Sea School | Learning to Handle a Boat
Rose and Peter Akers , with friend Phil Bull , took a three day Powerboat Level 2 course with Robert and thoroughly enjoyed it . “ I was a bit nervous at the beginning ” says Rose , who runs a plastic container manufacturing company with her husband in the Midlands . “ Peter and I have an apartment in Lagos and we try to get out there for 10 days every 4 to 6 weeks and have been saying for a while how nice it would be to be able to take out a boat , but neither of us had any experience . We thought about doing the course in the UK , but the weather is so unpredictable we decided Portugal was the better place to learn ”.
Robert taught them how to handle the boat , how to moor it and tie it up and a little bit about navigation and plotting a course on the chart . With the Powerboat Level 2 certificate , they intend to hire a boat next time they are down and then eventually buy their own boat . “ We just intend to run down the coast and visit other harbours and it ’ s very nice to be able to go out and see a different vista of somewhere you know well ” she says .
Robert also offers Intermediate and Advance Day & Night powerboat courses . “ The Intermediate course is more focussed on planning a longer journey , doing a passage to a strange harbour and navigation up to a certain level ” he explains . The Advanced Day & Night course is more comprehensive with night work and handling the boat in rough weather .
Motor cruising courses include an introduction course , 2-day Helmsman course and 4-day Day Skipper course , which can extend to 5 days if you do not have any navigational experience .
For further information go to : www . algarveboatcourses . com or email : info @ algarveboatcourses . com www . theiberianseaschool . com or email : martinnorthey @ me . com
46 | Summer 2012 | www . portugal-life . net |