Duster
N/A
Looking for a fun day out which could be a potential life saver? Get a group of friends together to do the sea survival course.
As I needed to obtain the Sea Survival Cert to get my commercial licence ,but most of the centers offering the course were a long way from where I live (and yottie) , I asked a group who I had got to know through the Coastal Skipper course if they were interested - they were so I set about organising a course for ourselves.
One brief phone call to the RYA provided a contact number for an instructor prepared to come to us - phoned him for dates available to suit our group - contacted the local swimming pool to book a private session (with wave machine )- booked a room at a pub for the theory part ( which also doubled up for a meal & piss-up later )
The day went realy well , the instructor was excellant , we all learnt a considerable amount & although we had great fun in the pool with the liferafts & lifejackets all were cautioned by what they learned.
Key points from our group :-
1) Liferafts are a last resort - step up into them
2) Two out of six of our own lifejackets failed to inflate !
3) Give some thought as to how you would get back into your own boat if you fell overboard - my first job afterwards was to fit a stern boarding ladder.
Note to Kim - This might make an article for MBM if you sent a group (if you have not covered it recently)
As I needed to obtain the Sea Survival Cert to get my commercial licence ,but most of the centers offering the course were a long way from where I live (and yottie) , I asked a group who I had got to know through the Coastal Skipper course if they were interested - they were so I set about organising a course for ourselves.
One brief phone call to the RYA provided a contact number for an instructor prepared to come to us - phoned him for dates available to suit our group - contacted the local swimming pool to book a private session (with wave machine )- booked a room at a pub for the theory part ( which also doubled up for a meal & piss-up later )
The day went realy well , the instructor was excellant , we all learnt a considerable amount & although we had great fun in the pool with the liferafts & lifejackets all were cautioned by what they learned.
Key points from our group :-
1) Liferafts are a last resort - step up into them
2) Two out of six of our own lifejackets failed to inflate !
3) Give some thought as to how you would get back into your own boat if you fell overboard - my first job afterwards was to fit a stern boarding ladder.
Note to Kim - This might make an article for MBM if you sent a group (if you have not covered it recently)
