Papa T and I have sailed for many years, we have even owned a couple of small boats. Somewhat on a whim about 30 years ago we bought our first boat, a second hand 20ft Seawych sailing yacht from a very persuasive yacht broker although we had never sailed before. The yacht broker gave us a couple of lessons and taught us to sail (sort of) and off we went, learning more each time we took our little boat out, we had several years of happy sailing on the River Crouch and became quite competent. Sadly we had to sell our boat when we needed the money as a deposit for our first house purchase but we continued to sail occasionally when we chartered yachts several times for holidays both in the UK and Greece.
We later on bought an Optimist dinghy for our children to sail in and then a Drascombe Lugger, a lovely, traditional, gaff rigged open day boat that we sailed on the local reservoir and sometimes towed down to Cornwall for the summer holidays.
Then school aged children, home commitments, work and horses took up all our time so the Opi and Lugger both got sold and we stopped sailing.
Since living in Singapore we have had more time to sail again, generally crewing on friend's yachts. Plus we have had 2 lovely holidays sailing in the stunning waters around Phuket, Thailand but each time we have had to hire a skipper as neither of us have any formal sailing qualifications (years ago this hadn't been necessary but it is now a requirement). We would like to be able to book a "bare boat charter" ie not have to hire a skipper ( and save some money) so decided it was time to undertake our RYA Day Skipper training.
We started off by doing the online theory course, which includes learning about navigation, meteorology, safety at sea, the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea, using navigation charts, understanding tides, passage planning and pilotage. We did this on an hoc basis, when we had spare time (which seems a sparse commodity) so it took us several months to (nearly) complete and then we looked around for a centre to undertake the practical element of the course.
When we first talked about doing this course Papa T had suggested we went to one of the sailing schools in either Phuket or Langkawi and I liked the idea of that so was a little disappointed when it made sense to instead do the 5 day 4 night course here in Singapore at the Keppel Bay Sailing Academy, over the long weekend around Chinese New Year
Day 1
We arrived early on the first morning and met our instructor Chris, and the 3 other course students. These 3 were doing the Competent crew course. After doing the paperwork onshore we were taken onboard Venture, a 40ft Beneteau yacht where we would be living, sleeping, eating and learning during the 5 day course.
We stowed our stuff in our designated cabins and were shown the duty rota for the 2 teams that would take it in turns to prepare and cook the meals, do the cleaning and other daily tasks required above and below decks. I was in team Bay Watch, Papa T in Crime Watch-how appropriate!
After being fully briefed about the boat rules, use of the heads (loo), the safety equipment onboard including how to use flares in an emergency, send a mayday signal, deal with an engine fire and where the bolt cutters were stored incase of needing to cut any cables due to dismasting I was pretty terrified and about ready to jump ship and head back home!
Before I had time to do that we were preparing to set off for our first sail
We motored out of the marina and threaded our way through the many ships moored in the area and with expert tuition by Chris hoisted the sails. Two of the three Competent crew students had very limited sailing experience, in fact 1 of them had never been on a boat before and had no idea if he would get sea sick or even like sailing
The weather was good and the wind gradually increased to a force 5 giving some exciting sailing and the opportunity to learn about when and how to put reefs into the mainsail. It was at this point that Chris nominated me to be on the helm. I was pretty nervous, I've not helmed such a big boat before and the wheel seemed huge
We sailed out to Raffles lighthouse on Pulau Satumu, the southern most point in Singapore and started to get used to the boat and get to know each other, but more importantly this was also an opportunity for Chris to get to know us.
During the quieter moments we learned and practiced tying various knots, bowline, reef, clove hitch and more. After a couple of hours sailing we headed back to the marina as the light started to fade
Once back and having tidied up the boat the early evening lesson began, navigation, buoys and lights, all of which we would need to know thoroughly
and the Man Over Board, MOB procedure, Chris impressed on us the importance of trying to avoid the need for ever having to carry out this procedure by adhering to safe practice, good seamanship and using safety equipment appropriately however we would all need to know and demonstrate that we could put the theory into practice. Papa T and I were warned that as we were doing the Day Skipper course then we would be tested on how we managed MOB exercises- yet another thing to worry about!
Finally it was time to relax, well it was for me but Papa T and his fellow Crime watch team member were in charge of preparing and cooking our supper that night
After supper we all headed to bed, pretty tired after a busy day. It was at this point I released that none of the cabins had doors on them so there was practically no privacy in this already confined space! Not great when I was the lone woman with 4 men ( the doors have been removed so that when the boat is hooked up to shore power the onboard air con works)
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Day 2
In spite of feeling pretty tired neither Papa T nor I slept well but we all had to be up bright and early.
After breakfast ( Bay Watch's turn) and demonstration by our instructor we spent time practicing bringing the boat alongside a pontoon, otherwise known as pontoon bashing. We had to learn how to do this both coming in bow or stern first, depending on the wind and tides, Papa T and I took turns practicing these manoeuvres and the competent crew lads had the role of securing the lines correctly on the boat and lassoing the cleats on the pontoon from the boat.
Photo below of me concentrating very hard on coming alongside without hitting anything!
Then it was sailing time.
That night we would be staying at Royal Singapore Yacht Club, only a few kilometres away but we would spend the rest of the day sailing out to some of the islands immediately south of us. The weather was again fabulous but not such good wind so the sailing was very gentle and peaceful
On the way we continued learning about navigation and understanding how to read charts, there are areas of shallow water and dangerous reefs around many of the islands locally and of course little of this can be seen above the surface of the water, they lurk beneath
Lunch was prepped and served by Baywatch, my team, whilst we sailed on. My team mates were great fun to be with, constantly joking and messing around, it felt a bit like having 2 copies of my son with me!
After lunch Chris demonstrated the MOB drill and talked both Papa T and I through a practice manoeuvre. He warned us that after today we should be alert for MOB testing without prior warning
Here I'm at the helm and have instructed crew mate Mat as 'pointer', his only role during MOB is to constantly keep track and point to the man (fortunately in this case a fender) whilst we turn around the boat and get ready to rescue him. Im not sure why I look quite so relaxed and Mat is not actually looking at the MOB as he points but you get the idea
We had more instruction in the Rules of the Road, IRPCS, and the pecking order of different craft on the sea, plus the shapes they should display during the day and lights at night
Chris would point to vessels and test us on what shapes and lights they should display. I started to appreciate that doing this course in Singapore water's rather than somewhere much less busy we would have a good opportunity to see many of the different craft on the sea
At the end of the day we made our way into RSYC and were surprised to see Greenpeace's famous boat, Rainbow Warrior moored up in the marina.
That evening we had dinner at the yacht club but the tuition continued as we waited for our food and throughout the meal. Further teaching about sailing techniques, testing each other on nav lights and buoys and for Papa T and I how to make a passage plan as we would be taken charge of planning a passage the following day! This course was full on and I think thanks to that and sheer tiredness we both had a better nights sleep that night
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Day 3
The following morning I had to plan the passage which would take us back to Keppel Bay Marina but via St John's Island. Using the chart I had to decide where to put the waypoints so as to avoid reefs, shipping lanes, shallow water etc, It took me quite a while to do this, my first attempt at passage planning and I felt very glad Chris would be monitoring my every move and checking I never put us or the boat in any real danger.
We spent more time practicing 'pontoon bashing' for a while and using the pontoon next to Rainbow Warrior this gave us the opportunity to have a closer look at this famous vessel
Then it was back out onto the sea and acting as duty skipper I was in charge of who was to do what, so put Papa T on the helm, he does love steering. We had good sailing weather and were having fun
Passage plan in hand I helpfully point out something!
I even started to relax
...that is until Chris surprised us all by discreetly tipping the fender over board triggering MOB drill. We went through the steps and successfully rescued the fender, now named Wilson (after the imaginary friend that Tom Hanks's character in the film Castaway made out of a coconut). Poor Wilson was chucked overboard several more times during the afternoon giving us more practice
Towards the end of the afternoon the sky became dark and we could see a thunderstorm approaching fast. We made it back into the marina just in time as the thunder started. Luckily we were safely moored up and all our deck jobs done and in the bar by the time the heavens opened
Day 4
This was to be our longest and toughest day as not only would we make the long passage to Changi Sailing Club we would then, after a short break at Changi and once night had fallen, set sail again and sail through the night back to KBM to practice navigating a night passage.
Papa T had the task of planning our route to CSC and to make it even more challenging our instructor said the route should also include threading our way through several little islands
Again we had fair weather and winds with relatively gentle sailing
It was interesting seeing Singapore from the sea, with good visibility we could clearly see the CBD and Marina Bay Sands
Then in complete contrast we sailed between the Sister's Islands and then Kusu island, all pretty rustic with lovely sandy beaches
Once clear of the islands and heading toward open water (although still with lots of shipping about so one can never fully relax) we picked up more wind and had some good sailing
That is until "Wilson" (the fender) was surreptitiously thrown overboard again, this time Chris named 1 crew member as the supposed man over board and they had to do nothing throughout the exercise meaning we had 1 fewer crew to help with the recovery, of course that's how it would be in a real life situation
This happened a few more times throughout the day's sailing so that both Papa T and I had plenty of practice. The sense of relief and achievement after a smooth recovery was fantastic and led to celebrations on deck
By late afternoon we started approaching Changi and passed under the flight path of plans taking off from Changi airport
We picked up a visitors mooring buoy at Changi Sailing Club and had a couple of hours relaxing, making and eating supper on board. Papa T and I also had to prepare the next passage plan which would take us back to KBM but this time we would navigate through the night
I was acting Duty Skipper for the first leg of the trip and quickly found that night navigation was a totally different 'ballgame'! The buoys and lights that appeared to be so obvious on the chart and I had thought would give us good bearings to steer by were not nearly so obvious now. We all (duty skipper in particular) had to be on high alert and on constant watch taking note of every light that we could see, working out if it was onshore or offshore, a buoy, lighthouse, beacon or another vessel and if another vessel was it stationary or moving and if moving how fast and in which direction, we certainly wanted to avoid any collisions!
One of the competent crew chaps with us is a French fighter pilot and his eyesight, observation skills and awareness was fantastic, he was a real asset to have onboard.
Although pretty nerve wracking it was also peaceful and quiet. I recalled the other time that I had been at sea at night a few months previously when I had joined friends on their mission to rescue their friends and their boat, then I had little knowledge of the different light patterns that I saw, now I had a bit more knowledge and was able to identify different vessels because of their lights
I was relieved when we reached my final waypoint and I handed over the duty skipper hat to Papa T
Papa T navigated the rest of the route, including going through the small inlet between some islands, not an easy thing to do in the dark with reefs and rocks around. Throughout the sail we had the lights of Singapore's mainland on our starboard (right) side and as we came closer to the city the bright lights intensified, making it even harder to pick out the lights off buoys and beacons. At about 2am we were back and slipped quietly back into the marina and in to Venture's normal berth, we tidied up the boat of all her ropes and sails and thankfully crept into our bunks just before 3am, it had been an extremely long day
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Day 5- Final Day
Despite the very late night and being told we could 'lie in' we were all awake and up by 7.30am! Chris told us that we would spend some more time pontoon bashing and then we would sail over to Lazarus Island where we could swim and relax for the afternoon. As it was the last day and we would soon have completed our courses Chris told us to wear our Keppel Bay Sailing Academy T shirts
Before this the 3 competent crew students had to pass a rowing test as part of their course. In the case of abandoning a sinking ship it would be the crew's job to row the skipper (and any passengers) to safety. Papa T and I sat relaxing on deck and watched whilst they took it in turns to row the required distance within the allotted time, Christian managed to beat the Academy's rowing record!
Then it was pontoon bashing time, this time we learned and practiced how to reverse onto a pontoon. It was a little disconcerting having an extremely large and expensive Super yacht berthed next to the pontoon we were practising on, the consequences of bashing it did not bear thinking about!
We had a lovely sail over to Lazarus Island, a small tropical paradise only a few miles off Singapore's mainland.
Usually a ferry transports visitors here where they can swim, have BBQ's and relax. We were lucky to arrive on our own boat, well Venture was now starting to feel like our own. We moored up on the pontoon and after lunch on board we went ashore to explore
It really was quite hard to believe that we were in Singapore. The water here was clean and the white sandy beach practically empty, although I understand that it becomes extremely busy at weekends
After an hour it was time to head back to Venture ready to sail back. Another boat had arrived and was moored next to her, they had a karaoke thing on board and were singing along very loudly and untunefully, so definitely time for us to go
Back in KBM and after tidying everything up on board and packing our bags Chris took us one by one for a walk up the pontoon to discuss how we had done. He had done this at the end of each day discussing what we had done well and what we need to work on.
I was fully expecting him to tell me that I had progressed quite well, had improved my knowledge, skills, competence and confidence but was not quite at the level where he could pass me therefore I was completely stunned when he said congratulations you have passed your Day Skipper Course!
Papa T passed as well ( of course) and the 3 competent crew students passed their course so it was with great relief and enjoyment that we were given our certificates and celebrated with a beer or two
The Day Skipper Course had been a much more intense and involved course than I think either Papa T or I had had thought it would be. I know that this it is just a small way along the road (or should it be ocean) of becoming an experienced and competent sailor, whether I ever will become that I don't know but that I am grateful to Chris for his expert tuition, calm attitude and encouraging manner throughout. We we're also very fortunate to have had such great crew mates, although of different ages and experiences we got on very well and made good friendships
