CHILDSWICKHAM woman Joanna Pepper is swapping adventure on the high seas for adventure way out west.

Joanna, 23, is packing in her job as a Royal Navy communicator with HMS Kent in Portsmouth and heading to New Jersey, USA, in June to teach gymnastics to three to 12-year-olds at summer camp.

The three-month posting with Camp America is Joanna's first step in a long-term career aim of becoming a full-time netball coach.

"I feel I've got everything out of the Navy that wanted to achieve," said Operator Mechanic Communicator Joanna, who has been in the senior service for four and a half years.

"I've just done my netball coaching and I would like to go into that at county level," she added.

During her time in the Navy, Joanna played many sports and was loaned out to shore establishment HMS Nelson to play for the netball team.

Now, after gaining her post as a general counsellor at Camp Harbor Hills in New Jersey, Joanna is hoping to get her young charges shipshape on the sports field.

"I'm ecstatic, really excited," she said.