Thursday 31 May 2007

Yachtmaster Prep


The Yachtmaster Prep course is designed to get one up to speed for the Yachtmaster exam so I joined "I Go", a Bavaria 30, on Sunday 20th May for 5 days intensive training and revision.

There were 5 of us on board: Nigel, our instructor, Brian and Jenny doing Coastal Skipper and Day Skipper respectively and Geoff doing his Coastal Skipper Practical.

We spent the whole week in and around Falmouth and the Carrick Roads, hardly going outside St. Anthony's point. Most of the time on the water was taken up with boat handling; Man over Board exercises, mooring to buoys and pontoons and anchoring. We also did a lot of revision either on board or in the classroom of navigation buoys, Lights, Sounds, Collision rules, Meteorology, passage planning and pilotage.

By the end of the week we were real 'swats'. My head was aching from trying to remember so many facts and figures. After Freya I was physically exhausted but this time it was a mental challenge!

The time went all too quickly and we became a very effective team supporting one another. Brian and I would be the only ones being examined as Jenny and Geoff's qualifications were based on continual assesment. So Geoff and Jenny very kindly cooked etc. so that Brian and I could get our heads down.

The hour of the examiner's arrival came nearer and nearer. We were informed that his name was 'slasher' Stratton!!

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