Partner in Command Class

When we were at the OBYC cruise out the other weekend, the couple tied on one side of us said they'd signed up for the US power squadron "partner in command" class, FKA skipper saver. The idea being to teach the partner who perhaps doesn't drive the boat much enough to get back to the dock to save the skipper in an emergency. I do drive the boat but don't dock it so was interested in some pointers so we signed up. 

We either had to get there Friday or be there Saturday by 7 am, which would mean getting up at 5 am. Not fun. We ended up getting there Friday after dark, our second night boating experience in just a few weeks, right after saying why we don't care to boat at night in the delta! Only the last bit was in the dark, and the power squadron island is right off the river / main channel so it wasn't too bad. 

We'd brought a steak to grill but our friends who'd told us about the class had hamburgers already cooked for us! So nice! We had dinner on their boat and chatted for awhile before heading to bed for a good night's sleep before the class. 

We were very lucky to have a small class and each boat had its own instructor, where normally they share one instructor to two boats.  We started out with a "classroom" session on the covered deck. We talked about various safety topics like life jackets, using the VHF, knots, etc. Reading over the book in advance, I figured I wouldn't learn much in the classroom section. I actually got two good pointers on the cleat hitch. This is the simplest of knots but few people do it correctly. We thought we knew the correct way but learned we actually didn't. Now we do!! There were some other good pointers but the real meat was the one on one time on the water. 

We were assigned an instructor named Gary. Over the course of our on the water time we learned this was his first time teaching the class. He was great. I drove the whole time. He wasn't supposed to touch the controls at all, though he did the first time we came alongside the dock. He remembered not to the subsequent times. I learned a lot about how the boat handled and had a great time, despite getting soaked it the pouring rain. We drove from up top for the better visibility. I had my foul weather jacket but not my pants. Reminded us of our sailing days! 

The instructors put together a great dinner for us, including homemade carrot cake. All this was $50 for the two of us. The asked us if we wanted to join the island and we weren't interested- until we took a walk outside their fenced off end to the rest of the island. It was wonderful, and the annual fee is nominal. We're thinking about joining. I really recommend the class for any partners who want to increase their confidence driving in close quarters! 

Matt said I should mention I docked the boat several times, including ultimately being the last of the four boats to return to the dock to stern in, between two other student's boats (there was lots of room so it wasn't scary). I also drove off the dock the next day and most of the way back to Willow Berm. Matt docked at our slip. The current was running pretty hard which is nerve wracking even for Matt. I'll wait and try that at slack tide!