I think it fair to say I kind of like it out here. The 'winter' weather has been perfect for sailing. We havent had a day under 20 degrees, and on the whole the wind has been really nice as well. All of this has equated to some great hours on the water. Following my last blog we continued to sail for a couple of days and managed some really productive sessions on the water.
After a fairly relentless introduction to Miami, we opted to take a rest day. Following alot of deliberation on what to do during our time not sailing, we eventually settled on driving down to the florida keys and seeing a little of the scenery and wildlife down there. After some seemless navigation we made it to Key Large (the first of the keys), Having pulled in to the first tourist information centre we were only in there 5 minutes and left with a booking for a jetski wildlife watching tour. It was a great trip, unfortunately the wildlife wasn't abundant, but we had a great time. I think the highlight must have been when one of the other skis on the tour managed to roll, this left 2 very surprised 'older' people floundering in the water. All very entertaining. The long drive back to Miami was made bearable by the incredible sunset which seemed to go on for hours.
On Tuesday it was back to business. Miami provide some more glamorous conditions and we made the most of it. We were even joined briefly by Stevie Morrison (2 time olympian), who offered some words of wisdom from the rib. Over the subsequent few days we got some great time on the water, it really does feel like we are learning everyday and moving forward.
As we arrived at the end of the week, the wind for the first time has been a little ropey. Yesterday the forecast was for nothing, so we took the opportunity to get a few jobs done. The girls took great delight in wondering a near by shopping centre during the morning. myself and rupert's experience can probably be best described as power walking around a giant building. IN the afternoon we met up with some of the other nacra teams and made fools of our selves on the South Beach volleyball courts. needless to say i think we will all stick to the sailing.
A now we are up to today. fresh and ready for another training block. As i sit and write this the breeze seems to be building so we should have a good day on the water.
Cheers All
TP