There was no getting out of it; after six months’ applying the necessary elbow grease to get our Maxi 84 Maximus back on the water, it was time to learn to sail her properly... and that meant going back to school. While I have a good number of years under my belt as ‘incompetent crew’, navigation was always something I left to the skipper.
Unfortunately, the skipper (my wife, Ali) wasn’t having any of it. Sailing with our three young children meant she wanted us both to take a role in passage planning and pilotage.
All signed up
Next thing I knew, I was signed up for an RYA Day Skipper Theory course at Cobb’s Quay Marina in Poole, led by Powerboat Training UK. It was time to brush up on my buoys, collision regulations, safety procedures and learn to safely get our Maxi 84 cruiser from A to B.
Run over 40 hours, the RYA Day Skipper Theory course is an intensive way to formalise your seamanship skills. It’s possible to take it online, but after 20 years out of the classroom, I decided to attend a class to help focus my mind and meet fellow sailors.
The intention is to follow up the theory with the Day Skipper Practical course, which concentrates more on boat handling, including manoeuvring, wind awareness and emergency drills.
Seamanship
It had been a decade since I crewed on cruiser racers in Poole Harbour, and longer still since I cruised with Ali and my father-in-law on a GK24 and then a Morecambe Bay Prawner.
This story is from the March 2023 edition of Practical Boat Owner.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 2023 edition of Practical Boat Owner.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Shearwater sloop sailing in the 1960s
Genevieve Leaper shares her late father John Leaper's recollections-compiled from handwritten notes-of cruising the Channel
Timing an Atlantic crossing
Professional meteorologist and sailor Chris Tibbs shares his knowledge of how to choose the best time to sail 'across the pond'
Transatlantic first
It's 70 years since Ann Davison became the first woman to sail solo across the Atlantic. Katy Stickland looks back at her achievement
Going dizzy on an island sailing odyssey
Ken Fowler becomes the first sailor to circumnavigate every island in England and Wales-and all done in a 4m dinghy!
Boats for coastal cruising
Duncan Kent chooses a selection of the best sail and motor boats under 40ft most suitable for adventurous cruising along the coast
Industry view on HVO
The RYA, IWA and CA are working to help recreational boating transition to a Net Zero future, as the CA's
HVO RENEWABLE DIESEL Myth or miracle?
A new generation of biofuel that's cleaner, greener, better for your engine and less prone to microbial growth sounds too good to be true... but the facts beg to differ
Little ships and the wrong sort of waves
Why the correct manoeuvres for the sea conditions will reduce hogging and sagging stress on both ship and crew
Watching boats, saving jerseys
It's amazing what you can see from a hospital window if it's the right hospital
Sweating the mooring asset
Sam Llewellyn looks at ways of getting top value out of his boat's swinging mooring