As one of my electives I took part in the Outdoor Ed WWW, which was an enlightening experience, involving teaching me new skills, using my values and most of all having fun.

Sailing

At the beginning of the semester we took part in sailing course, where every week we went South Perth foreshore and use the FUN CATS to explore the river. In the first lesson, Andrew Parrington drew a diagram of the areas that were no go zones and the pat we were meant to go along. We then got a quick tutorial of the boats and how everything worked on it, so when we got on the water we would have an idea of what to do. To name a few, we were introduced to the;

• Boom – A pole that attached to the mast horizontally and is used for extending the foot of the mainsail.
• Jib – A foresail that fits within the foretriangle and the clew does not extend past the mast.
• Keel – The part of a boat that is fixed underwater and is used to provide stability and prevent drifting sideways.
• Line – Refers to any pieces of rope located on a boat.
• Mast – A vertical pole on a boat that is used for supporting sails.
• Outhaul – A sail control that allows tensioning of the foot and attaches to the clew.
• Rudder – The movable underwater steering device of a boat.

On the boat there were usually 3 people and 3 roles. One person steered, another was in control of the sail, and the third was on the other side balancing out the weight. In this sport I got the chance do demonstrate a number of values in which play a big role in everyday life. For instance my crew at all times were collaborative by using effective communication. Collaboration is defined as the process of two or more people working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. An example of when this was shown was when ever we had to turn the boat. The process involved the skipper swapping sides whilst the weight balancer was making sure the steering bar was in the correct position. We all had to duck heads and get in the right position to continue forward again. Communication was used for the decision to when we were going to turn and the smooth transition so the boat didn’t stop.

Stand up paddle boarding

After a few weeks of sailing we moved on to stand up paddle boarding, which was also really fun and something I have never tried before. Our instructor Vicky was really nice, and over the few weeks we learnt how to do many different skills including how to turn, proper paddling technique and even various yoga poses.

The technique:

You can break the paddle stroke down into distinct stages:

1.      The Catch.  This is when you get your paddle in the water and before you begin pulling it back.  Have your arms fully extended, and then aim to place your paddle about a foot beyond where the paddle would enter the water if you kept it in a vertical position.  Get your paddle blade deep into the water before you begin pulling back.

2.      The Stroke.  This is where the power comes from.  A great way of ensuring good technique is to focus on pulling yourself past the paddle, rather than pulling the paddle past you…  Keep your bottom arm almost straight and twist your shoulders for good positioning and to ensure that you really get ‘over’ the paddle and put maximum power into your stroke.  You should aim for a good clean stroke in one consistent motion.

3.      The Return.  When your blade gets level with your feet then it’s time to think about pulling it out of the water.  By the time it’s completely out it should be no more than two feet behind your body.  Aim to lift the blade out quickly and at an angle – so that you’re not lifting your arms up too high, but ‘swinging’ the blade away from you and out of the water.  Once it’s clear of the water, turn your blade through 90? – so that it’s got minimal wind resistance – and bring it back up to the correct position for the start of The Catch.

Stand up paddle boarding resulted in in usage of communication and teamwork. When I was on the board individually, I still had to communicate with other people to make sure that we didn’t run into each other, or cause one another to fall of our boards. Then with more experience we put two people on the board, where one person was standing and paddling at the back and the other would be sitting at the front. This was actually a real challenge as balancing was a lot harder. Teamwork and communication were both key concepts when we were essential in the process of completing this task successfully. For instance the person at the back would have to tell the person at the front whether they needed to move to balance the board correctly and the person at the front would be looking for other boards to make sure that we didn’t run into them.

Overall I thought stand-up paddle boarding was super fun and I would definitely consider doing this as a recreational activity in the future.

Diving

Out of this whole semesters activities, diving was definitely my favourite. We went to HBF stadium and dove/ jumped of the 1, 3, 5, 7 meter boards and blocks. This is a sport for individuals so it didn’t require team work or communication, however it did require confidence and courage to take the risk. This was a really enjoyable opportunity as it was new to me, and it remined me of dance, which also requires a lot of technique.

Diving technique:

• Stand in an erect and balanced position; a few steps back from the edge of the diving board.
• Step forward at a normal walking pace. Concentrate on the end of the board and at the same time, keep the head facing up and the body relaxed.
• Swing the arms to get into a forward momentum – TIO
• Keep the legs straight and together in the air

Synchronised swimming

This activity was super fun, and interestingly hard, as good core and muscle strength was required. Synchronised swimming definitely needed teamwork as we worked in groups with five to six people and we all needed to be on the same page about the movement we were doing for our routine. When first learning the different positions used it was really hard because it I found it uncomfortable and abnormal positions to be in. Furthermore a demonstration of my persistence and a positive attitude. Throughout the sessions, we would learn little routines and practice and perform them. on For the last session, we choreographed a routine incorporating everything we had learnt to perform to the class. Teamwork was heavily required for this as we had to decide what we would do in the routine and would need to count at first to synchronise our moves.

In summary, the Wind Waves Water elective gave me a futher insight into the values I need to use in my everyday life and the various fun activities taught me many new skills. I was also able to talk to new people in different years, strengthen my connections throughout the college.