Sailing at UKSA, Cowes

Day 5 – Friday 5 July

The last day was here at the UKSA headquarters and we were all sad to leave. We set off in the dinghy boats and tried to catch the wind, unfortunately there wasn’t much so we started to do some fun activities.

First we started to capsize the boats and then tried to get back on, then we swam around and did relay races. After a brief stop for lunch, we went off with an instructor to do some wet activities, for example: blind man’s throw, cover the holes and water in cup activity. Finally we set off to the changing rooms to get ready for the trip back. We all looked sadly, as we pulled out of the driveway from UKSA and set off on the last part of our journey home.

Miki & Paddy

Day 4 – Thursday 4 July

Today, we started off with stand up paddle boarding down the harbour and into a clear patch of water, where we started playing games. We had a massive seaweed fight, which caused a lot of rivalries, and we formed a line of paddle boards where we ran down and jumped into the water at the end. It was lots of fun!

By Mostafa

Today we did stand up paddle boarding, or SUP for short. We had done this activity before, but it was still great fun as we paddled through the river Solent and had a seaweed fight as well as a paddle board race. It was great! For the afternoon activity we played kayaking games, which included seal diving, pontoon diving, a relay race and a kayak football game. My favourite had to have been the kayak football, as it was great fun passing the ball around and scoring on the buoy. Overall our last full day was a great way to end the trip as I particularly enjoyed the fun games and activities!

Shiv

Day 3 – Wednesday 3 July

On Wednesday we all started our day with kayaking where we learnt how to communicate with our teammates . We had to paddle in synchronisation and steer the kayak and we paddled far up “crocodile creak” (it had no crocodiles thankfully). Needless to say it was fun!

Stephane

The afternoon started with a trip up the creek to the open sea, being towed in our “dinghies” by a power boat. We learned how to jibe and tack, which is turning the boat into and away from the wind. It was great fun having races with other boats, forming rivalries for Thursday.

Atticus

Day 2 – Tuesday 2 July

Today we tried our hand at stand-up paddle boarding and we went on the keelboats in small groups. 

Let me start with the stand-up paddle boarding. This was amazing and great fun. The view was beautiful, and I loved pushing people off their boards, into the sea (don’t worry – the instructors told us when it was safe to do this!)

The keel boats were also incredible. Our group of four told many jokes whilst we were sailing – mostly with a nautical theme!

We also splashed other boats as they passed by and got everyone wet which was a highlight of today. However, I felt really bad for one of my friends, when I accidentally threw seaweed on him and it landed straight in his face!

By Ahmad 

Today we went ‘supping’ in the morning and in the afternoon we had a go on keel boats and jet boats. The stand up paddle boards were really fun but we fell in quite a lot. I was quite nervous for the paddle boarding because I didn’t think I would like it but actually it was great fun. We played some exciting games on the  boards and everyone had a great time.

The keel boating was also really good and we learnt how to tie the boats to the pontoon. As well as this, we learnt how to tighten the ropes, put up the sail and steer the boat in the right direction. Halfway through we swapped and went onto the jet boat. This was brilliant and we went much faster than before. The best bit was splashing everyone else with our paddles. The weather was amazing and the water was really refreshing.

By Radha

Day 1 – Monday 1 July

Today, we spent the morning travelling, taking the coach and a ferry to the Isle of Wight. In the afternoon we had a go at windsurfing in the bay at Thorness, near the UKSA campus. It was great fun, and I will definitely windsurf again in future. The evening activity was orienteering, in the nearby woods. I would do this again, but it wasn’t as much fun as the windsurfing! I learned today that, unfortunately, plastic is found everywhere, and that windsurfing is much easier than it seems!

By Freddie

Today, we arrived at the UKSA centre and after lunch, we set off to go windsurfing. The journey there was very interesting as we went via a “floating bridge” with massive chains that joined East and West Cowes.

Windsurfing was great fun, despite the mud, and it was very interesting as this was my first time doing anything like this. I must confess that it was much harder than I had expected yet it still was fun.

After the windsurfing we returned to the centre, and later, we went to the nearby forest where we solved some riddles, and looked at the wide variety of trees. 

By Ishaan

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