Our task for the morning was to bring two groups of "Watergirls" out onto into the bay, and to give them a brief taste of what is involved in cruiser sailing. The annual "Watergirls" event is organized by Waterford City Council and hosted by Waterford Harbour Sailing Club, and is designed to entice more ladies out onto the water. There were nine visitors in all, and Ciaran Mc Grath joined us with the first group of 5, while Bill Mc Connell kept us company and gave a brief masterclass on rib handling. And so back out into the choppy waters of the bay with heavily furled sails, and immediately we were up to 6 knots and heeled over nicely. A little tight in the cockpit with nine souls aboard but everybody had a go on the winches or on the helm, and the "seasickness" word was never even mentioned! Great! Gave out all the usual warnings about fingers and winches but kept the boom fully centred so that that particular brand of danger was removed. A couple of the boats passed us as they headed out on the Scilly Isles rally, and our guests were both fascinated by the capability of the craft and the resolve of their crews.
And so back into the harbour to pick up our second group and to swap Ciaran for Bill, and back out into the bay again! Again heavily furled sails and terrific speeds, a great if somewhat turbulent introduction to sailing. Two of the girls went forward to the bow of the boat to get closer to the action and Jim Kompa volunteered to go forward to keep an eye on them....but we reckoned he was just looking for phone numbers! Bill took the helm and I think he was impressed with the way Neidin handled herself.....at least I hope so. Then back once more into Dunmore to hand over our guests and organize a very belated breakfast!!!
A very pleasant morning with two most enthusiastic and promising crews. We look forward to next years event!
Passage: WHSC "Watergirls" Open Day.
Crew: Jim Kompa. Neil Mc Grory. Ciaran Mc Grath. Bill Mc Connell. Fia and 9 visiting guests.
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