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Quite unexpectedly, I decided to take the RYA Coastal Skipper practical course in the Solent. At 8.30am on 8 July 2024, I arrived at British Offshore Sailing School’s office in Hamble marina. Our yacht, Intuition of BOSS, was a 1996 Westerly Fulmar 32: tiller-steered, moderately battered.
Introductions first. Jennifer and Philip, a Canadian couple on an eight-week fast track from zero to Yachtmaster Coastal; Roland, British; and our instructor Clive. All retired. They actually had much less experience than I’d expected. Apparently, the real requirements are less daunting than those in my head. Safety briefing: gas, electrics, heads, hatches, pyrotechnics — as he put them away, Clive said, ‘Hope we don’t see those again’ — lifejackets, seacocks, running rigging and WOBBLE engine checks.
Our first outing was engine-handling exercises, about three attempts each:
1. Stopping the boat while underway
2. Stopping on a transit
3. A tight turn
4. Going astern
As the most experienced, I berthed us afterwards. Lunch was reheated baked beans and chicken pie: meat, pepper and potato in puff pastry. After lunch, we studied the forecast on synoptic charts. Force 3–4 today, eight to twelve knots.
Philip was tasked with planning and skippering the passage to the Newtown moorings. A gentle sail. I helmed into the river. The opposing stream was so strong it knocked the rudder from my hands, with water boiling at the edges. Picking up the buoy took about five minutes.
Tea, then Clive’s feedback on what had gone well and what hadn’t. Roland planned the passage to Yarmouth. An hour’s sail, followed by more feedback.
Chicken strips, green beans and potato cakes for dinner. Clive cooked everything.
For overnight homework, I had to plan our passage to the Seaview anchorage. Ideally, we would have gone round the outside of the Isle of Wight, but too much wind was forecast. Planning finished at nine. Everyone went to bed.
Fifteen miles. Track here.
#training #boss #passage
Introductions first. Jennifer and Philip, a Canadian couple on an eight-week fast track from zero to Yachtmaster Coastal; Roland, British; and our instructor Clive. All retired. They actually had much less experience than I’d expected. Apparently, the real requirements are less daunting than those in my head. Safety briefing: gas, electrics, heads, hatches, pyrotechnics — as he put them away, Clive said, ‘Hope we don’t see those again’ — lifejackets, seacocks, running rigging and WOBBLE engine checks.
Our first outing was engine-handling exercises, about three attempts each:
1. Stopping the boat while underway
2. Stopping on a transit
3. A tight turn
4. Going astern
As the most experienced, I berthed us afterwards. Lunch was reheated baked beans and chicken pie: meat, pepper and potato in puff pastry. After lunch, we studied the forecast on synoptic charts. Force 3–4 today, eight to twelve knots.
Philip was tasked with planning and skippering the passage to the Newtown moorings. A gentle sail. I helmed into the river. The opposing stream was so strong it knocked the rudder from my hands, with water boiling at the edges. Picking up the buoy took about five minutes.
Tea, then Clive’s feedback on what had gone well and what hadn’t. Roland planned the passage to Yarmouth. An hour’s sail, followed by more feedback.
Chicken strips, green beans and potato cakes for dinner. Clive cooked everything.
For overnight homework, I had to plan our passage to the Seaview anchorage. Ideally, we would have gone round the outside of the Isle of Wight, but too much wind was forecast. Planning finished at nine. Everyone went to bed.
Fifteen miles. Track here.
#training #boss #passage
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