Chapter 35: Chloe the Activities Co-ordinator.

Chloe went to bed early as she was still tired, but she could not sleep, feeling guilty about Fiona. Then she suddenly had an idea, got out of bed and switched on her iPad. She searched for ‘dinghy sailing courses’, thinking that there may be something suitable nearby or even at Rickmansworth. There were one or two, but Fiona would not be able to get to them without someone driving her each day, so she added ‘residential’ to the search. This came up with 3 which looked interesting. One was based in Chichester Harbour and one in Poole Harbour, both of which Chloe knew had large, protected areas suitable for dinghy sailing, but they were some distance away, meaning that her Dad would have a long drive on two Saturdays if Fiona went for a week.

The third possibility was at Grafham Water Activity Centre which she had never heard of, so she clicked on the website. After a couple of minutes, she smiled. Not only did they have dinghy sailing courses, but they also had, canoeing, paddle boarding, windsurfing, mountain biking and even climbing. Then Chloe had a horrible thought. Grafham Water sounded like Ullswater and Coniston Water in the lake district which was hundreds of miles away. So she did another search and was relieved to find that Grafham Water was only just an hour to the north. The website provided an email address, so Chloe wrote:-

‘Hello,

I am enquiring as to whether you have any vacancies for dinghy sailing courses from 20-27th August for a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, both beginners.

Chloe Edwards’

She thought that they were probably fully booked, but it was worth a try. Now really tired, she went back to bed, but still took a long time to go to sleep.

When her alarm went off at 6:30 the next morning, Chloe really did not want to wake up, but she did want to see Matt and the girls, so she forced herself to get out of bed, splashed cold water on her face and threw some clothes on. She grabbed a drink, ate a muesli bar and a banana then left the house with just enough time to get to Matt’s garage by 7. Matt, Tina and Fiona soon joined her, explaining that Lisa was not coming.

“You look really tired, Chloe!” Matt exclaimed as they got into his car. “Hot sex with a new boyfriend or girlfriend all night?”

Chloe managed a laugh. “No, I just got involved with looking at stuff on the internet.”

“Porn?” Tina asked, with a grin and causing everyone to laugh.

“NO!” Chloe replied, “just some sailing stuff.”

“Wow! You have got addicted” Matt said.

They were soon at the pool and swimming lengths, Chloe more slowly than usual and declining to take part in their usual races. On the way back, Matt dropped Tina off at her house and Fiona just down the road from hers before driving back to his apartment. After kissing Matt goodbye, Chloe walked the short distance back to her house. Both her mum and Rob had left for work, so after she had breakfast, she decided to have a nap.

Later that morning, Chloe’s phone pinged to indicate that she had received an email. It was from Grafham Activity Centre.

‘Hi Chloe,

We’ve been fully booked since May, but you’re in luck! We have just had 3 cancellations. The sailing course is for RYA Level 1. It is 3 hours in the morning followed by a choice of water sports and land-based activities in the afternoon and evening. Our website gives full details. The total cost, including accommodation in 6-person bunk rooms and all meals is £280 per person.

Both your students will be making up the cancellations from the St. Neots School group who will be pleased that I can return their fees, as we can rebook the places. So your two students will be sharing with their students, supervised by their Ms Braithwaite.