23rd October 2012
Sailing - Petersburg OEC - Brian
We had force 2-3 winds and it was dry & overcast.
- Today I wanted to show Brian what we learnt with Simon last week.
- I wanted to show him everything that I have learnt so far at Petersburg and prove to him that I am at the standard to receive my Level 2 Sailing skills certificate.
Brian told us at the beginning of the session who was on his list that he was hoping to give level 2 certs to by the end of the day. I was pleased that I was on his list and was looking forward to showing him the skills.
We had to show that we have a basic knowledge of sailing, we are safety conscious and that we are capable of sailing without an instructor in light winds.
We had to show that we have a basic knowledge of sailing, we are safety conscious and that we are capable of sailing without an instructor in light winds.
Brian took us out and the first thing we did was show him that we could come along side his RIB, this was made easier by the steady force 2 we had. This slowed down the whole process meaning you had time to think before carrying out the manoeuvre.
We then showed him that we could do man over board drills, this was again made easier by the wind conditions.
After lunch I was in a dinghy with Emmet and we did a bit of rudderless sailing with Brian. You do this by shifting your weight to the opposite side of the boat to which you want to turn and then back again. I found this difficult and I think it could have been due to my weight not being enough with Emmet as my crew at the front of the boat.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the afternoon session, I got a shooting pain going from my lower back down to my knee. I jumped up and had to stand while Emmet sailed the dinghy on his own back over to the rescue boat so I could get out.
We then showed him that we could do man over board drills, this was again made easier by the wind conditions.
After lunch I was in a dinghy with Emmet and we did a bit of rudderless sailing with Brian. You do this by shifting your weight to the opposite side of the boat to which you want to turn and then back again. I found this difficult and I think it could have been due to my weight not being enough with Emmet as my crew at the front of the boat.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the afternoon session, I got a shooting pain going from my lower back down to my knee. I jumped up and had to stand while Emmet sailed the dinghy on his own back over to the rescue boat so I could get out.
I was in so much pain and didn’t know what to do to ease it. I couldn’t move in any direction, I couldn’t even sit.
Brian had a talk to me about the pain and told me that he thought it might be my sciatic nerve. He jumped in the boat with Emmet so that he could show him something and he left me in the power boat.
When he came back again I think he could see the pain in my face because he wrapped up the session and we all headed in.
I couldn’t help pack away the boats or anything, I even needed help to get out of my wetsuit. I don’t know how it happened but I am going to a physiotherapist to get sorted out hopefully before next week.
Despite my crippling back pain, I passed my level 2 sailing skills assessment! This was a huge highlight and I am really looking forward to learning my level 3 skills.
I need to get my back sorted so that it doesn’t give me trouble in the future. Brian said that if you don’t deal with back pain at the beginning it just ends up getting worse and worse. (Apparently he speaks from experience). So he gave me the number of a lady in Westport to go to.
Today I saw a swan on the lake, Brian said it was strange to see one on this side of the lake because they usually stay on the opposite side.
No comments:
Post a Comment