“Loopers” In Training

If you’ve been following along for awhile, you’ve read about our plans to do the “Great Loop” boat journey in 2012. It’s a 6,000-mile trip up the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Florida to New York, then west through the Great Lakes, and finally south on the inland rivers back to the Gulf of Mexico.  And 2012 is only weeks away!

As part of the transition from people who like to travel by plane, car, “rig” (our truck and 5th wheel trailer, to those of  you uninitiated to that term) or our pocket cruiser into “Loopers” we’ve been honing our boating skills by taking U.S. Power Squadron courses.  So far we’ve take the America’s Boating Class, Boat Mechanics,  a First Aid Course and various specialty seminars.  Currently we’re enrolled in a Seamanship class. And yesterday was our on-the-water-training-day.

At 9 AM sharp we reported to the Port Orchard Marina and boarded our instructors’ 46-foot Kha Shing trawler for a day of hands-on seamanship.

Our instructor Kevin, in the white sweatshirt and navy blue hat, began with a boat briefing and then began our drills. Photos  are courtesy of Kevin’s wife Jean Marie.

Each of the 8 students took a turn at the helm and spent a few minutes familiarizing ourselves with the boat’s handling characteristics and controls.

We then took this 20-ton twin-engine behemoth into the dock and were expected to do so without injury to either the dock or the boat.

We’re pleased to report that we both succeeded with flying colors! Of course it helped that there were no other boats on the dock, no wind, little current, and an instructor standing alongside to take over if we screwed up!

Nonetheless, we came away with increased confidence that we could actually handle a boat like the ones we’re currently shopping for, trawlers in the 36 – 44 foot range.

By the way, we’re in the process of remodeling our blog to reflect our new Great Loop adventure. Near the top you’ll find a new page, by clicking on the words “Looking For The Perfect Loop Boat” which describes what kind of boat we’re shopping for, and over on the top right corner of the home page, a map of the Great Loop route.