Have A Go Sailing

The programme this year was again a stunning success for all the 20 schools who participated.  There is no better way to illustrate this than to show some of the letters of thanks received from those who took part ... in this case from St Josephs Primary School ...
 
 
 
 
 
 
St. Joseph's Primary School at Have a go Sailing! The kids absolutely loved it. The program inspired an incredible amount of growth in such a short time frame. From fear and uncertainty when first heading into the water, to joy, bravery, Titanics and purposeful capsizing at the end of the day, it was phenomenal to witness!
 
Every child benefited so greatly from the experience, especially those riddled with fear initially, as they faced and conquered fears, and emerged with a greater respect for, and appreciation of, the ocean and its associated activities.
 
Here are some of the responses to their participation from the kids themselves:
 
Dear Have a Go Sailing Team,
 
I am writing to you to thank you for teaching us how to sail. I would like to tell you how much fun I had.
 
We danced with joy when Mrs Ive told us that we were going sailing. We got into buddies. My buddies were Toffi, Finley and Zac. When we arrived, I was a little bit nervous and a bit scared because I’ve never done sailing.
 
First, the instructor told us how to make the boat, it was pretty hard to build. He gave us each a boat to build. My boat was yellow. After we finished, we had morning tea. After morning tea, we put our wetsuits on. I had a size 10. We went in the bathroom and there were alot of boys in there. I was the first one to get out.
 
Next, we put the wheels on the boat and pushed it toward the sea. My buddy on the boat was Isaac. I was pulling the rope to go faster, and Isaac was steering.  We were the fastest people.
 
The people on the boat threw balls on the ocean and Isaac and I go a lot of balls. They even threw some rubber ducks. Isaac and I got a few of them. Then we went toward the club house, when we got there it was lunch. I ate my my food.
 
I had a wonderful time and I hope to sail again.
 
Thank you.
 
Kind regards,
 
Matteo
 
 
I’m writing this letter to tell what amazing day I had on Monday!
 
We were so excited to come. When we got there, I could explode with excitement. 
 
I liked when Kim showed us how to put the parts of the boat together, I also liked when Steve made me, Mabel and Janelle go really, really REALLY fast on the motor boat, I liked when Justin told us what to do. I liked when Zac and I capsized after we capsized Mabel was like “WAIT FOR ME” so she jumped in and we swam back to shore. My favorite part was EVERYTHING 
 
Kind regards,
Jade
 
Dear have a go sailing team,
 
I am writing to you as a thank you letter. Thank you for teaching us to sail.
 
When we arrived, my heart skipped a beat with happiness (and fear of the cold water!) Then we took a photo of our class.
Then we put our bags down and walked over to our boats.
 
First you taught us the stern and then the bow. After that we got our own boats ready, my buddy was Janelle. Our boat was 7 white.
 
Then we had  morning tea. After morning tea we got our wetsuits on and dragged our boats into the water.
 
At first we were chained to the boat in front of us but then we had to take it off!
 
Sailing was fun but my buddy was freaking out!
                        
Kind regards,
Iona
 
Dear Have a Go Sailing Team,
 
I am writing because on monday we went sailing it was very fun so I wanted to write a thank you card. 
 
It started when you told us how to set up a sailing boat, after that we had morning tea. After morning tea we got our life jackets on and put our sail boats out in the ocean. 
 
Sailing was EXTREMELY fun but it was hard to get the hang of. After we went sailing, the water was too cold and I could not go sailing again, it was VERY fun though.
 
 I think my favorite part was being able to sail.  
 
Thank you for inviting us. 
 
Warm wishes,
Gus