Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Catamaran stage at Ile d'Arz

The decision of sending Josh to a one week sailing stage was part of the deal: you work hard to learn French, then you'll get as a reward an entire week sailing on catamarans with other kids in the Golf de Morbihan (Bretagne). He did it. So we enrolled him with Jeunesse et Marine, a well know organization here in France,  we provided him with all the necessary equipment (40 kg in the backpack....almost as much as he weights!!!)  and here he was, ready to board on a train with a group of other French kids. Of course I gave him a mobile phone, just to be sure he could contact me. 





At first, I was somehow worried.... I wouldn't see him for a whole week, the kids in the group were a bit older than him (13 - 15 y.o.) and, even worse, all of them spoke only French. Would he survive? During the first hours, it was all about texting messages and calling back several times. Then, magically, the phone stopped ringing and whenever he called me or sent me a message, it was only to let me know that everything was great and that he was having a great time. 
Just for informative purpose, this is the place: 



The train trip took about 5 hours, after which they arrived at the campsite. The kids (24 overall) were assigned to big tents (6 kids in each)....I can only imagine the mess at the end of the week. Supposedly they had day shifts so that someone would keep it clean but apparently no-one seriously supervised them...


Their day started at 8 am, with breakfast (caffe latte and cookies) then the daily briefing about safety, manoeuvres and knots. After that, they spent spent all day on the catamarans: 3 kids on each catamaran and the moniteurs (coach) on the motor boat following them and giving them (actually, yelling them...)directions and instruction. 



The environment was very friendly and the camp supervisors were fantastic: Josh had so much fun and made a lot of friends. He learned how to make some knots (noeud de chaise, en huit, de cabestan), he learned the technique of tacking and beating, port and starboard, etc. He was also allowed to build his own bow and arrow. Cool! Of course, being surrounded by older kids, he learned all other terms, cursing mostly, in French (at least back in LA the other class mates won't understand...). They had sailing competition but also "passing gas" and "burping" competitions, much more amusing! What do you expect when parents are not around!
At the end of the week, all the kids packed their belongings and went on an 2 days adventure to conquer a small island, set up a bivouac camp, eat and sleep there and then come back. 
Overall, it was a great experience. I am so happy that he did it and we hope he'll continue next year. 
The worse part of the entire adventure was when I opened his back pack....OMG !!!!!!! 

 


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