Graduation Day
As the last day of my Level 1 course was re-scheduled for 7 May. I was trying to find a way to bring it a bit forward. So I contacted the senior instructor at Harp Sailing School and asked if it was OK to show up this Sunday morning and if there was a no-show, to take that person’s place. He said that I was more than welcome to try that and we would definitely try to sort it out somehow. During the week I was trying to find a good website with weather forecasts detailed enough for sailing but also quite local inside London. The good thing with Welsh Harp is that a few miles towards the west is the Northolt RAF Base (with it’s own weather station) and towards the northeast, in Barnet, is a Met Office weather station. So it is a matter of getting detailed information from those two stations. I found a website (skylinkweather.com), used by aviators but I think it’s good enough for sailors too, that has both those weather stations and many more from all over the country.
I was also googling and froogling for a sailing pocket knife. I wanted to get a folding knife in my buoyancy aid pocket for emergencies. If the boat capsizes and you find yourself underwater tangled in some rope, a knife can really save your life. I was also looking for an emergency whistle (to attract attention, call for help, if needed). Lydia, my girlfriend, gave me an early birthday gift. A ToolLogic SL1 Light. It’s a folding knife that can be operated with one hand, with a blade safety-lock and an emergency whistle incorporated in the handle as well as a waterproof LED flashlight. Quite impressive piece of kit. They even have a model that instead of the flashlight has a firestarter that works even when wet.
All that was during the week. This morning came and I arrived at WSC. I was told that even if there would be no space for me I could join one of the two safety boats. Eventually, they put me with someone who was doing a Level 2 course and his “partner” didn’t show up. We were introduced, he was Greek too by the way, and we had a very experienced instructor. We rigged the boat, actually we did most of the work this time. We launched the boat and we started straight away. I was really relaxed, felt very confident and our instructor was giving us loads of freedom. By the time we stopped for the tea-break I had done a few gybes already. After the break he showed us how to approach a pontoon or jetty. Then he got of the boat and he stayed on the pontoon and we were doing approaches. We were doing quite well. Then he got into a safety boat and we were circling around him. He showed us how to recover a man overboard, using alife jacket for a man, and we tried it ourselves. By the time we stopped for lunch there was hardly any wind.
We had our lunch break and we were asked to give our logbooks in order to be signed-off, attach the certificates and fill the log. After the lunch break we did some more approaches, circles and man overboard recoveries. We were the only ones to sail without an instructor on board. The truth is that Costas, my learning partner, has some sailing experience. At some point the wind picked up quite a lot and it started raining. I went in for the rain to stop and after a quick coffee, when the rain was over we went out again.
Since we had done everything we had to and even more, we are fast learners you see, and the weather was quite calm, our instructor thought that we could try and sail the boat, each one of us on his own with both the main sail and the gib, just to feel how it is. First Costas got onto the safety boat with our instructor and I had 10 minutes to sail on my own. It was so calm that I was standing in the boat. This was something that I learned from Costas. If there is no strong wind and you can stand in the boat and keep it level is not bad at all. You have a really good view of what is happening around you and you also stretch your legs a bit. At some point I realised the boat was going backwards. That meant that the wind changed direction quite a lot. I adjusted my sail and changed my course accordingly. The wind picked up and after a gybe, I decided to sit down. The wind was getting stronger and I was getting more excited. I was going faster. I was really sailing.
The wind got strong and I realised that another storm was coming. While I was doing a tack, I had to let the gib go so after the tack I would pull it from the other said. The wind was so strong that the gib was flapping so much that pulled the gibsheets so far that I couldn’t reach them. As soon as I turned, the flapping jib was making thing difficult for me. I had lost stability. The safety boat, with Costas on, came to my rescue. I turned the dinghy to the wind so it would stop and Costas could come onboard. While he was trying to come onboard we almost capsized. I had to hang my body outside the boat so much that I could see the underside of the hull and the centreboard. With all the activity, the boat had changed direction and we were being blown by the wind. I turned the boat again towards the wind, held the boom straight and Costas came onboard. He grabbed the jibsheets and I stayed at the helm. The wind was strong and was coming from the pontoon side. We had to go in because it was raining. We sailed windward with a couple tacks. We were approaching the pontoon and I hadn’t decided were exactly we would park. I spotted a space, but we were coming too fast, I did a couple of quick tacks to slow down and stopped exactly were I should, facing the wind. It was a really good approach. Once again we were the last out of the water. We pulled the boat, pulled the sails down, covered it and parked it back in its place.
I was excited, I had done some real sailing, we dealt with sudden weather changes, we had done a really good approach and most important off all we hadn’t gone swimming. We were wet because of the rain, but we didn’t capsize. We went back into the clubhouse, and we got our logbooks back. I now have my “RYA Level 1 Certificate” and I have signed-off some things from the “Level 2” and even the “Seamanship” courses! The most important thing I learnt, though, was that the weather can change very, very quickly. I am happy, excited and I had a really nice experience. After we changed we had a beer at the clubhouse bar, thanked my instructor and drove-off.
I am very happy with the Wembley Sailing Club. At the end of every day of my Level 1 course they send me an email (altough it’s Sunday) with information for the following day. Tongith they sent me a (personalised) welcome email and they have always been helpful. They have answered all my questions promptly and it seems that someone reads emails and replies at least every day. The older members seem quite friendly, the changing/shower facilities are better than I expected and you can always find someone at the clubhouse bar, at the end of a racing day, to talk to, have a beer and even listen to some funny stories. Although more experienced, the people there, will always talk to you, give you advice and make you feel welcome. I had checked a couple more sailing clubs in the area but finally I decided to stay with WSC. Now I am very happy I did that. Thanks WSC!