Dundee sailing club are holding an open day to encourage more people to take to the water.
On October 30, the sailing club will be taking people out in their new skiff to try their hand at rowing.
Kerstin Jorna, welfare officer at the Dundee sailing club, said: “It is genuinely for everyone.
“I hope it will bring in people who are maybe interested but too shy to ask or think a sailing club will be too expensive and you need to be really fit – we’re trying to get through those myths and make sure everybody can do it.
“They don’t need experience, they don’t need special gear, everyone can just join in.”
The club were recently able to buy a new skiff – a small rowing boat – thanks to funding from the National Lottery.
They hope that the boat, which will be used on days when sailing isn’t possible due to weather conditions, will encourage more people to join in.
“We’ve always just been a sailing club – we don’t do racing and stuff,” Kerstin explained.
“So we would, on a sunny day, sail over to Balmerino, have a picnic, sail back again and then obviously train people during the week so they knew how to sail.
“Sailing is often quite cold, it’s quite hard to do if it’s windy.
“So we thought why don’t we get a skiff?
“Coastal rowing has really taken off in the last few years.
“So we phoned around, got Lottery funding and then coronavirus hit.”
Holding an open day
They finally got the boat in May, but due to the pandemic, they weren’t able to hold a big event for it.
Kerstin added: “We really want to open up what the Tay is all about.
“We genuinely love being on the water and sharing it.
“We had a day for the young carers, which was lovely, they got to try sailing and rowing.
“Now we feel, because it will always just be a small group at the time, it’s probably safe to keep opening it up to the community.
“So now what we’re going to do is have a proper big open day.”
The event will run from 10.30am to 12.30pm next Saturday, and all people need to bring along are some warm clothes. The club sails from Grassy Beach on the Tay at Broughty Ferry.
Kerstin hopes that people realise the mental health benefits activities like sailing and rowing can bring.
“The benefit is being outdoors in a group of people,” Kerstin said.
“On the water you see Dundee and Broughty Ferry from a different angle.
“Everybody we take out – we’ve taken out a lot of new people this year – and they say wow I never knew it looked like this.
“You genuinely forget everything else you were thinking about because you keep having these wow moments.
“When the wind hits the sail just right it’s like flying.
“Many people also say I didn’t know it was for me, I didn’t know I could do this.
“Obviously you’re physically active and outdoors, but there is a great mental health benefit to it.”
As part of Book Week Scotland, Catalina Rowing will also be hosting rowing events across Scotland during November.
They will also host an online reading and writing workshop on November 20.