitting over the edge... and if your support goes then, well, I can safely say from experience, that you go head over heels back in the water before you know what's going on and end up floating like a bottle wondering what just happened. Drysuit came through again, thankfully, and I didn't get wet or cold particularly, it was just great fun.
No Martin today :( But we had this instructor called Rob instead. Cool guy, good instructor, and up for a joke. Apparently I earned his comedy moment of the week award with the snapping of my footstrap... :D :D I'm improving slowly. Getting more confident though I'm making far too many fluff-ups for my liking.
Ah well, getting on with everything. We have one more day of dinghy sailing, then we have Saturday kayaking - the one day we do of kayaking :( - and on Sunday we go on the powerboats and get (hopefully) our Powerboat Level 1s. Then on Monday I THINK we get a day off.... we'll see.... And then the rest of that week will be doing Windsurfing, which, I'm reliably informed, is going to be a lot colder than dinghy sailing. That;s fine, dinghy sailing hasn't been that cold at all to be honest.
Bar again I think this evening but, don't worry, I'm not turning into an alcoholic only the bar is the only communal place here, so it really is the only place to go. Unless I particularly wanted to remain in the quiet stuffiness of the computer rooms... which I don't.
Martin is back on Saturday, not that I know where he's gone... lol Rob tomorrow and on Sunday. Loving it here, being out on the water so much is great fun and its cool to see how going out every day improves you so rapidly, especially with tuition. My body still feels like it is bobbing along as I finish the post. They have been more frequent than I thought they would be, but it's something to do in the evenings and it's cool so I don't mind. I don't expect when I get to egypt in a couple of months that I will be updating very much at all because of the cost involved.
And a final note... I was thinking on the way back after the morning session that without the dryroom things would me extremely miserable. I don't really fancy getting into wet stuff every morning... If there was no dry room - such a simple thing - life would be much worse. It really is the simple things that make the difference. A bit like whether there is a footstrap in your boat or a daggerboard through its centre.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Martin
8.00 and a knock on our door signals the beginning of another day. a quick breakfast and then setting up the powerboats for the first time. This involves getting the keys, flares and HEAVY petrol cans; and set out 4 dingys Then our instructor - a brilliantly crazy and cool guy called Martin - met up with us and after a few land drills we went out on the water and stayed there all day with the exception of a quick lunch break midday during which i found out how difficult it is if u need to go when you're in a drysuit :S in the afternoon we went out onto the sea for the first time :D getting used to rigging up the boats and tying knots and getting into all the equipment stuff. sitting in the bar now relaxing and chatting. would have used the computers tonight but... i forgot the code into the block where they are. early to bed tonight as we don't have Martin tomorrow and the guy we have is threatening us with press ups if we aren't on time. I'm not worried but better to be extra prepared.Going to miss Martin
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Lots more sailing, a bar and a confession
So, after yesterday's capsizing theory i did not need it today :D was out sailing my little pico dingy for 4 hours this afternoon, but it was great. all is well and im beginning to get into this course. the instructors are amazing and the food is pretty decent. ever had rice pudding with currants and cinnamon? - AMAZING. Listening to my new Lecrae album, haven't finished it but I'm liking what i hear so far. i love the language he uses and the way he uses it. was semi falling asleep this evening but was dragged up to the bar. ah well. now it's sleep time again. 2morrow i will try to blog via computer and that will be far more in depth and thoughtful hopefully. finally... a confession... last night when we went to the cinema... we watched Tangled - and it was STUNNING! if it had been rubbish i wouldn't have mentioned it, but it was humorous and grips you in a sturdy storyline with well timed, well paced twists and development. worth a watch :D
Monday, 7 February 2011
First Day - Easing into it.
Introductory day. Talks and a tour round the site. think I've got it in my head, but lots to take in. Amazing instructor peeps who are really friendly and cool. laughs and jokes. don't mistake your jibe from your tack. and wave to the fishees if you don't want to boom... or just be superman. and if you capsize then jump on the daggerboard. even better news: the drysuit actually works! in the water this afternoon and i didn't get wet AND i wasn't cold... apart from my feet. so much i could say but this phone keypad is annoying me and we're going out to see a film together - all three of us that are on the course that is. WOO let's do this! the sun came out and it warmed up halfway through the afternoon so that was cool. i think next post I'm gonna go to the cyber cafe (as it's called) cos this is taking so long to write out. all in all a really good day; steady and slowly gaining confidence. also forgot to mention last night at church was really good. the youth were away on a weekend apparently.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Arriving.
So let's see/hope if/that this works. I've just spent half an hour trying to find a way round the rather mobile-unfriendly blogger I'm using. I'm lying on my bed at the moment and thinking i should be getting to sleep. it feels weird here. until tomorrow morning I'll be on my own. i don't know if I'll move rooms tomorrow, but i hope i do- this is way too big, there are 4 bunk beds in this room.crazy. it will be better when i know some people i reckon. its the lack of Facebook chat and other simple ways of communication that makes this feel really cut off, otherwise I'm fine. :D :D meeting at 9 tomorrow morning where i guess I'll meet everyone who's on the course. maybe on the water in the afternoon... who knows... typing on a phone is annoying so I'll stop there for now. hopefully this will work... please feel free to leave comments, I'd quite like then actually lol so when the course starts tomorrow I'll try make these blogs more informative and less wishy-washy.
Friday, 4 February 2011
It Draws Near
In two hours it will be officially the eve of my leaving. Cool stuff. Not too worried, really relaxed about it all. Got to check times and everything for the ferry. Simple. Keep it short and sweet for now, especially as, having just set this blog up, no one is really aware of its existence... as yet.
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