My Sailing Adventure: Part 1

I've found my new love in life, sailing. I had always wanted to try sailing, but I was never really sure how to go about it and if I would actually enjoy it. Sailing with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust has been some of the best four days, which I still talk and think about almost everyday.

I've decided to write about my sailing adventure into around 3-4 smaller blog posts. In this first post I will be writing about the first day of my sailing adventure and what exciting activities I got up to, meeting others who have been through their own cancer journey and the incredible staff and volunteers of the trust who make the sailing trips possible.

Day 1
Monday 6th July 2015 morning, I woke up feeling both nervous and excited for the days ahead. I was dropped off at Belfast City Airport by my Dad, where I met my CLIC Sargent Social Worker Simon and the other young people from Northern Ireland who I would be joining on the trip. We flew to Glasgow and then took a taxi to Largs. The scenery during the car journey was beautiful, the rolling green hills were picture perfect and the crystal clear streams were very tranquil. When we arrived at port, we were invited to the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust office, where we met the crew, the other young people from across England and the volunteers. We then had lunch and played some introduction games so we got to know each other. We then found out who was going to be on each boat. There were four boats altogether, the boat I was on was called, Bluebird. The Skipper of our boat was called, Simon, and the volunteers were, Ian, Dani and Caroline. The young people were Jordan and Alex who were from England and Katy from Northern Ireland who I already knew. Then the exciting part (well, for Katy and I anyway), we got our branded Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust top, cap, water bottle, bag, and a sailing log book too! We were like kids in a sweet shop, full of excitement. It was then time to bring our luggage to our boats and be shown around. I must of had the heaviest suitcase out of everybody, I could just about lift it off the ground. I packed everything besides the kitchen sink, and I didn't even wear half the clothes. I guess it was better to be prepared, especially when I had never been sailing before so I didn't know what to expect. That night Katy and I went to the shower and toilet facilities on port (which were really nice and clean), we dashed out in our flip-flops and pyjamas while it was pitch black, pouring with rain trying not to slip on the dock and fall into the dark icy cold water. We came across a crab just lying there on the dock with two of its claws detached from its body. On our way back to the boat the crab was no longer there, we were in hysterics at the fact a crab with two claws missing, somehow found it's way back into the water.

Danielle X