Sunday 15th September 2019 saw the clubs practical boat handling skills course take place with lead instructor Peter “PJ” Sullivan on the clubs rib out of Littlehampton Marina.
The students who had previously completed two skills and theory lectures included Justin Clark, Paul Naude, Paul Campbell with Flo Trickey an experienced boat handler refreshing his skills. Training within the Littlehampton Marina and Arun estuary included boat and equipment orientation, owner / driver responsibilities, boat handling basics, factors effecting boat handling, pre-launch and voyage planning, safety, boat loading, manoeuvring skills in confined spaces, mooring up and coming alongside etc. Offshore skills and training took place in the English Channel off Littlehampton and include calm and open water handling, surface conditions – wind, tide etc, controlling the boat at High and low speeds, turning and man over board drills. The trainees also covered anchoring and diving which included buoys, recovering an anchor, deploying shot lines, dropping and recovering divers and side-step manoeuvres.
All students passed the course successfully and the club now has three new boat handlers who will now go on to spend about 20 hours accompany an experiences Diver Cox / Boat handlers developing their skills and experience further.
The Boat handling course is one of many training and development course run by the Seven Seas dive club. Interested just message us.
