It seemed like a good idea....

[beancounter]

When I was planning my Day Skipper practical course, the Memsahib said that she would like to come along as well & do the Competent Crew course. Good idea thought I - the more knowledge on our flotilla boat this summer the better. At the LIBS in January, a few of the sailing schools I spoke to shuffled their feet and muttered that it may not be a good idea for husband & wife to do different courses on the same boat. Piffle & tosh I thought; after umphty - ump years of marriage, we'll be fine. So I made the booking for mid -May. Fine. No worries. Except.......maybe they know something?

We've now discovered that the other two students on our boat will be a YM prep and a Coastal Skipper. This potentially top-heavy command structure has already led the Memsahib to threaten mutiny if a lot of would-be admirals boss her about.

Assuming I return without a tiller bar embedded in my cranium, I'll let you know if the sailing schools were correct....

John

ps Can I claim my I-Spy badge for collecting a full set (YM,CS,DS,CC)?

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[Badger]

The sailing schools are saying it for good reason.This sounds like a recipe for disaster.



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[tcm]

It could be ok. Everyone knows who's gunning for what badge. So SWMBO will be chuffed to bits if she knows sumink the others don't, and that similarly pressurises the others. Usually, it's the personalities - no TV you see...

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[sailbadthesinner]

personally i would avoid joint courses

1stoff you have to be more restrained with a group of strangers when giving orders and make extra effort to make instructions clear. with wife yo may be a little less restrained. likewise starngers will do to as you would etc. so you learn from skipper and crew perspective

second mrs will see all your cock ups. so you will be unable to return witha glowing account of yourself. on my course the comp crew had to park the boat as much as the skips. she may outshine you, so beware.

third
i would use every opportuntiyto have a break from each other. you can have a few beers and make knowing nods when the crew rant on about females. with wifey there you have adopt a ' i would never say that about you dear'

good luck anyways
i am sure it will be fine /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[Peppermint]

Having had much experience of taking couples

sailing the pitfalls are many and varied. You can survive it though.

First rule. There should be no sexes on a boat and you are not a couple onboard.

It is very easy to put a beginner off by poor attitudes to the less able. If your YM prep guys don't know this they won't ever be good skippers even if they pass.

You shouldn't think that the YM prep guys know more than you.

Try the following..

1. Keep woman out of galley.
(If she's there more than once a day up. This is a good indicator of how the course is going. If feeling marginalised many women fall back on being useful in the galley)

2. Avoid manners. (Your average male jumps to do jobs allocated to women. Husbands are often worse than anyone)

3. Toilet Habits. (At sea women take longer, make allowances not snide remarks.)

4. Don't patronise. (Instructers are the worst for this but husbands are a close 2nd)

5. Strength can be an issue but don't assume it will be. (A good instructor will show ways of getting around heavy tasks that benefit everyone)

6. If you or her detect any of the above get her to challenge it straight away. (Much of it is habitual and drawing attention early allows it to be addressed)






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[Magic_Sailor]

John\'s excellent post..but Peppermint

Made me laugh - great stuff.

But Peppermint, oh Peppermint/forums/images/icons/smile.gif/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

I could read that as "no sexes" on board could mean no sex on board. What is a chap to do I ask myself. Joking aside, trying to not to be a couple after umphty ump years is not a runner.

wason my YM exam - everything was just fine. In fact her feminine presence stopped all us blokes being quite so macho.

She didn't want to go in the galley but in the end acquiesced with grace - without being told to.

Manners maketh the man. Just don't do it in a condescending manner.

Sounds like John won't need to get the Mamsahib to challenge anything she doesn't like.

Magic

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[tome]

I did a mixed course (2YM, CS, DS) and felt that the instructor was far more attentive to us (YM) than the DS chap, to the point that the poor fellow was becoming a bit frustrated. In the end we decided (between ourselves) to give him some help and tuition and this worked ok.

I think it's difficult to adequately cover such a range of levels in one course.

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[ruthhobson]

I think there are pros and cons but we did this .... 12 months ago in Majorca and survived I did CC, HWMBO got his DS. Also on the boat was a dutch guy doing CS and a girl doing DS.

I agree with the comment about not expecting that others will know more than you - the guy doing CS finished the week with a CC, so did the girl doing DS.
Our instructor was great wanted to keep the girls out of the galley - but it was painful to watch, so we stepped in (leaving them the washing up). It was a delicate job for the instructor at times - needed the skills of a diplomat.

But on the whole it was good for us to do it together - yes I saw his mistakes, but we had an idea of each others strengths/weaknesses. We had learnt to do things the same way so no patronising from HWMBO as he tried to show me "his" way. We did our first flotilla with just the 2 of us after the course and I really do think doing the course together helped ..... alot.

Good luck

Ruth



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[Peppermint]

Reo you do much of this sort of thing?NM

nm

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[Magic_Sailor]

As mich as pissobel

Sorry about spelling. Eyesight's been a bit poor recently.

Magic



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