Boat Handling - Day 2

So with our usual 8.15 start this morning we had an hour in the classroom going over a few theory bits then headed out to the pontoons for 9.30. We had a morning practicing towing, which I have covered a bit on station but still definitely need practice on. There were a few we differences from the way we do it, but from talking to the other trainees every station has their slight tweaks that work best for them. IT was interesting to see a slightly different way of doing it though.

After a good bit of that we headed into calmer water for some more basic boat handling techniques for those of us doing our RYA level two course tomorrow. We covered coming alongside and reverse figure of eight. The first of which I was only just starting to grasp on station and the latter I'd had one try of and not done too well. I'm feeling a lot more confident about both now.

St that point we broke for lunch then in the afternoon got a look at ALB's for those of us who had been on ILBs all week. Obviously these are a lot bigger and more solid than the RIB we had been working on. We looked at mooring and berthing on one and Anchoring on the other in small groups. This is Alex, one of the instructors talking Paul and Aled through lassoing a bollard from the boat. It was interesting to see them and find out a bit more about their capabilities, but I'd agree with Megan from my station who was down here a few weeks before me and said in her blog that as great as they are I'd hope our station would never trade our boat for one.

After that we got another hour of RYA techniques from Nevs then were able to take the boat out on our own for an hour or so to get some more practice. I can't say I'm 100% confident for my level two tomorrow but I'll give it my best shot.

After dinner we had a quick pint in the college before heading into Poole for the Thursday night firework display and a couple of pints. I can't believe the week has gone so quickly and we're back home tomorrow, but it was god to go out and have a beer with the bulk of the other trainees before we finish up.