MARINA
BOAT-HANDLING
Anybody who has gone to sea at the helm of a boat will know
that all sorts of forces combine to wrest control from your
hands. An understanding of those forces is vital to becoming
a good boat-handler, and being a good boat-handler is vital
to the enjoyment of boating. We go boating to enjoy the freedom
of the sea, but to get there we have to negotiate ‘the
marina’
For many boaters, entering and berthing, in a strange marina
is the most stressful part of a passage! And no wonder! They
have just left the peace and quiet of the wide oceans for
a noisy, confined ‘haven’ full of shiny and very
expensive yachts, each with a cockpit full of boat-handling
experts. There are coach loads of tourists sitting on the
quay wall, licking ice creams and watching every move like
judges waiting to score the next performance. The wind is
pushing from behind, the tide is swirling through the pontoons
and the nice lady on the radio, who clearly doesn’t
realise that ‘this boat has a mind of its own in reverse’,
has allocated a berth that is ‘probably’ at the
end of that narrow, dead-end fairway.
It doesn’t have to be like that! As with most aspects
of boating, some planning, an understanding of the forces
involved and the application of some basic rules will turn
a beginner into an expert. Practice in a few ‘techniques’ will
turn a nervous helm into a confident boat-handler. And there
is no need to gain this experience at the school of hard knocks!
Most RYA recognised sea schools offer courses that touch on
the subject, but few actually dedicate a course to this ‘most
stressful’ subject. Look for a course that will teach
techniques applicable to your style of boating. For instance,
its no use learning methods which require three ex commandos
to simultaneously leap from your yacht with mooring lines
in their teeth if you sail with only a wife and a two-year
old as crew.
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Poole Based Yachtmaster Instructor, Rob Gibson has spent many years
explaining and demonstrating the “nuts and bolts” of boat
handling to sailors and power-boaters around the world and
has put all of that experience into writing the RYA’s new ‘Boat-handling
Manual’, available from us from January 2008 (request
a copy via the enquiry form). The book looks at all
of the common problems, such as how to turn in confined spaces,
how to approach berths with various combinations of tide
and wind, how to use mooring warps to good advantage and
much, much more. In fact the book will provide all of the
advice that you need to achieve confident, happy landings
and take offs.
We can arrange for Rob to provide direct tuition on your boat in
Poole or at your own base marina, on either a one to one,
or group basis. If you would prefer you can join one of Rob’s
one-day, practical, “Marina Boat-Handling” courses on a
sailing school boat,
Contact Poole Sailing on 07770781235 or
use the contact
us enquiry form.
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