This was the day of our start of the season orientation for new helpers, as well as old. Ralph, Helen, Barry, Denis, John arrived early to get the boats and gear out of the boat room, and to make room for the chairs so that we would have a class room available for the new people turning up.
We were so pleased to welcome Michelle, Elizabeth, Kellie, Joel, John W, Sarah-Jane, Ariane, Jack, Bob, Lars, Jacinta, Elaine, Mal, Jenni, Susan, and Mel to our new team. Ivan, Jackie, Tony, David G. Kandy, Alan, Niamh, Vince, Jim, Megan, Patrick, Roger joined us from the “old team” to help with the orientation, take people out sailing, help with the barbecue, and generally help people to feel at home.
We started with a short classroom session of why we enjoy Sailability, what it means to us, introductions, a quick run-down of some of the disabilities that some of our participants live with, then straight into the rigging of boats, a sail over Manly Cove, a try out of Charlie’s Chariot for some people, and the morning just sailed away.
Before we knew it, Helen had a delicious lunch ready, the Manly Juniors started to arrive, and we needed to get the boats washed and put away. It was lovely to see everyone diving in and helping, and see the start of an excellent working relationship some of the new volunteers are already forming.
