RYA Powerboat Level 1

Aim:

A practical introduction to boat handling and safety

Duration: 1 day

Areas covered:

Launch and recovery (use of trailers, ramps, slipways, preparations, problems etc)

Preparation of boat (Equipment: lines, fenders, anchor and warp, bailer, fire extinguisher, engine spares and tools, pump, paddles and oars, compass, flares, torch, whistle, charts, first aid kit; Fuel: tanks and lines, type, re-fuelling procedures).

Boat handling (pre-start checks; starting and stopping, including use of kill cord on outboard engines, steering, controls, windage; Planing boats: propeller angle and immersion, use of shallow drive level, low speed handling ahead and astern).

Picking up and securing a mooring buoy (preparation of mooring warp, method of approach, crew communication, making fast).

Leaving and coming alongside (preparation and use of painter, lines and fenders, attachment to boat, stowage under way, speed and angle of approach, wind effect, method of approach in tidal stream or current, making fast alongside, leaving ahead and astern, use of springs).

Being towed (prepare own lines for towing, trim and balance under tow).

Shorebased teaching (rules of the road, safety procedures, personal buoyancy, rope work).