training and more training...

So the two weeks of training was fun. My skipper and crew are pretty cool which is the main thing....

The week started with a lot of wind. We got grounded one evening, because of gale force winds (the ones that pretty much trashed the fast net) but we were out and about the rest of the week - crashing through the waves, as it was pretty choppy. Wave surfing is good fun though, esppecially as when you are on the helm as you can see them coming! Week 2 we had a photo shoot. Unfortunatly there, I made a bad choice and chose to go on the foredeck to release the sails for our Le Mons start (we were doing some pretty formation sailing). Anyway, as soon as we got all the sails up (more than we really needed for the conditions, but they wanted to see the logo on the main, so no 3rd reef allowed), things went a bit wrong, as we crashed through the waves and I held on for dear life. I became pretty good friends with my lifeline (which was attaching me to the boat) and the Nicole style screeching was pretty frequent! (Personally I think that it is a good thing as at least they knew I was still there). My lifejacket went off as there was so much water - but frankly I was to busy holding on to notice. Eventually I think that they felt sorry for me, as the main was spilled, and I took the opportunity to crawl (very literally) back to safety. All fun and games as Marcus (the skipper) would say, though I can't say I agreed at the time. Kind of funny looking back though - and there better be some great pictures!
The rest of the week was filled with the standard stuff - practicing everything, though for the third training week there was either too much or two little wind to do much with the spinnaker. A few fire drills (aka water fights) and some cheeky halves, finished off the week. Now I am back at work - only 4 days to go - and still obsessing about kit!
xx