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by Jan Lewis:
Saturday the 16th August was the first time I had been sailing on Covenham Reservoir. Paul had arranged for me to go and see how I might like Sailing. I was both excited and nervous. I love the water, swimming, boating and walking by the sea, but I've never had the chance to Sail before. When I arrived on the Saturday morning, I was very soon surrounded by a number of extremely helpful people. I was introduced to a man called Rob Chase who took me into a room where I was fitted with a life jacket. Once I had got my jacket zipped and buckled, we were off to the boat.
The first boat I went out on had a main sail and a jib. Rob did all the sailing but gave me a rope that I had to pull when required. He took me on this boat to give me a taste of being on a Sail Boat. After having been on this boat for a while, Rob took me back to the Jetty where I transferred to a smaller boat called an Access Dingy. These Dinghies are Approximately 7 feet long with 1 Sail and a stick, which is the tiller. There are two canvas seats side by side. I was reliably informed that these dinghies are extremely safe and it is almost impossible to capsize them.
We left the jetty with Simon, my instructor manning the sails and me on the tiller. We had a light breeze with some sudden gusts, so we kept having to tack to catch the wind. When you tack you have to turn the boat to catch the wind and then you really pick up speed. After we had been out for a short while, Simon gave me the rope to the sail so I had complete control, it was an amazing feeling. Obviously, at this stage I had very little idea about sailing, but I was given instruction all the while.
It is quite an unbelievable experience to find yourself in control of a boat, albeit a dingy. The exhilaration that you feel when you turn the boat to catch the wind let out the sail, and pick up speed is tremendous. All you can hear is the water lapping at the hull as you move through the water and the sound of the wind flapping at the sail as you let it out or pull it in. It is difficult to put into words what a wonderful feeling of freedom it is, to go sailing a dinghy on a lovely summer's day. Unfortunately, I only had an hour and a half; I could have stayed all afternoon. I have most certainly been bitten by the sailing bug, and will continue to go. I would recommend it to anyone that loves the water.