In which I cover the first four days of this week

Day One - Monday 9th
So this was the first day of the final part/section of our course and we began well: with a familiar face.  Steve Jackson, head dinghy Instructor at UKSA and also one of the two instructors we've had nearly all the way through from beginning to end, was our instructor.  We were down for just doing a welcome to UKSA etc etc.  HOWEVER, as we both have already been at UKSA for months already this was unnecessary and we therefore ended going for a powerboat trip down to Lymington.  We spent an hour or so planning out our course, route etc and taking into considerations tides and weather.  Then we took out the new coach boat, so far some of the only people to have driven it (to my knowledge).  Tom drove us up there, I drove back and in the middle we had lunch.  Compared to our normal safety RIBs it is fast... we both managed to get up to 40 knots....... yep, it was well fun and it was good practise too.    To finish the day we helped with the site tidy-up which is exactly as it says... make everything look pristine. (some might say shipshape)

Day Two - Tuesday 10th
This was an interesting day.  In the morning we had "industry guidance" and we got some help with our CVs and stuff.  As we both, however, had pretty decent CVs already there wasn't much to do and we were finished by lunch.  In the afternoon after inquiring as to the vacancy of any jobs that needed doing (there was nothing) I spent it reading and finished my third and final book just within the 36 hour mark after buying.  That's about a book a day, however, i had finished the first two books in roughly the first 24 hours (26 hours) and I did pretty much no reading on the Monday.... or Sunday morning.  reading time was probably... hmmmm.... altogether somewhere around the 24 hour mark.  Not bad going... and I'm looking forward to rereading all of them.  I'm also now interested in what the film versions of "I am number four" and "The Eagle of the Ninth" are like. 

Day Three - Wednesday 11th
Day three heralded our first day of assisting in sessions and the two sessions we helped out in were both in areas we weren't qualified to instruct in.  The first was keelboating, and, in the afternoon, multihull-ing.  Both were fun.  In the keelboats I went with Martin, another familiar face, and I just helped out.  They're like large dinghies to be perfectly fair and apart from a few minor differences it went well and smoothly.  No one was doing ay instructing, it was more of an experience-thing for the kids instead of a lesson.  In the afternoon me and Tom were together in a powerboat, all I did that afternoon was sit in the powerboat.  Which was surprisingly good fun, just to be watching and smiling.  So that was all good.  In the evening I went down to Newport for cell and saw everyone again, which was great.  We also went down to the youth cafe for a bit and I said hello again to some other friends.  Then we went back and had "cell proper" with question of the week and everything.  We finished late as we'd started later and I found myself once again cycling back in pitch blackness (other than my light) at about 11.20 at night.  I got in at about quarter to twelve and was very eager at that point to then jump into my bed, which I promptly did.

Day Four - Thursday 12th
We were with the same group again today, and there is something that I didn't mention about this group: they're disabled.  It's been challenging but so much fun to be working with them.  there are a number of wheelchair users and we've been lifting them in and out of their wheelchairs to get them onto boats and rafts over the last couple of days.  The hardest part about it is the lack of response.  You can only hold conversations with a couple of them and even then it's patchy sometimes.  But don't get me wrong it's been an amazing group, and they were, individually, great kids/young people.  Today was a bit of a splurge of activities.  In the morning we instructors built a raft  before the session began and then we had various kids being paddled around on it.  We got some open-hull kayaks out and an instructor and a leader would take a kid out between them.  Then there was a bit of dinghy sailing where we attached a tow line to the bow painter of a pico and then, with a five second demo/tuition on how to use a rudder we sent them off, some individually, some with one of the group leaders, for a short sail in the "pond" that is to say the water directly in front of UKSA.  Then they'd be pulled back in with the tow rope.  It was great fun and we all were switching different activities.  Paddling a fully loaded raft around was the hardest thing to do, especially with only two paddlers.  The most interesting part was supporting one of the wheelchair users in a kayak, I call "them" that but not because that's how I think of them, just so that I'm not saying their name.  We had another instructor paddling at the front and all I had to do was sit with this person on my lap and talk to them, though there was little response and no verbal response from them at all.
It's been a great experience, and I'm really loving it.  They leave tomorrow sadly, but as a first-time group it's been pretty amazing.

And then, finally, tomorrow, I believe that I have a day off :D :D  Now how to spend it now I have no books.... hmmm.... I'll have to let you know tomorrow...