I am just back from completing Level 2 training and I feel much more assured by it and very motivated.
While I enjoyed Level 1 it was full on and a lot to take in in one hit. While I had grasped the principles of hoisting sails, reefing them and changing them as well as how to tack and gybe such a complex machine like most of my crew mates I did not feel I knew it as I should. While Clipper skippers did not expect evolution assurance at the Level 1 stage I was anxious to get it right and probably put myself under pressure. At the end of the Level 1 week I was physically tired yes - but more than that my brain felt like mush with information overload and self inflicted stresses - ha! (EVOLUTIONS - while the principles of sailing are the same on any yacht, on a 70 foot / 40 ton yacht with a suite of sails and very big and heavy sails at that - everything you do has to be systematic and has to involve a number of crew to make things happen. Tacking a Clipper for instance might take 8 people all working in sequential harmony. To get the sequences and individual techniques and timings right is challenging and there are quite a number of different evolutions to understand and eventually perfect (I hope.) )
I was with a very good bunch on Level 2. It started with a full day in the classroom and pool learning about how to deal with an abandon ship situation and how to use a life raft. It was a very instructive course and a salutary lesson in the need for safety at sea. What we did in the pool was hard. Trying to do it in a Pacific storm, dressed in foulies and in very cold water is mind boggling.
The bulk of the week was at sea practicing and building on the evolutions we learnt on Level 1. Eureka. After a week at home going through my notes and with the drills practiced in Level 2 the penny has dropped. I can recite the principal evolutions. I feel I can lead an evolution. This is very assuring. I have progressed. At the end of the week I really feel I have learned a lot. I am much more familiar with life aboard. Simple things like using the bunks and the toilet, storing gear, cooking, rope handling - and moving around are not straight forward on a Clipper yacht but I am adjusting. It is not simple for anyone. That is evident. Team work and considering others is really essential. Interdependence is greater on a large Clipper yacht than in any other situation I have ever experienced.
Another feature of the week was experiencing the normal "watch" system. The crew is divided into watches. 4 hours on 4 hours off. This is tough if you like your sleep - but the sea at night is beautiful
At the end of the week I have moved on and put together with the earlier Crew Allocation - things are now very real. I am going to sail the Pacific. I also have to say I have learnt a lot already that will be generally helpful in the coastal sailing on my own little boat that I plan to do in the next few years. Clipper is dominating my thoughts. I am on a course to do something that will be quite special I think.
Here is a link showing a bit more about the actual boats - the Clipper 70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffpRY0VwsA
While I enjoyed Level 1 it was full on and a lot to take in in one hit. While I had grasped the principles of hoisting sails, reefing them and changing them as well as how to tack and gybe such a complex machine like most of my crew mates I did not feel I knew it as I should. While Clipper skippers did not expect evolution assurance at the Level 1 stage I was anxious to get it right and probably put myself under pressure. At the end of the Level 1 week I was physically tired yes - but more than that my brain felt like mush with information overload and self inflicted stresses - ha! (EVOLUTIONS - while the principles of sailing are the same on any yacht, on a 70 foot / 40 ton yacht with a suite of sails and very big and heavy sails at that - everything you do has to be systematic and has to involve a number of crew to make things happen. Tacking a Clipper for instance might take 8 people all working in sequential harmony. To get the sequences and individual techniques and timings right is challenging and there are quite a number of different evolutions to understand and eventually perfect (I hope.) )
I was with a very good bunch on Level 2. It started with a full day in the classroom and pool learning about how to deal with an abandon ship situation and how to use a life raft. It was a very instructive course and a salutary lesson in the need for safety at sea. What we did in the pool was hard. Trying to do it in a Pacific storm, dressed in foulies and in very cold water is mind boggling.
The bulk of the week was at sea practicing and building on the evolutions we learnt on Level 1. Eureka. After a week at home going through my notes and with the drills practiced in Level 2 the penny has dropped. I can recite the principal evolutions. I feel I can lead an evolution. This is very assuring. I have progressed. At the end of the week I really feel I have learned a lot. I am much more familiar with life aboard. Simple things like using the bunks and the toilet, storing gear, cooking, rope handling - and moving around are not straight forward on a Clipper yacht but I am adjusting. It is not simple for anyone. That is evident. Team work and considering others is really essential. Interdependence is greater on a large Clipper yacht than in any other situation I have ever experienced.
Another feature of the week was experiencing the normal "watch" system. The crew is divided into watches. 4 hours on 4 hours off. This is tough if you like your sleep - but the sea at night is beautiful
At the end of the week I have moved on and put together with the earlier Crew Allocation - things are now very real. I am going to sail the Pacific. I also have to say I have learnt a lot already that will be generally helpful in the coastal sailing on my own little boat that I plan to do in the next few years. Clipper is dominating my thoughts. I am on a course to do something that will be quite special I think.
Here is a link showing a bit more about the actual boats - the Clipper 70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ffpRY0VwsA
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| Abandon ship practice |
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| Scenes from the week |
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