60th
AUS Trip Blog 7
Bob, our yacht trainer and assessor, arrived promptly at 8 AM Saturday morning with his little fox terrier, Barnaby. Sporting a nautical beard and rolling his own cigarettes, Bob is a pommie transplant “living under the radar” on his boat at Muddy Bay. He keeps himself in beer and tobacco money by training charterers on the operation of the half million dollar yachts which will soon be their sole responsibility amongst coral reefs and shoaling waters.
Bob knows his stuff. He
worked for years as a master’s mate on various tall ships, and for a while made
his living performing sea shanties, several of which he belted out in the
middle of our briefing. He is quite a character. He spun yarns and told jokes
which turned our three hour briefing into four hours, but it was all part of
the charm. My favorite joke was what Bob said to the immigration official when
arriving from England. When asked if he had a criminal record, he replied, “I
didn’t realize it was still required.”
You need to know your Aussie history to get the joke.
Bob and Barnaby
Bob’s job was to ensure that
we knew what we were doing. In four hours we went meticulously from stem to
stern, learning everything there was to know about our new home- WATERMAN. Waterman is a German built 42 foot
sailing vessel carrying a mainsail and a headsail. She contains three cabins,
two heads, a galley and a roomy cockpit, with twin wheels. A pontoon dinghy and
two kayaks complete our rig. For the nautically experienced among you, you will
understand that I was pleased that Waterman’s headsail is self-furling and there
is an in-mast furling system for the main. All sails can be controlled from the
cockpit. As she has an auto pilot, you could sail her single handed. Unlike my
previous bare boat charters, Waterman has a GPS plotting system and an array of
navigational aids related to wind speed and direction which are very helpful in
these waters.
Waterman
Despite the sea shanties and
the jokes, Bob was checking us out. At the end of our briefing he pulled out a
quiz. I thought he was joking, but no, we all had to complete the quiz as a
group, and he went over every answer that was not quite right. Heavy emphasis
was placed on safe navigation and proper radio operation. He then announced
that we were to have an on water test where we would have to safely pick up a
mooring, drop a mooring, drop anchor and raise anchor.
The previous evening we had
assigned duties as a crew. Andrew is by far the most experienced sailor and
Margaret is not far behind. They have their own yacht, a 36 footer named Salmo
(dinghy named Salmonella) which they keep in Sydney Harbor. Andrew has
crewed on the Endeavor, a tall ship replica of Captain Cook’s boat, and both he
and Margaret have crewed on a yacht traversing the Baltic. Andrew has also
sailed to New Zealand, the North Sea the Arctic Circle. Not all on the same
trip. However, I have more experience skippering luxury yachts and navigating
my way in and out of anchorages. Dave and Kank know their way around boats, but
only as willing crew members.
In the end it was decided to
appoint Andrew Commodore, in overall charge of operations. I am the skipper
when under sail. Margaret is primary Navigator, although understanding what we
are doing in coral infested waters is everyone’s responsibility. Dave is the
radio operator and primary mainsheet handler. Kank is the anchorman and handles
headsail sheets. Andrew supervises the sail handling while I look after course
management and efficient sailing. We all take our turns as galley slave, chief
cook and bottle washer.
Navigator Margaret keeps a weather eye
Radioman Dave awaits the 2PM "Sched"
With us all at our appointed
posts, Bob piloted us out of the marina, turned over the helm to me and told me
to pick up a buoy. I was pretty nervous, especially as he was looking over my
shoulder. We succeeded on first attempt, and then successfully anchored and
raised anchor. Satisfied, Bob and Barnaby clambered into his dinghy and we were
on our way.
Kank takes a turn at the helm
Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
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