Peppermint
New member
I did the brush up with Southern Sailing. We used a scuffed but sound Westerly Fulmar. Four students and an instructor. The other candidates were less experienced than I am but two of them were going for YM and one for Coastal Skipper. Luckily we became a pretty good team with no inter-personal problems. Our instructor kept the whole thing pretty casual and we did the usual round of places you avoid going to in normal sailing. Power Station Creek at night, blind pilotage using contours, to Eling. Entrance to Beaulieu River and then trips to the Brambles Stake kept us entertained on evening. A trip to W. Cowes marina was livened up by berthing exercises including swinging the 32 ft boat through 180 deg. in a 35ft gap. Ferry gliding using wind against tide was used to pick up a buoy, as was sailing backwards to lay out your anchor chain and depowering the main using the topping lift. How to get onto and off piles buoys and jetties was well covered. The importance of being aware of transits and tidal height was stressed heavily.
The instructor jumps ship on Friday and you spruce up the boat and prepare a meal for the evening while waiting for the examiner to arrive. Food was provided but we thought we'd do a stew and spuds, which went well, with a bottle of red wine. The examiner checks your paperwork and takes your exam fee of £125 (cheques payable to the RYA) and then picks one of you to do the first exercise.
I was first in the barrel so with the half ebb pinning us to a tight berth we back springed out in a more or less controlled way and set off for Bird Pile. There's a back transit to it but the far mark vanishes into the dusk so I used a back bearing. Blind pilotage to Aft Barn means a dash at right angles to the channel to an adjusted for tide 5m contour line. Follow this for a time/distance, stop and get a crew taken bearing on Netley tower. I overran by 100m. The bearing the crew took was inaccurate so that explanation was offered and accepted. When I first stopped I was right on it, but the duff bearing made me run a bit longer. I then had to locate the Power Station Creek outer marker. The next guy took us to Cowes via the Brambles Stake and docked us on Thetis pontoon just before last orders, so we even got a pint in. Yes even examiners like a pint.
Saturday morning started at 07:00 with pontoon bashing under power and picking up moorings. The Coastal candidate took us to a race mark near Newtown and then to Beaulieu River SC. The next guy did sail off the buoy, simulating no diesel, and took us to a specified Osbourne Bay anchorage point marked on the chart leaving Brambles Bank to the south of our track. We went from there to the Royal Southern race mark and I did a leg from there to the Warsash HM pontoon. The final leg from there to our Itchen base was when the grilling on lights, shapes, sounds, and weather started . A few questions on planning a passage, right of way situations and channel hazards like overfalls and we’re shaking hands and I’ve passed, as did the other guys. The examiner gives you a run down on your strengths and any weakness in your technique and your done.
Our examiner was clear and friendly, not hung up on absolute precision but looking for good practical technique and use of your resources. He even taught us a different MOB technique during the test.
Apart from the first hour or so I was able to relax and enjoy the test . I would recommend Southern Sailing, a none profit making organization for an attitude that allows groundings, pontoon bashes and the odd bit of lost kit without fuss. This allows you to push yourself to the limits of depth and distance without fear of criticism. Sure their boats have scars and the food is more nutrition than gourmet but we all agreed we’d had a top week.
I enjoyed sailing with more adept sailors than I normally do. You don’t learn much new stuff if your always the best on the boat so I got a lot out of this week. If your thinking of having a go, show confidence about the boat, do your homework and try it. It’s more fun than you’d think.
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The instructor jumps ship on Friday and you spruce up the boat and prepare a meal for the evening while waiting for the examiner to arrive. Food was provided but we thought we'd do a stew and spuds, which went well, with a bottle of red wine. The examiner checks your paperwork and takes your exam fee of £125 (cheques payable to the RYA) and then picks one of you to do the first exercise.
I was first in the barrel so with the half ebb pinning us to a tight berth we back springed out in a more or less controlled way and set off for Bird Pile. There's a back transit to it but the far mark vanishes into the dusk so I used a back bearing. Blind pilotage to Aft Barn means a dash at right angles to the channel to an adjusted for tide 5m contour line. Follow this for a time/distance, stop and get a crew taken bearing on Netley tower. I overran by 100m. The bearing the crew took was inaccurate so that explanation was offered and accepted. When I first stopped I was right on it, but the duff bearing made me run a bit longer. I then had to locate the Power Station Creek outer marker. The next guy took us to Cowes via the Brambles Stake and docked us on Thetis pontoon just before last orders, so we even got a pint in. Yes even examiners like a pint.
Saturday morning started at 07:00 with pontoon bashing under power and picking up moorings. The Coastal candidate took us to a race mark near Newtown and then to Beaulieu River SC. The next guy did sail off the buoy, simulating no diesel, and took us to a specified Osbourne Bay anchorage point marked on the chart leaving Brambles Bank to the south of our track. We went from there to the Royal Southern race mark and I did a leg from there to the Warsash HM pontoon. The final leg from there to our Itchen base was when the grilling on lights, shapes, sounds, and weather started . A few questions on planning a passage, right of way situations and channel hazards like overfalls and we’re shaking hands and I’ve passed, as did the other guys. The examiner gives you a run down on your strengths and any weakness in your technique and your done.
Our examiner was clear and friendly, not hung up on absolute precision but looking for good practical technique and use of your resources. He even taught us a different MOB technique during the test.
Apart from the first hour or so I was able to relax and enjoy the test . I would recommend Southern Sailing, a none profit making organization for an attitude that allows groundings, pontoon bashes and the odd bit of lost kit without fuss. This allows you to push yourself to the limits of depth and distance without fear of criticism. Sure their boats have scars and the food is more nutrition than gourmet but we all agreed we’d had a top week.
I enjoyed sailing with more adept sailors than I normally do. You don’t learn much new stuff if your always the best on the boat so I got a lot out of this week. If your thinking of having a go, show confidence about the boat, do your homework and try it. It’s more fun than you’d think.
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