It’s a study day aboard Argos today. It’s windy and wet outside after a very stormy night but having had a lovely sail yesterday we don’t mind too much! We are snug and comfortable on board, our lines are secure and the hatches all closed but in this more protected harbour, and on a floating marina there is less stress on the lines anyway so we are riding the storm in a much more comfortable way than at the marina we were previously at. The wind is whistling through our rigging and outside the window we can see the chop of the waves and the occasional white cap. That’s all.
Inside, we are all hard at work.
Erina is working on her year 8 work, Liam his year 5 and Peter and I are working on our Skippers Tickets.
I’ve heard it said that the best way to ward off the onset of Alzheimer’s disease is to learn something new – a new language or something equally challenging and stimulating. I don’t know if there is any truth in that assertion, but it is clear that learning new things when you are older stretches you brain and memory and that’s got to be a good thing, don’t you think? Well learning ‘boat’ definitely qualifies as that for me – there has been so much to get my head around – reading the wind, what sails are what and when to use them, learning about weather patterns. But there was to be more….
When we first came to West Australia we found out while in NSW and ACT you are only required to hold a Skippers Ticket if you are in command of a powered vessel and if the power is greater than 10 horsepower, in WA things are different. When we arrived we were told that since we were heading back to the East Coast, we could comply with the NSW rules and told not to worry about getting our certification. But then we spoke with others who said that there was a lot to gain by getting our Skippers Tickets so we looked into it.
It’s actually fantastic.
I can’t believe now that we ever thought it would be okay to do without! In fact the reality is that there is so much knowledge and skill associated with attaining the proficiencies to get the Skippers Ticket, that we are clearly the winners in terms of confidence and ability by doing it!
The Skippers Ticket covers all the rules and regulations for boating, rules about collision avoidance (who has right of way, how channels are marked etc), maintenance, safety issues like what equipment is required, radio operation and when and how to make emergency calls, handling of emergency situations and basic things like trip planning.
There is a theory test and a practical test of competencies. Mooring – leaving and arriving are part of the practical test so that’s one we can tick off straight away!
For me, the best part of doing the preparation is how much more I feel like I know things. I know what a Cardinal Marker is now and what direction to go around it – no more questions about what that means for me! I feel as though I have gone from being the wife of a sailor to being a sailor myself! I feel like I can handle so much more than I could before. But it’s more than the practical things I can do it’s a change in my mind set that is really different. I suppose it’s the difference from being active to passive – I don’t just sit back and follow instructions – I can think for myself what everything means – what needs to be done etc.
Of course when we are sailing, Peter is the Skipper – and it’s really important that one person has the final say – otherwise our sailing would deteriorate into democracy and the chaos that goes with that! We sail as a team but a team with a captain! What we have to work on with the captain is that he believes in telepathy – but the rest of the crew don’t seem to be very good at it! So he is learning to say things out loud so that the crew knows what he wants! It’s so much easier for us all!
When we have completed our Skippers Tickets we will move on to getting our Marine Radio Operators Proficiency. There are a number of different radio bands and some that can be used by anyone – however it’s another area in which we can gain more knowledge and competence – resulting is us being generally safer and more skilful in all that we do.
The fellow who we are doing our Skipper’s Tickets with can assess us for this licence too.
So while Peter is off at the bow of the boat in our cabin reading and reviewing, the kids are sat at their work in the saloon with me. It’s been quite the hive of activity – not silent – never that! But it’s industrious and rather fun! However, it is now 3pm and the children are telling me its afternoon tea time and everyone should have a break! The wind is picking up outside again. Peter just turned on the autopilot which tells us the wind speed even when we are not sailing. It’s gusting at 30 knots right now – but its swung around from the North to the West – and the barometer is rising again so it looks as if things might improve sometime later on this afternoon.