Our last adventure

We all had an amazing time at UKSA this week, learning more about ourselves and what we could achieve whilst having a lot of fun at the same time. 

After so many water- based challenges, the adventure continued on the journey home. Some of us spent our last few pennies on the ferry on last minute gifts and the delay in the arrival of the coach didn't dampen spirits. In fact, this became part of the adventure as we were let loose on a nearby play area and were treated to a huge ice-cream, topped off with a flake. The fun continued onto the coach where we shared happy memories of the trip (and reminisced about the disco).

We we all pleased to see our parents again and looked forward to a long, hot bath- well, the teachers did, anyway!

We would all like to thank our parents for giving us the opportunity to go away on such a fantastic adventure. 

The UKSA Gang

June 2013

Raft building fun

And so to our last activity...

The challenge: to build a raft to carry our whole team out onto the water, around the markers and back to the slipway.

(Mrs Mumford's challenge: for her team to win!)

The materials: old windsurf boards, barrels, rope, bungee cord, old wooden poles, the creativity of a group of 11 year olds.

The skills: a lot of patience, negotiating skills with the instructors, more patience, knot skills, communication skills, spatial awareness, TEAMWORK.

The results.... A lot of fun, 4 fantastic rafts, 41 smiles and a lot of wet children. Oh yes! Mrs Mumford's team DID win (again!)

The Friday downpour!

It's even more wet and fun today as the lightning and thunder have added to our adventure. 

Raft building has never been so apt! 

Disco fever!

We've put our glad rags on, ready to dance the night away.

Thursday on the water.

Another beautiful day on the water! Each of the groups went out on kayaks/ Canadian canoes, went to Thorness to windsurf or went keel boating past Osborne House. Weather conditions were perfect and we have nearly used up our stocks of sun cream. 

We've all had a "very fun and wet time" and can't believe we only have half a day left. We had another great dinner to give us energy for our disco dancing this evening.

Evening update

Not content with splashing around during the day, this evening we went out in the minibuses to Ryde beach, a beautiful expanse of sand overlooking Portsmouth, for beach games. This involved a lot of running around, hopping around in upturned buoyancy aids and spinning around a paddle. We then split into smaller groups to play football/ volleyball and build sand castles. What a great evening!

Splash!

Wednesday 5th June

What another amazing day at UKSA!

Dan in mid flight, pontoon jumping.

How many people fell in today?

Far too many too count!
Amongst today's activities were: kayaking, windsurfing, keel boating and visiting the games room from the first time!

We had loads of fun and we all got a bit wet- even the teachers! One of the most common ways to capsize was to lean too far to one side in a kayak and fall in with a yelp. Today all of the four groups went kayaking through the estuary. Throughout the activity, we stopped many times to play games although some of us found it quite tiring. That might be something to do with the fact that others made the most of a free water taxi ride from their partners! Several people moaned a lot-"My arms are aching, and please can you stop splashing me."

Windsurfing

This was a new sport for most of us and we couldn't believe how much skill was involved. to get to the beach, we had to travel around to Thorness Bay where we were let loose with a board and sail. some of us even managed to stand up! Many group D members found that wind surfing is incredibly precarious- most people couldn't balance on the board without overbalancing and crashing in. If the wind changed, you were usually in for a ride; being pushed along the Thorness Bay, wobbling along and usually crashing into another group. All the other groups will soon experience this tomorrow- today for most people it was a mixture of keel boating and kayaking.

Keel boating

This was the most exciting activity for many of us. After using the motor to get out of the river, we hoisted the sails and set off around the bay, some of us even getting as far as Ryde.

Here are some quotes:

"Basically we went out and first used the motor then Izzy and Molly got to steer. Then we put out the sail (and, um,) then we sailed out (and, um) started tipping out. Then we put our feet over the top of boat and got our feet soaked. We had to pull up and take down loads of big sails, which was hard because of the tough strings. When we got to the harbour 2 people had to jump out."

"Really fun and scary. Liked getting feet wet. Bit rough at times but that was the fun of it!"

"Loved it because we we went really straight then tilted which was a shock but when we got going it was so fun and the instructors were very supportive. The motor fell off"

"The first group had no wind- we went at 0 notts. We had to put up a big red sail which made us go so fast."

Overall it seemed to be very exciting and fun and I can't wait to do this tomorrow.

Today has been a very tiring day and most people are exhausted, but we still have the excitement of beach games this evening. Let's hope we're not to tired for windsurfing and discoing tomorrow!

By Katrina

Day 2 UKSA

Brrrr! It's cold.

Despite the temperature of the water it was a magnificent day and as soon as we had had breakfast, at 7:30, we were all raring to go. Our groups,A and B, set about getting ready for the day's activities. C and D were Paddle Boarding and A and B were Dinghy Sailing.  Blasting through the water, shooting down the river B cascaded towards the destination being towed by one of the instructors. Everyone had been told how to rig the dinghies and steer the agile boat. As soon as we were let free, we charged around the water and practised swinging around buoys. As you could have guessed.

Meanwhile, The A team (ha ha) were getting to grips with the  paddle boards, slowly drifting around pontoons. But the silence was not held for long. Children were falling into the water all the time. Balancing was difficult; A few rounds of Instructor says challenged us. 

The lunch energised and revitalised us and we were soon ready to set out onto the water. For the afternoon, the four teams swapped around and we attempted the other activity.

There was even more fun in Cowes, the local town, lots of pocket money was spent and all of us enjoyed swinging about in the park.We survived; drenched and cold, soaking to the skin but we all had big cheesy smile spread over our glee filled faces. After another delicious dinner, everyone settled down and went to bed (eventually!)

By Christian.

The view from our accomodation.

Yum Yum. Dinner time after a hard day's water sports!

Crabbing!

We all ate well this evening after the excitement of the iron man challenge. It's amazing how hungry you get after getting spending the afternoon getting very wet. It doesn't help if you eat your packed lunch at 11:00 in the morning either!

After our meal we started our evening entertainments: swimming (in the pool, obviously as it is too cold outside!) and crabbing. The first group managed to catch at least 20. We're still waiting to hear back from the second group. We did release ours afterwards, racing them down the ramp back into the sea, much to the delight of the seagulls.

Iron Man 3

As you may have noticed, we are having problems uploading photos on to the blog! This is a test to see if we can do this another way!

We've arrived!

We've all arrived safely on the Isle of Wight. The weather here is beautiful and we've just collected our wetsuits and buoyancy aids. Just about to get wet on the 'Iron Man' challenge.