June 14, 1894— Rosebud Sailing Lessons, Sanditon

Alfred was vaguely aware of the finishing school, but was unaware of their ... summer camp program, for lack of a better term. When Mrs. Abercrombie had contacted him to schedule a set of lessons for the "girls" in attendance he was under the impression she really meant young ladies but these were, in fact... girls. They weren't quite so young as the children's lessons, but he was still hastily considering how he might need to adjust his plan for the afternoon as he introduced the group of them to the boats. He'd pointed out the main features and told them all the proper terminology as they stood on the docks, though he expected from experience they would not remember any of it. Now it was time to actually do something, so the question was to put them in pairs (like the debutante lessons) or larger groups (like the children). The children were in larger groups for two reasons; one was that they had no problem fitting more heads to a boat comfortably. The second was that it was easier for him to supervise the accident-prone sailors when there were fewer total boats in the water.

"Let's try to get your first boat underway now. Split into — threes," he decided, splitting the difference. "One person sits here, with a hand on the tiller, one to here with a focus on the lines, and one to handle untying the boat from the dock and pushing off. Your boats may get underway one at a time, on my signal." (Necessary to stagger them; the first year he'd run lessons he hadn't and two boats had crashed a meter off the pier when one of the students forgot which direction to push the tiller in order to move the boat to the left, and Alfred yelling port, port at her had not helped anything). "Who's up first?"

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Open to multiple "Rosebuds." Two days/two posts - feel free to tag Alfred or @ me on Discord if you want Alfred to respond to something sooner

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Forsythia had partaken in the Rosebuds sailing lessons mainly because she had not want to be left out. Now that she was here, she was wishing she had opted out. Sailing was meant for when she had a nice book and someone else - not herself - manned the oars.

Still, she listened as the man spoke whilst simultaneously wondering who let him out of his house with his hair such a mess. She did not want to go first so she waited for someone else to speak up. Maybe several other someone elses.

  

Ursula stood at the edge of the dock, her heart fluttering with excitement. She had been looking forward to the Roses Summer Programme for months, and now that she was here, it was everything she had imagined and more. The sun was shining brightly, casting a golden glow on the water, and the air was filled with the scent of the sea. This was the life of a proper young lady, preparing for her debut into society, and Ursula felt every bit the part.

As the sailing instructor, Mr Darrow, spoke about the boats and the upcoming lesson, Ursula listened intently.
Unlike some of the ladies who seemed to like the idea of sailing for it's adventure - Ursula had visions of herself reclining on a genteele lake, a gentleman at the tiller, taking the lead in ferrying them to some spot for courtship - chaperone in tow of course!

When Alfred asked who would go first, Ursula's hand shot up without hesitation. She wasn't about to let this opportunity pass her by. She glanced around at the other girls, noting Forsythia's reluctance and the general hesitation in the group. This was her chance to step up and shine.

"I'll go first," Ursula said, her voice clear and confident. She stepped forward, her blue-grey eyes sparkling with excitement. "I'll take the tiller," she added, remembering Alfred's instructions. She had a feeling that being in control of the boat would be the most exhilarating part. "Do you want to join me Miss Rowle - I need another set of hands?" she gently invited the first year.

  

Sailing, the Gryffindor had reminded herself, was not the same thing as that godforesaken charms lesson with the boat on the lake. It was a reminder she had needed when it had come time to sign up for the optional lessons, again at breakfast, and still again now, the actual event upon her.

Pippa had never taken to water. To her knowledge, she'd never protested bathing as a baby, but swimming and even wading had never appealed. Her governess insisted that her brother's drowning must have been to blame for this but then, her governness did not know the half of that story.

But she had also never taken to being left behind, and it was that fear of missing out that had prompted her to raise her hand when Mrs. Abercrombie had asked which of the young ladies would like to take sailing lessons at the Sanditon. Philippa was emphatically not, however, about to be 'up first', and took a rather instinctive step backwards at that invitation, stopping just shy of using a cousin as a human shield.

  

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— signature by mj ♡ —

Well, this was off to a rolicking start. At least he had one volunteer. Alfred gestured for her to climb in and take the seat she'd asked for, and when no further offers to take the first boat arose he picked two other girls to join. Both of them were of the older variety — the one managing the lines needed to pay attention and do things at the proper times, and the one casting them off had to have at least enough upper body strength to give a hearty shove, and he was unsure the eleven-year-olds amongst the group possessed either capability.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," he said to the group at large, as he reiterated the instructions to the three who had taken the boats. "I'll keep the wind under control, which means you couldn't go too fast if you tried." The weather charm at the Sanditon provided them fair weather generally; it handled the cloudless sun and the temperature and the gentle breeze. Alfred often found it necessary for sailing lessons to have a little more control over the wind than a gentle breeze — a gentle breeze pushing steadily in the same direction with an inexperienced sailor could send one of these little boats straight to the edge of the weather charm's bounds. So he had practiced and perfected the types of small adjustments that were useful for lessons; now he hardly got a boat underway the first time without conjuring a little gust to push them off.

"Alright then, off we go," he announced, giving a nod to the girl he'd instructed to unmoor the boat.

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Forsythia shook her head at Miss Kensingtons suggestion. She was very much happy to hang back with Pippa and watch the others go first. Luckily she was saved from having to do so by the Captain picking other, older girls instead.

  

"They were far too keen, I think," Pippa murmured to her cousin. Her expression—one of mild disdain—masked even to the Gryffindor that she was a bit jealous of the other girls' confidence.

  

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— signature by mj ♡ —

Ursula clambered into the boat as daintily as possible. She took her seat at the tiller, trying to go over all the instructions Mr DArrow had given. She couldn't help but feel a little anxious—what if she made a mistake? Humilate herself now that she had volunteered.

The two girls joining her looked just as uncertain, but Ursula gave them a reassuring smile. As the girl in charge of untying the boat and pushing off got into position, Ursula gripped the tiller firmly. She repeated Alfred's words in her head, trying to keep everything straight. The girl managing the lines looked focused, her hands ready to follow the commands.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," she echoed Mr Darrow's words. She glanced up at him as he reiterated the instructions, his calm demeanor helping to steady her nerves a bit. Knowing that he had control over the wind was comforting, but Ursula still felt the weight of responsibility - as low stakes as it really was.

Ursula's heart skipped a beat as the boat began to move. She instinctively tightened her grip on the tiller. "Port is left, starboard is right," she murmured to herself, repeating the basics to stay calm.

The boat wobbled a bit as it caught the breeze, and Ursula felt a surge of panic. What if she couldn't control it? She took a deep breath, trying to steady her hands. "Alright, let's keep it steady," she called out to her companions, hoping to inspire some confidence.

'Should we adjust the sails?' she asked Mr Darrow, trying to sound confident but it didn't quite transfer to her voice.

  

"There you go, that's it!" Alfred called as they started to get underway. A wobbly start, but that was to be expected from people with so little experience. "Let out the sails, catch the wind!"

Once the boat had made a bit of headway from the dock, he turned to the group still straggling on the shore. "Alright, see, they've gone and made it look easy. Nothing to be scared of. Let's get the rest of you underway."

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//and they sailed and it was lovely, bye folks!

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER