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Gitana - T minus 2 (5) what's the last lesson before we go?



It's Monday, it's a school day! Granted it was in a conventional classroom in my school in Portsmouth but the conversation has been switched to the buzz of the ARC across staff and students throughout the day!

I've just finished a full day teaching - mostly about the tribes of the Amazonian rainforest, the Iceland advert with the 'Rang-Tan in my bedroom' and the implications of the new Brazilian president due to go into office in the New Year (not to mention, his controversial views of the future of the rainforest and its people!)

Bring that home to school and it starts a whole conversation about how we all have a 'tribe' of sorts; people we click with, people we run with, people we keep as life long friends and share adventures with - the ARC crew on Gitana are exactly that! My tribe, my kind of crazy adventurers who have all made sacrifices and placed a huge amount of faith in the unknown over the years and the next few months.

Our skipper James had a dream to sail the Atlantic on his own boat! He's done it many times before, but not on his own boat! His Dad Des is with him on the journey, a fixer who will turn his hands to everything - even though he's retired he continues to busy himself! Mike (the mate) has taken a few months off work as a Naval Architect to commit to sailing the Atlantic; Dave quit his job in real estate to do this (his family are joining us in the Caribbean for Christmas).  Then there's me, a sailor  turned teacher, taking unpaid leave - from a new school, who have wholeheartedly embraced the adventure and are looking at it as an opportunity for all of us! All putting faith in adventure and our tribe.

I can't wait to meet the other ARC sailors from around the world who have made their own sacrifices, their own leaps of faith to embark on this!

So, what about that classroom?
I read an article from the World Cruising Club last week about the families and children involved in the ARC journey, it's an amazing opportunity for them to do this and the learning never stops for any of them!

Enrichment is something I've always been passionate about, all the way back to a discussion i had in the early days of teaching about the value of play time. Ask a child, what they learned when they were out at break and weirdly they don't see it as learning time, but it is! Every step of the way from how much money they have and can they have that sandwich, can they act as mediator in the argument between friends, did they negotiate for a spot on the other team, did they show empathy for someone who was hurt, did they learn to prioritise activities based on time, opportunity and friendships? All invaluable life skills it's hard to place measure on!

In many ways, sailing is like that! Yes we're learning how the boat works, which course to steer, which stars to navigate by and the technical side of things. But we're also learning to manage relationships in close quarters, share responsibility, find empathy and humour and in some cases finding tolerance and resolution in the most challenging of circumstances both on and off the water.

Our life experiences so far have had many shared chapters and many separate ones; this one is a whole new chapter together that can shape decades ahead!

What's been amazing about the ARC journey so far in Las Palmas for the crew who are already there, they're learning lessons already, they're making sustainable environmental statements (crew tree planting) and engaging with people from the sailing community all over the world, young and old (& us 'middlies') - you couldn't ask for a better classroom or better set of life lessons than the ones we're seeing now!

So Gitana - four crew on, one to go... Wednesday the adventure starts for the five of us. A time to refresh, cast off the legacy of limitations and begin the ARC2018!

T minus 2!



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