A BRIEF SUMMING UP
As the first of the cold fronts and strong winds hit last weekend, the Sea Soaring Marine truck, camper and boat were packed up and preparing to hit the Great Northern Highway again. I reckon as this article is being published we will be just south of Newman, hopefully camped up in the bush somewhere next to a campfire and glass of red in hand. Definitely have to be a bit wary though pulling off the main road, as the recent 250mm of rain that got dumped on Port Hedland and surrounds could make for some soft ground. The truck and van fully loaded weighs in at about 6.5 tonnes, so I won’t be pulling this out with a snatch strap!
My final week of marine training courses down south finished up with some fantastic people worth mentioning. Firstly, I have been conducting one on one marine training courses every Friday morning with local Margaret River High School student, Jarrod Masotto, as part of his Workplace Learning Program. The courses ran over six weeks and included RST refresher, advanced boating, rope splicing, chart navigation and marine radio operations. Jarrod is a keen diver, photographer, runs his own dinghy and was a sponge for information. He arrived on time every week, always came prepared for any theory or practical session and over the time we developed a unique relationship. When you talk about work place skills, punctuality, preparedness and the ability to hold a decent conversation with staff are right up there. By the end of the program he was showing me how to use my own camera properly, displaying initiative beyond his age and genuinely appreciating the opportunity that the school had provided for him. When I return, I will be looking at ways to employ him myself for some ideas I have about Go Pro boat training videos.
Then there was the Busselton lady who booked me up for a one on one RST course at Gracetown. When she arrived I found out that hubby had purchased a 6.7m Barcrusher and he had ‘prompted’ her to do the course, so she could handle the bigger boat, if needed. She was initially a bit anxious, though keen to challenge herself and easily passed the theory exam with 39/40. However, the south wester was well and truly in at about 20knots, swell up to 2.5m and Cowaramup Bay was very uninviting, with no others boat on the water. As we checked it out from the boat ramp, I suggested we drive back up to Port Geographe Marina for the practical, but she was having none of that. Her response was that if she was expected to skipper a 6.7 metre boat in open water, then surely she should have a crack at a 4.2m boat in difficult conditions. What could I say, other than let’s do it. We had a great session and sure there were a few tricky moments, but once successfully completed, she felt much more confident that she could, over time, translate the skills learnt to the bigger boat. I told her I expected a fishing trip invite down the track, as I sorely miss my previous 6.7m Surtees boat.
To answer last week’s question, Donald Campbell’s unique land and water speed records in the one year, with the water record achieved on Dec 31, was only made possible because 1964 was a leap year. This week’s question is, “What is one of the most unique features of Barcrusher and Surtees vessels?
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