It could be the Mediterranean! What a day to start our first trip of the year, sunshine, a breath of wind, sunglasses, shorts and caps – magic! Thanks to the support of Thomas Pocklington Trust and UKSA we have our first training session and yes it’s with a twist as it is our visually impaired sailors training our new volunteers on the do’s and don’ts of visually impaired sailing and understanding what we need from you. We can sail the boat but can’t do it without you. Hands off it’s my job! Super skipper Rick Smith, ably supported by David Muldoon, is in overall control but Dee Jones, Nathalie Wright and Andrew Windsor are the tutors. What a great start to 2024.
Andrew said:
‘We had three days sailing, the first day could have been the Mediterranean, the second day nice and sunny but nowhere as hot as the first. The third day… It felt like we had been transported to a different season altogether. Grey skies, Wind and Rain but oh boy was it enjoyable. We had proper wind and were sailing for real that day. Wow, what a great day for sailing. Food was being prepped and cooked on the fly, just brilliant.
It was interesting to see the volunteers’ faces when we said we couldn’t see that green buoy or we couldn’t see anything in front of us. The volunteers then had to think on their feet and try and find a way to explain where they wanted us to steer the boat.’
Audio Interviews:
Apologies for some reverb in the recordings.
Crew List:
Skipper:
Rick Smith
First Mate:
David Muldoon
Volunteers:
Jane Barnes
Clive Crocker
Ian Britton
Tom Moffatt
Alex Stevens
Visually Impaired Sailors:
Andrew Windsor
Nathalie Wright
Dee Jones
