James Bilton

There I was, sailing smoothly through the harbour behind Heri, when suddenly a strong blast of wind  caught us both off guard and hurled me at his boat! "Get out the way!" I shouted desperately. He turned his head just in time for me to see the look of pure terror possessing his usually cheerful expression.

That's when I reacted. I reacted in a way I never had before knowing Henri would never be able to get       out the way in time. Knowing what the consequence of my action would be, I dropped the sail-rope. The sail whipped around and before I had time to duck, it clothes lined me in the forehead, THUD! It flung me to the other side of the boat as if I weigh no more then a rag doll.

The world swam before my eyes and as if my situation wasn't bad enough, my boat was on the verge of capsizing. Numb and blinded by salt spray I fumbled for the sail rope blindly, knowing that I was in no danger of hitting Henri's boat and he was probably long gone by now. I had finally found the tiller and sail-rope and wrenched them both towards me...

WHOOSH! Suddenly everything was deathly silent except for my pounding heart, even the water had   flattened, except for gentle lap of the occasional wave licking the side of my boat. It wasn't until then I realised I had eventually drifted behind the wharf consequently blocking all wind from my sail. I realised I was now panting uncontrollably and  unsuccessfully tried to stop. Just then Mrs McCreery stuck her head over the side of the wharf, "You O.K?" She asked, completely unaware of the traumatic experience I had just been through. "Never been better." I replyed.