Nov 09 – Ahoy Sailor!
December 5, 2009
Unable to bear Sydney’s heat wave any longer, we decided to check out the Balmoral Sailing School this afternoon. We decided that an hour taking out a Pico (small sailing boat with no motor) on the harbour would cool us off, and seeing how I have no idea what I am doing, it was an ideal way for me to start learning the ropes from Graeme! With the option of hiring out equipment or booking lessons, you can take out a variety of small sailing boats, windsurfs and kayaks from The Balmoral Sailing School. An acquaintance of mine told me about this place so Graeme and I were looking forward to giving this a go.
We found our sailing school at the end of the beach and went up to the counter to pay for our pre booked Pico. I was not surprised to hear an English accent behind the counter, as after all us Brits are all over Sydney! We filled in some forms as this was our first time of hiring out equipment, and then paid our $50 for an hour’s hire which I thought was pretty reasonable. The assistant was very helpful pointing out do’s and don’ts on a map with regards to where we were allowed to sail. Grabbing our life jackets we walked down to the waters edge to pick up our Pico.
I was a little nervous seeing as I am fairly new to sailing. Graeme reassured me and warned me that he would be shouting out a few instructions on route. Jumping in we set off fairly slowly which was a relief. The wind was not too strong, and we had to manoeuvre ourselves through a large group of motor boats and sailing boats which were moored up at the end of the beach there. Already I could feel the glorious breeze cooling down my hot skin though which was an instant relief! We spent around an hour out on the water in total, never straying too far from the bay as there wasn’t enough wind. We had plenty of time just relaxing whilst waiting for the next strong gust to pick us up. Enough time to debate whether we should dream about buying a sailing boat or a motor boat! It was a great thing to do though and next time we decided to bring a picnic lunch.
Once we were back on dry land we decided to treat ourselves with fish and chips from the local and extremely popular chip shop. Good fish and chips, but not a patch on the good old English chips I have to admit. If anyone can tell me where I can buy some English style chips around Sydney, I will be eternally grateful!!
