Sailing - Qualifications,
Availability, Plans and Dreams
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Qualifications
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Date achieved
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RYA Competent Crew (tidal and non-tidal) practical
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March 1998
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RYA Day Skipper for Sail and Power Craft (Shore based)
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March 1994
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RYA/DoT Coastal Skipper and Yacht-master Offshore
Shore-based
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May 1995
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RYA GMDSS Short Range Certificate
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December 2002
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RYA Diesel Engine Course
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February 2003
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RYA Day Skipper - Tidal (Practical)
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September 2003
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Date
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Experience
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pre 1961
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approx 20 hours sailing a dinghy on a lake
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1960-61
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approx 50 hours skippering a 35 foot yawl in Hawaiian waters
including passages through a reef in and out of harbours and out
of sight of land. The boat had no engine.
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pre 1992
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approx 3 days as crew and watchkeeper on 31ft yacht from
Amsterdam to Margate in rough seas with a head wind (mainly
motoring) and heavy swell. The motion gave me sea-sickness but I
was able to do all my watches.
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April 1995
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Crew and trainee in 32 ft yacht for two days sailing 80 miles
Maryland Essex to Harwich and return. Max wind force 6.
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March 1998
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Crew and trainee in 32 ft yacht for two days sailing 59 miles
Maryland Essex to Brightlingsea and thence to Harwich and return.
Max wind force 3. 5 hours night watch.
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September 2003.
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5-day Day Skipper practical course out of Conwy, North Wales.
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Dreams
Years ago I learnt to sail on a lake in Gloucestershire. My favorite
memory is of a time when there was a squall, with lashing of rain (it was
summer) and a wild wind. Instead of going ashore I sped my boat up and
down the lake at what seemed breakneck speed. Exhillarating!
Later I was stationed in Hawaii and had access to many exciting
facilities - water skiing, surfing at Waikiki, and sailing. I progressed
by a series of tests from a dinghy to a 20 foot sloop, thence to a 35 ft
yawl, the Red Witch. It had no radio, no motor, no anchor. We sailed,
sometimes tacked, through a gap in the reef then way out to sea, out of
sight of land, or went along the coast to Waikiki. I was proud of my
ability to dock gently by heading into the wind, once doing so neatly
outside the bar of the Hawaii Yacht Club.
That was all way back in 1961. For decades I dreamt of returning to sail
in the Pacific, with little tide and a steady trade wind. Another yearning
is for solitude. Thus I dreamt of sailing single handed across oceans.
In the mid 90s I took RYA shore-based courses and found time for a few
weekend trips off the Essex coast and one from Holland to Margate. But I
could never find time for any serious sailing.
Now that I am retired I feel I must work to realise these dreams. My plan
is to do some crewing to gain much needed experience, and to pass the RYA
practical courses, so as to gain the full Yachtmaster Ocean qualification.
Then, or perhaps in the process, to sail at least across the Atlantic,
maybe further afar.
April 2021: I have given up all hope of realising these old dreams.
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This page written/revised: 2002-12-08, … 2021-04-072023-11-30