Lizzy's Blog

April 2009 ...

Pre-Season Sail Training at Mimosa

Been doing windsurf training for the past week, going really well! Aiming for my WI (Windsurf Instructor) at the moment and snorkelling, safety boat and climbing and abseiling later on in season.

So far, all is good! Just discovered today that I’m on the first windsurf course :o) Very excited! And so pleased! If I pass then it means I have another week or two to maybe get my snorkel/safety boat/learn to tow a banana boat. Yay!

I’ve got my STCW qualie (Survival Techniques in Coastal Waters), passed that at the beginning of the month, so that if you’re stuck on a yacht at sea, and seem to have forgotten how your life raft works, have no fear: Lizzy is here :o)

But in windsurf I can beach start, light windstart, fast tack, carve gybe ... I’ve learnt loads! And our assessor Phil Twinning is going to teach us more so I want to learn how to Heli tack next! Phil is amazing, he’s like Yoda but cooler and more realistic :o)

We had our first staff ent the other night. All the different groups had to dress up as a theme (the whole thing was a tribes’ night) so we had the tree huggers, the pigmy tribe, ninjas etc …my group was superheroes. I know what you’re going to say: “Hey. That’s not a tribe”. Well I say to you … League of Extraordinary Gentleman.

I’ve met loads of people; I have my new chum Sophie sitting next to me as I write. She’s bonkers. It’s fun :o) I’m sharing a tent with a lassie (we’ll call her a hippie called Sarah). I met her last season so technically, she isn’t new but she’s funky anyway. And some of the new peeps have been teaching me new stuff too. It’s a whole learning fest! I can now poi! It’s like juggling with a ball suspended from material held in hand and swung in circles. We have poi-er skaters, bladers, basketball players, diablo-ers. I can hula a hula hoop for ages…we may as well be a bunch of circus freaks!

Big  change in lifestyle, living in tents so they get kinda messy and sandy very quickly. And when it rains … lets say they get a bit moist!
But our chef Nick is a total legend, he makes awesome food, really puts effort into it. And he’s a veggie so the veggie food always looks and tastes like gourmet. But overall, the lifestyle is so healthy. Sun, sea and sand.

You eat the right diet and you can have a huge breakfast but after the morning’s activities you’re starving and ready for your homemade baguette. That’s right. A baguette. No titchy English thingy, this is France-style! And if you’re hungry enough to eat a whole of those then we’re doing something right in our lifestyle.
 
Right-o, I’m going to do poi with my chum Scott. TTFN (Ta ta for now)!!