RAOC Gazette - page 257
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1981 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1981 |
| Late date | 1981 |
| Transcription |
BRITISHER SEGEL SCHULE THE EXPERIENCES OF AN ELEMENTARY HELM FROM MAJOR C R. MURRAY TREVOR, Brian, Anne, Rose and Chris set off at the crack of jj-'/n for the Dummer See and their elementary sailing course, W n cars in convoy all eventually arrived at Lembruck with litile or no sign of the Yacht Club. Brian our leader promptly said "This is Lembruck, 1 brought you here, now you find the Yacht Club!" Mutterings, such as "Passing the Buck," " Chicken," " Typical/' were heard in the early dawn air, But with the usual aplomb and ready initiative we slowly eliminated the directions of the locals, who had never heard of the 1 Britisher Segel Schule,* and numerous other yacht clubs to eventually arrive at the right one. The girls were able to sleep in proper beds—indoors, whereas \h? men had to rough it in a marquee on the very edge of the l;^e—blatant sex discrimination! Must make a note to turn left out of the marquee (should we need to leave it in the small hours) as the lake is forward and right of that entrance. Any- way with camp beds up, cases stowed, we prepared for our introductory lecture. Boats were available, and the trainee instructors that were to teach us our basic skills had nearly all arrived. We were to be under the direct supervision of Bob Bond of the Royal Yachting Association who was out from UK especially for this course. Having been paired up and given to an instructor we v,ere promptly on our way with boats. Looking at a precis we were most confused by the language used. Words such as gudgens, luffs, reaches, and stays soon made us close the book. Why can't a chap call a spade, a spade? Having been introduced to the gybe, which we dis- covered flapped from side to side, and having decided that we must accept the inevitable and believe everything our instructor told us, even if he did use funny words, we felt that we might get back to the now fast receding shore—maybe even by lunch timet What with three meals a day of compo, to support the persistance (not to mention the patience) of our instructors we discovered things called fairleads, jamb cleats, rudders which are attached to a tiller with a tiller extension, and mainstays, all of which are purposefully designed to tie ones arms up in knots and make the boat go the wrong way, progress began ever so slowly, but it began. In fact by day three Chris had gone through three pairs of trousers in as many hours; dropped his breakfast on the first pair, fell in with the second pair and drenched the third pair when a freak storm blew up just as we were very daringly sailing our boats (Bosuns) single handed. Geordie was last seen in great panic sailing rapidly with the wind, John made determined efforts to cut the jetty in half. Ralph turned his Bosun over on the jetty, and the rest of us were desperately trying to find the halyards (thin bits of rope, for those of you who are uninitiated) to let the mainsail down, and with luck the gybe before we underwent a similar fate. Luckily the Dummer See is about fifty inches deep so all accidents became walking wounded and walked ashore with boat in tow! With the lake so 4 deep you initiated souls can imagine the difficulty of sailing Close Hauled ' (nautical expression for you others) with centre plate fully down, or when trying to go through a quick man-overoard drill, before he walked away Photo Captain M,E. The old Heave Ho . * • or Capsize Parsons. Drill. the water from the direction of a close tangle of Bosuns, in amongst one or two other expletives, also of unknown origin. * At last the final tests arrived. They were to take the form of four races over a starboard (that means right for you others) course, and the presentation for the best helm would be based upon the results. It was a matter of getting used to timings to the start, whistle warnings, cards depicting how many minutes l to go, to say nothing of Where the hells the Wind,' and ' Mind l that Committee Boat!" We tacked ' into the wind, and turned the buoy, * ran before,' ' gybed, 1 * ran close hauled * and ' went about' in furious competition. Yelling for 'water' (strange that ) and shouting ' starboard.' We couldn't quite make out why the girls were steaming around the course the other way with Bosuns full of mstructors hard in pursuit. Anne really must stop climbing the mast whenever her helm is on a collision course. (By now you uninitiated should understand this?). Feeling rather damp, but course happily completed with every one receiving high praise, we were packed again and proudly in possession of the RYA Elementary Certificate. No charges were made for barrack damages, good-byes were said, and with introductions to local sailing clubs we had one last look around. It really had been a week; demanding and busy, daunting, yet exciting, but as we all agreed, most entertaining and enjoyable. Tacking down the autobahn we all felt that sailing for us is a must, and all agreed to family week-ends at the Club with the better-half as crew! And as 1 opened my front door to further this thought, I was met by " Hello Sailor "! What was it like? Well Never mind, the course was progressing with us all getting wet outside all day long and inside all evening. Locally, horror movies were plentiful and shown upon the club Video. Novices were actually naming parts of the boat with their correct names, and appetites were increasing as compo gave over to fresher rations (eggs at last!) The course was now very relaxed as individual confidence grew, especially as the novices were going solo, and managing to come back, still in the Bosun. Follow my leader was very revealing, with Instructor Bill making all of us gybe, and * Heave Ho ' sorry—Lee Ho, as we * Went About.' Abreviations such as 'About Turn!' * Right or Left Turn!' were heard from those more regimentally inclined. It was even whispered that a * High Ho * was heard to drift across — 213 — REMEMBER THE DEADLINE FOR COPY —28th OF EACH MONTH — WITH THE EDITOR AT DEEPCUT |
| Book number | R0250 |