promises! promises!

[vince]

Last month, being the doting father that i am, i said to my eldest daughter, who has just turned 12, that if she did really well in her SATS exams, i would send her on a powerboat 1+2 !
And now that she HAS done well, i am going to have to honour it. Which also means letting her drive the RIB!
Does anyone else have an experience of this? What level can she do? Any safety pointers? (besides her going nowhere near the rib)

[IanE]

my 2 did a specific junior course at 13 and 14 and got on really well. They enjoyed the course but agreed that 120hp 6.3m was different from 4m 25hp
!!
We made a week of it - they did junior on tues/wed and I did PB2 thu / friday.

The venue was exceptional - Baltimore West Cork.

Ian

[tcwozere]

Try and get her onto a course where she can be taught using your boat. I have been meaning to send mine on summat for ages, but haven't got around to it. A year later, I don't think either need to, what they have learned from practical experience far outweighs the PB 1+2 courses..

[vince]

I`d agree with that, she`s driven our 4.2 zodiac before in the lake district on ullswater, and got on fine. She even discovered she could flip daddy out of the boat by turning every time i stood up! But a 6.3 is a bit different on the sea with 135 orses. Perhaps i`m being a bit over protective, kids are like sponges, they just seem to soak everything up in their stride and get on with it.

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by tcwozere

Try and get her onto a course where she can be taught using your boat. I have been meaning to send mine on summat for ages, but haven't got around to it. A year later, I don't think either need to, what they have learned from practical experience far outweighs the PB 1+2 courses..

I feel a bit the same way. There is no legal requirement for certification here and no facility for getting training, so I have been "feeling my way" since I got mine in about March, but initially I was determined to do 1&2 when I am over in the UK next month.

But having accumulated some 30 odd hours in my boat I really feel completely comfortable with it now (was quite nervous to start with) and am starting to think that there may not be much point as it would be 2 days out of my relatively short holiday and I don't know how much I would get out of it. There is a nagging doubt in my mind that I might be picking up bad habits and/or lulling myself into a false sense of security though, since it has all been self-taught! I wish I could see a syllabus for exactly what is covered on the courses, had a look on Google a couple of months ago but there was only very general information.

I suppose the appeal from my point of view is that I would then be able to hire boats if I am on holiday, I assume you need at least a PB2 to be able to do this.

[AndrewH]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

I wish I could see a syllabus for exactly what is covered on the courses, had a look on Google a couple of months ago but there was only very general information.

When I did my PB2 the syllabus included sections on:
Launching and Recovery, Boat handling, Basic MOB recovery, Securing to bouys and dockside, Anchoring, Leaving and Coming Alongside, Understanding Met and Nav charts

There was also a practical on the water assesment of most of the above with the addition of some high speed S and U turns

There are many others here who could fill in where I've left gaps but hope this helps

Originally Posted by BogMonster

I suppose the appeal from my point of view is that I would then be able to hire boats if I am on holiday, I assume you need at least a PB2 to be able to do this.

Yeah I believe that PB2 is the basis for the International Certificate of Competence

[codprawn]

Well I did my PB2 and safety boat - also a VHF course. To be honest as it is now about 6 months or more ago I may as well not have done it.

I am prob totally different to most people - can't be taught much - have to learn for myself so my findings may not apply to others.

90 miles from Guernsey was simple - 20mins in home waters taught me far more - especially trying to control a big RIB in a strong crosswind when mooring - much harder than a Gin palace with bowthrusters etc!!!

In other words experience experience experience.

[BogMonster]

Thanks Andrew

Mmm I know what you mean Codders the first few times coming alongside in "a bit of a breeze" (~20 knots of wind not being that uncommon here) was "interesting" and there were some "slight cock ups at first" (ok some quite big ones...) but the worst thing so far is trying to get the boat back on to the trailer single-handed in a strong crosswind. Having to hit the trailer doing about 5 knots just to keep enough steering input to stop the boat going sideways definitely requires a degree of confidence/recklessness trying to avoid doing that now or it is going to end in tears one day...

MOB stuff would be good to know though (even though I don't carry passengers - could be useful one day and I wouldn't have a clue where to start) and I'm not at all sure about some of my mooring line techniques either - mostly seem to rely on "lots of ropes with lots of knots in" but I would guess it probably doesn't look very professional to the experienced eye

What is it they say - a little knowledge is a dangerous thing?!

[Jelly]

As Andrew covered the main points I won't reiterate, but there are some manovers that get covered which people normally need practice on. Even if its only a trick to show you an easier way of doing something.
If you can do your course in the area you normally use you can pick up some local knowledge you might have missed.
As for forgetting it if you don't use it this is to some extent true but normally the knowledge is still there just a little tarnished and just need some practice to get it back.
I would recomend the course but might be worth seeing if the centre you are sending her too are doing any courses with others of the same age group, it might be more enjoyable.
have fun
Jelly

[Nick Hearne]

How about something like this?
http://www.salcombepowerboats.co.uk/...s/ribskids.htm