Safety Boat Course
It was great to out on the water again. The weather was typical for February, but the promised rain was very light and only occasional. Six of us and two instructors wrapped up for the cold set off up river to learn some safety boat procedures. Heading up stream the boats were in formation, testing the powerboat skills of the students as we had to keep 4 feet from the boat in front and then speeding up the river line abreast.
Three Safety Boats out on the River
As we went up the river the lead boat with the instructors in weaved around and turned circles with the other two boats trying to keep up. The crew swapped over the helm position, and we repeated the manoeuvres for all the students.
T6 Becomes a bath tub
The three boats were in line abreast, T6 at the end. The Dory T8 to starboard of T6 accelerated away to move around the bow of T4 creating a large wake. The Helm of T6 released the throttle and T6 lurched to a halt and the bow dipped as the bow wave came over us and the boat immediately became a bath tub with water up to my knees. We started bailing with the one bailer and the other boats came along side giving us their bailers so all three of us could bail.
As fast as we could it still took us 20 minutes to empty the boat. My next pair of waterproof socks will be over the knee versions or preferably waders.
Getting a Tow astern.
Safety boat crews must expect to get wet. Following our impromptu bath we carried out many man overboard drills, pick up tens of bodies in the water and learning how to tow a safety boat that has run out of fuel. We learnt the advantages of dropping the anchor when in trouble and after a hard morning work we returned to the clubhouse for some lunch before heading out again to rescue an Oppi, a topper and reversing onto a beach using the anchor. It was a great day out on the river and fun too. It is so nice when you can have fun and learn at the same time.
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