PEOPLE YOU MEET
One of the best parts of my job, other than teaching people how to drive recreational boats, is that you just never know who you are going to meet next. I actually enjoy the anticipation before a course starts, waiting for people to arrive. Sometimes you have an idea because of the phone conversation beforehand, but this doesn’t always prepare you. An interesting course was the kiwi mob up in Bunbury a few weeks ago. There were four in all, consisting of twins in their fifties, a son and a nephew. Three were huge barrel chested Maoris and as soon as they walked into the teaching room, the young blokes were into the banter. But when they received their theory test marks, the youngsters were put right back in their place as the ‘old man’ had received 40/40. We had a great day and I gave back as good as they dished out, without mentioning the rugby of course. Even though they were cheeky and sarcastic, they knew when to be serious, although you might not think so looking at the attached photo when they finally received their skipper’s tickets. Then there was the private course for the 74 year old couple, Angela and John, from Eagle Bay. I knew this was would be something special when, on arrival, I had to speak through the intercom for them to open the gates to the property. It was peak holiday time and as I ascended to the second storey, with all my teaching gear, using the lift of course, I was presented with the most majestic view of a bay littered with boats, pristine white sand and crystal clear water. I told them that I was not sure I could work under these conditions, as I was sure to be constantly distracted. They were a great couple, eager to learn, especially as they had been recently gifted a 7.5 rigid inflatable which was moored out the front of their property. Sometimes clients make contact after courses seeking further information, looking to do advanced boating courses, or send photos putting their skills to good use. The attached photo shows local Margs SES volunteer Ellen Taylor-Hawkins certainly putting her skills to good use with a beautiful Dhuie. Looks like she is cuddling it. Finally, Tony from Busselton asked me to run two advanced sessions in his recently purchased 4.8m boat in Busselton. He had a skipper’s ticket, but felt he needed more one on one tuition, especially as his wife was a little wary. So he is now logging on with ACRM Base, anchoring safely ( even bow and stern from beaches ), using a C-Tek battery charger, launching and retrieving on his own sometimes, wearing an inflatable life jacket and storing all his safety gear in a barrel. As he said to me, “Happy wife, happy life!”
To answer to last week’s question, the word ‘Jet Ski’ derived from the first stand up ‘jet ski’ made by Kawasaki. This week’s question is, “How accurate is the position location for a standard 406 EPIRB?”
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