I bought a new pair of sunnies today.

MKSAC Newsletter August 2000

I’ve started the wrong way round.

Boat handling course. Whoopee! I thought – me, handling a boat! Cool! Bit of a snag, there’s lectures and learning stuff involved. Still, I gave it a go.

There was one day of lectures in the clubhouse. I was impressed. It all made sense, it was interesting, there were things I’d never even thought about before. Have you any idea how many types of seabed there are? Any idea how much difference incoming and outgoing tides make to the speed of the drift? It was good, it kept my interest, it was very clear, and the presentation was good. And, not being a diver, I was exempt from answering some of Adrian’s questions. Even better!

So far so good. The group seemed to get on well and we were all up for a go on Willen Lake the next day. Driving a boat. Me.

So at a very reasonable hour the next morning we get to Willen Lake where the RIB was waiting for us, and practised what we had learned about getting the boat ready. Checking the oil and fuel, and putting up the A-frame and aerial, dismantling the electrics from the car. Then winching the boat into the water, after watching with admiration Cameron manoeuvring the whole thing down the jetty.

So then this was it, the boat in the water, and everybody aboard. Adrian took the helm, and suggested we blow the cobwebs out of the engine. Everybody hold on, he said. Like I said, I’m not a diver and I hadn’t been on this boat before. So I held on to the ropes behind me. I’ve been whitewater rafting, I thought, this is easy peasy. What I hadn’t counted on was the speed of the RIB, and the way it really leans over when turning a decent corner. So I do an incredibly graceful back flip over the boat and into the chilly waters of Willen. My lifejacket worked, anyhow.

No sooner had I finished choking the water from my lungs, Adrian was back with the boat, and I was pulled back in (with much giggling, thanks guys) with no further ado. Safe as houses. No problem. So I spent the rest of the day gradually drying off, but with the knowledge of the competency of the people around me. (Neil reckoned later that I just did it to make myself popular. I’m sure I would have a warmer and drier way, had that been my intention.) Now I think about it again, there really was quite a lot of giggling.

I’d started out with sunglasses. Now I’ve got a new pair, and leave my others, in a bed of what I can only call sludge, for posterity.

On with the day!

Man overboard (we’d practised that one pretty early, I feel), touching a buoy gently, three-point turns, navigating by the GPS, and getting alongside the jetty. We all did pretty well, I reckon. I got first turn at everything as a reward for being the wettest (I knew I shouldn’t have worn my ‘wetter the better’ T-shirt. Heigh ho.) We had plenty of opportunity to practise what we were taught, and we were encouraged and supported. It was all very good teaching and learning, and we all had a good time into the bargain.

As Willen has let us use the lake, they asked the club to help them find some centreboards that they were missing, so that was the afternoon job. (I won’t go into the competency and efficiency of the divers that afternoon, because obviously that goes without saying……) They didn’t find anything, and they all came up smelling of the bottom of Willen, which isn’t particularly appetising.

And then the job wasn’t finished. There was winching the boat back up, putting down the A-frame, opening the lockers, securing it to the trailer and connecting it to the car. All successfully completed, and I believe we all went home tired and happy boathandlers.

Thanks guys, and especially Adrian, for a good weekend.

Cid