Yachtmaster Offshore Examination

Nerves were evident the night before at the Ship Inn, when little was said over a pint of Otter. Today David and I were to were to be examined for the pinnacle of yachting examinations; the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore.

Up early, not much breakfast. We did some last minute tidying of the boat, slipped the lines and headed up river to pick up our torturer for the day at Noss marina. We rafted up against another boat momentarily whilst Andy Wright stepped aboard. Andy introduced himself, validated all the prerequisites for the course (losts of sea miles, night hours, various training courses etc.) and then went through the plan for the day. Night sailing was part of the examination, and of course, it was very close to being the longest day - and that's what it turned out to be!

The first task was some basic boat handing under engine. Reversing through narrow spaces, rafting up against other yachts, and picking up buoys. All fine, although my buoy pick up was a little ragged.

David was then requested to prepare a passage plan to take us to Brixham, a few miles up the coast. All done perfectly, as you might expect, from the master navigator. Conditions were not good. There was very limited visibility, bordering on fog (definition required David), and there was no wind! When a speed boat passed us at speed in these conditions from behind, and no one saw it, there was an oh dear moment when we thought we would be marked down. Our radar was not picking this boat up - no reflector, so other than stopping the boat an listening we were likely to miss it. The last section you see below heading somewhat away from Brixham was a valiant attempt to get Liquid Asset sailing which we did albeit very slowly.

Track of Liquid Asset during Yachtmaster

Next came the difficult one. Picking up a buoy under sail. David first. We must have chosen the worst buoy to get, it was almost impossible to grab. Three of four attempts and we were right on top of this thing, unable to get a hold on it. No problem with the approach, just the last bit. Unfortunately, being a stickler for completion, Andy was marking David down. It was David that got us to the buoy, and foredeck crew who failed to snag it!

Buoy Pickup under Sail

My turn. What fortune. I was saw an opportunity to tack onto the perfect course to pick up one of three buoys in a line (he did ask which one I was going for) and we picked it up first time. No trying to grab it with a boat hook, a simple loop thrown over. He did say later that I was bit lucky; cheeky!

 As you may be able to discern from the photograph we both made it. It was a tough long day, and we were celebrating with a flight of malts at 3am. More later.