Safety Boat Training Course
Last Saturday saw 9 people, all with Power Boat Level 2, doing a safety boat training course, with Ken, Brian and Richard. Despite the bitter cold and driving rain, Elaine, Tracey, Michael, Dave P x 2, and Dene, took to the water promptly at 0930, under the guidance of Brian, watched by Richard from the RYA. The aim of the day was to enable everyone to rescue capsized boats and their occupants.
Much to everyone’s delight there was a ‘catering service’ in the form of Monica just returned from her winter sojourn in South Africa, with some excellent photos! Hot, fresh coffees at the morning break, followed by soup and rolls during the lunch break.
Picos were used – retrieval, towing, and man overboard were all practiced – with Ken, Dave, Elaine and Tracey volunteering to get wet……..poor Tracey’s zip was not quite closed, so she felt the real cold water, while Elaine with her many layers stayed dry! She looked like Houdini in the lunch break trying to extricate herself from all her layers!!
The day included some short indoor class room sessions and the RYA guy was pleased with our instructors and complemented Brian, who led the day. Everyone said they had learned a lot, and were amazed at how quickly they had become rusty. All intended to get as much practice as possible to improve their skills.
The trainees departed very promptly as there was no hot water for the showers….!!!