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Jo Brooks.
BSAC Branch 14
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Back in June I had a crazy idea to try and organise a
boat-handling course in the Hull area. I wanted to set one up
ASAP so that we could make use of the branch boat that summer,
but as it turned out the earliest dates I could get were 2nd
and 3rd October when instructors stopped diving and returned to
instructing!
Four months later and after a lot of grovelling to boat
owners, and having convinced John Dunwell to be the Course
leader, my idea became reality. In all there were 10 branch
members on the course wanting to become boat handlers and 2
diver coxswain's on the course who wanted to become ABI's
(Assistant Boat handling Instructors).
History
of Inflatable Boats
According to the Guiness Book of Motorboating, the
history of the inflatable goes back as far as 880 BC,
when the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II ordered troops
to cross a river using greased animal skins, which they
inflated continuously to keep the vessels afloat.
In ancient China, during the Sung and Ming dynasties,
inflated, airtight skins were used for crossing rivers |
The course itself was broken down into a Theory day, which
was held at Hull College and a Practical day that occurred on
the River Humber. The theory day introduced us to the boat and
its equipment, responsibilities of the owner/driver,
pre-launch planning and safety and emergency actions.
Practical sessions on chart work and flares and well timed
breaks kept us alert and ensured that we were unable to die of
death by PowerPoint! The day passed without any hitches but
events were about to take a turn…….
There is only one word that would describe the practical
day and that word is eventful! Within the hour we had our
first casualty of the day. Brian's boat (Delta Force)
experienced fuel difficulties so a decision was made to
continue the course without her. The reduction in boats meant
that reshuffling was required. To keep the boat crews to a
minimum Brian decided to sit the day out meaning he would not
be able to gain his ABI qualification. Reshuffling over (7 on
each boat), we got back to practicing what we were there to
do. The first few hours were spent familiarising ourselves
with our boats; getting the boat on the plain, manoeuvring
left and right, starting and stopping etc. Once the
instructors had gained faith in our new found skills we were
then allowed down the river towards the Marina, our lunch
location.
 After lunch we all had the opportunity to practice 'holding
off' which was no easy feat (buoy number 26A has the marks to
prove it), our 'coming alongside' skills were also tested - no
marks this time but I think Tony's arms may be feeling sore
from 'pushing off'.
Our final test was to demonstrate our 'man overboard'
retrieval skills, all I can say is its just as well a buoy was
used and not a person as I have no doubt that we would have
also ended up demonstrating our first aid skills too!
The day was called to a close earlier than planned due to a
number of reasons; time restraints (I for one was conscious
that the tractor man wouldn't be around for ever), the Humber
was getting very shallow - even in the centre I was struggling
to find a depth greater than 1.5m and we had also suffered our
second casualty of the day (Stray Lass experienced steering
problems).
Despite the problems the course was a resounding success,
the branch now has 10 newly qualified boat handlers and 1
assistant boat handling instructor and I think everyone will
agree with me, the course was very worthwhile and enjoyable.
All that remains now is for us all to develop our hands on
experience.
Thanks must go to the boat owners Tony Hodge and Brian Smith
for agreeing to allow a bunch of novices onboard and for
giving up their free time. Thanks is also given to Andy
Bannister for 'volunteering' to retrieve and return the branch
boat from the Bridlington boat compound, and to Dermot Kelly
for agreeing to accommodate the branch boat over the weekend.
Jo Brooks
Photographs here
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