Balmoral Sailing School

Every child who entered in either the 10km or 5km Mini-Mos fun runs was eligible to enter the draw to win one of 30 sailing lessons from event sponsor, the Balmoral Sailing School.

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Ready to set-sail

As my little guy ran in both races, he ended up with two entries so the odds of him winning one of the 30 entries was pretty good.  And so back in June and a few days after the event, Alfie heard the news that he had won a sailing lesson. The right boots can also make a huge difference when sailing and I really love the Gill boots for sailing, as they are just fantastic so I made sure that Alfie must have a pair of it.

And the lesson begins

And the lesson begins

He had to wait until September for his big day of sailing but I told him that was a good thing because then it would be Spring and the weather would have warmed for a beautiful day on the water.

The lesson

The lesson

Wrong!  On the day it was cold, raining and miserable.  Alfie didn’t want to go.  But it’s not good to let an opportunity slip by so I told him how much he’d enjoy it, (having never sailed myself), despite the weather.

Getting ready to head out to sea

Getting ready to head out to sea

There was some confusion (just with me) about what time we were supposed to be there.  The night before I asked another mother what time it started and she said 10.30am but in the morning I found an email telling me we had to be there at 10am.  But at 9.30 I found an earlier email saying we had to be there at 9.30 and so it was a mad scramble into the car to get to the sailing school.

Getting a few instructions

Getting a few instructions

I told Alfie to put on his wetsuit but being oppositional he said, ‘Don’t want to’.  I packed it anyway and when we arrived the first thing he noticed (apart from us being the last to arrive) is that everyone else was wearing a wetsuit.  ‘I’ll wear that wetsuit, mum’, he said.

Bye, bye

Bye, bye

After getting him changed he was ready to be put into a pair to sail in a boat.  Unfortunately, with all the wetsuit mucking about, all the boys were in pairs and Alfie was the odd man out.  He had to be paired with, horror, a girl, and I don’t think she was too pleased to be his partner.

Lost at sea

Lost at sea

After a few salient points on the sand, they took their boats out onto the water and off they went.  Right out to sea with no clue how to turn around and head back the shore.  Bye, bye.

A rescue

A rescue

Fortunately, the sailing club provided a towing service for those in strife and that towing service was flat out the entire morning.  One boat came too close to the piers of the swimming pool and had to be towed away before there was a crash and Alfie’s boat went out to sea and while they were going in one direction they were absolutely fine.  The issues arose when they thought they might like to head back to the shore but, exactly what were those instructions about turning the boat around?

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The rescue

And as for Alfie’s partner, she complained mightily.  She didn’t like her sailing experience and had an impressive tantrum.  I think it was over steering the boat.  Alfie thought he needed more practise at steering and she felt she needed to be in charge so also wanted her hands on the steering tool.  They were not a good team.

Bringing in the boats

Bringing in the boats

Yet again the very busy tow-boat service had to go out on another rescue mission.  They brought Alfie and his partner back to shore and Alfie, who had said he didn’t want to go sailing, came out of his boat announcing sailing was so fantastic and so much fun, he wanted to attend the sailing school’s holiday program where you can attend for a day or a week.  I’m thinking Alfie might like to go for a week.

And afterwards, there was a sausage sizzle

And afterwards, there was a sausage sizzle

Information on the sailing school’s holiday program is on their website.

Balmoral Sailing Club:  Balmoral Park, The Esplanade, Mosman NSW 2088

Ph:  02 9960 5344

 

 

 

Comments

  1. There are some familiar themes in this post … tardiness and a challenging child (always listen to your mum, Alfie, she knows best). I’m glad you got SOME food into the child. Was there a stiff drink for mum at the end of the day?

    Fun times ahead with a possible week of sailing.

  2. Well I’m glad it ended up being a fun experience in the end, annoying female partner notwithstanding!

  3. Oh dear, there does seem to be quite a bit of drama Charlie. Glad to hear that even though the weather wasn’t perfect and his sailing partner a did I’m glad to hear he had a good time. We have a 3m sailboat at the cottage that no one has used in at least 10 years.

  4. What a trooper, what an experience.

  5. I’d never been sailing before E was born, but my parents bought a small sail boat and I’ve now been out a few times. The most recent time was just Sunday, where my dad and I tipped the boat, we were way out in the water and had to right it. It was very cold. But an adventure. I hated the first time. Tell Alfie that it gets better!

  6. Alfie’s too funny! I’m glad he had such a great time in the end!

  7. What a great experience for Alfie, sounds like he really enjoys sailing!

  8. Alfie is adorable, this seems like so much fun 😀
    Sailing is awesome!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  9. I’m glad he enjoyed going in the end Charlie- and I’m glad it sounds like you have a bit of peace and quiet sorted for yourself these holidays too. I could definitely enjoy sipping a GnT watching my girls drifting off toward the horizon….. Squabbling out of hearing for a couple of hours, and having to learn to work as a team. Oh, and I suppose knowing they’ll be towed safe and sound back in eventually would help my peace of mind too 🙂 xox

  10. What a fun day for Alfie! 🙂

  11. Oh boy, I’m glad it ended well & Alfie took to sailing after that experience, it’ll be so cool watching his progress after the summer sailing course too.

  12. What cute little boats they are, and how lucky Alfie is to have this experience when he’s so young. I love sailing.

  13. Thank goodness for the towing service! I did sailing lessons on several (it felt like many) weekends as a child, enrolled by an enthusiastic father who loves sailing and thought his oldest child might like it too. I didn’t. Being at the whim of the sea and the wind is not my kind of thing, and I never did get over my fear of the boat tipping – which sailboats apparently need to do in all sorts of circumstances. Alfie is off to a better start!

  14. Hehe he looks just like his dad in these photos! I live for the sausage sizzle and I suspect that I might have been like his sailing partner 😛

  15. Awww, glad to know Alfie won. At least he got to steer and knew where he could improve. Great job, Alfie!

    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways

  16. What a brilliant day. He learned how to handle difficult women, to listen to his mother about fashion and he learned he loves sailing. PLUS – he got a sausage. 🙂

  17. Great work Charlie with your youngest charge. he is a little frecracker isnt he?

  18. I’m so happy the crabby girl didn’t ruin Alfie’s sailing experience! What a sweet kid he is. Hope he’s able to enjoy an entire week sailing! 🙂

  19. Alfie’s resilient nature shines through in coming out of his first sailing experience with a “woman” in control of the steering but not her emotions, and he still thought it was a grand experience. LOL! He can add sailing to his list of sporting accomplishments. I’m impressed!

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