Page 136 - AGC-Journal-2016
P. 136
AGC JOURNAL 2016
Experience 6
of a First Timer
By Jamie Beever
I felt very fortunate to be
allocated a place on Exercise
Baltic Adventure. We were
on ten yachts with crews
of six which started in Kiel
with some basic yachtsman 7
training before we headed
off to navigate the high Teamwork
seas, learning as we went. Sharing a yacht with five other people
Our yacht was called Grebe was great for improving teamwork and
and our crew consisted of communication skills, especially for the
our newly qualified skipper jobs which require more than two people.
This was particularly important for tasks
- Ingrid Hall, Mate - Nikki such as bringing the boat into moor,
Wood, Sarah Hamer, Pat tacking and gybing, and changing the 6: Nikki Wood, Ingrid Hall and Jamie Beever
sails. While one person helms (steers) the
White, Makenzi Ross and boat, another works the ropes, one or two 7: Makenzi Ross watches the port side for ships while Sarah
Hamer works the ropes and Pat White concentrates on
myself. With three complete more control the sail, and any others keep helming
novices on board, what could a lookout for the helm’s blind spots to help 8: Harry Grebe (the boat mascot), Ingrid Hall, Nikki Wood,
Makenzi Ross, Pat White, Sarah Hamer, Jamie Beever
avoid other boats. Added to this, various
possibly go wrong? obstacles, choppy weather, shallow water,
rocks, shipwrecks and having to follow
8 the navigation buoys, it is easy to see how With such a novice crew we were amazed
things can get exciting, even a little hectic and thrilled to discover that we had come
fairly quickly. in second place. It was a great confidence
boost to the crew and really showed that
The Adventure the tuition and lessons received from our
skipper had really sunk in and paid off.
We spent the first three days sailing across
to Denmark and around the Islands to On reflection
get a taste of sailing and overcoming
seasickness. On the fourth day we had This expedition has given us a really good
the opportunity to hone our skills as a foundation knowledge of sailing mixed
team by engaging in a timed passage in with a lot of fun. We have learned
and we were confident that we would do so much about approaching moorings,
well. This confidence changed when our basic maintenance, knot tying and the
Skipper informed us that she would be use of correct sail types for different
handing over control of the boat to the wing strengths and it has been a great
First Mate, to decide the course, sail plan experience. The weather was a real mix
and navigation to help train and give her of sunny, clear and rainy days with a
some developing experience. Following light storm thrown in for good measure.
the initial moment of panic, the crew rose Although that may be the last Baltic
to the challenge, banded together and Adventure from Kiel, I’m sure that it will
made excellent progress by employing all continue to be a great week next year and
of the techniques that we had learnt over that the participants will have the same
the week to overcome the various issues. enjoyable experience as I have.
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