Life Beyond the Beaker

After the research cruise in October, I spent two weeks cramming for my Yachtmaster Coastal skipper exam. I was awarded a scholarship from Trinity House and the RYA last year to do all of this training!  I spent 4 long days getting used to Bold Ranger, a Nelson 42 owned by James at https://hebrideanseaschool.com/ These blue sheets across the windows are to represent fog. We practiced our blind nav using just speed, distance, time, and using radar.  These are all of the things that we get tested on in 1.5 days and need to know off by heart and be competent! It is a big scary list, however, over the years I have been building this up so it was great to actually test my knowledge and skill!  International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea Questions will be confined to the International Regulations and although candidates must be aware of the existence of Local Regulations, they will not be expected to memorise s...

I have been pretty quiet on this blog for the past year! The reason for this is at the end of 2019 I had a few medical issues which resulted in a pretty scary surgery. However, I am now fully fixed, back smiling and hopefully when COVID allows I will get my full ENG1 (seafarers medical) and HSE diving medical back in full. I have been restricted to the UK for the past year!  This last year, I have had a happy time learning how to drive Seol Mara!! https://www.sams.ac.uk/facilities/vessels/   Although I missed out on a few cruises and travels I think it has been really good for me to connect with Scotland properly, as since living here last year was my first summer here! And, being locked down in Scotland this summer during COVID has resulted in lots of networking, learning and an epic amount of Citizen Science interaction! So all things happen for a reason, right? Which brings me onto my second reason for being quiet, whilst also going through my medical issues my boss Prof Da...