Dean and I have lived our lives in and around schools and universities. Maybe this is why Dean is determined that sailing be primarily a learning experience for us. It is certainly not enough just to enjoy ourselves. In fact, enjoying ourselves is not mandatory and is perhaps even unproductive. Learning stuff is the main game.
OMG! as Natalie and Heather would say.
Our days are a dizzy whirl of class schedules, training sessions, practice routines, revision and assessment. We are certified and trained to the point of exhaustion. Yesterday was devoted to attaining a deep understanding of the first law of boat motoring: viz caste off the mooring ropes before you motor away. We got the theory bits right but, as all educators know, the theory practice gap can be large (and in this case embarrassing).
In our thirst for skills and knowhow, David Casson, Moonraker’s previous owner, has been a teacher, guide and mentor.
I suspect that he found us difficult and demanding pupils. For a start, we were starting a fair way back and I fear we might be in the low-aptitude stream. Also, I am probably still the annoying goody-two-shoes I was in primary school and Dean has remained the rebellious, argumentative student who wants to know more than anyone has the patience to cover. How? Why? When? Where? Who? And do you have references for that? Has an appropriately historical perspective been applied?
When we first met David, he had no difficulty in establishing the respect that every teacher needs in front of the class. We were in awe of his mysterious knowledge, his broad skills and his distinctive approach to life. He is a complete yachty from tip to toe. He and Moonraker have been on astonishing adventures together over the last 13 years. He has had her hove-to in 65 knot storms, comfortably (he says). He has had her sail up Kimberley creeks on flood tides where she perched on her keel miles inland, in the middle of the red desert. He has anchored all over Sydney harbour, up the Clarence River to Grafton and off many a tropical paradise.
David was Moonraker’s third owner, and he is insistent that Moonraker is the result of the combined efforts of all owners. He has been careful to make sure we understand our responsibilities as we join the select group of Moonraker owners.
Truth be known, early practical lessons from David were fairly discouraging for us as the scope of the required learning became evident. The most challenging of the practical units for me were Jammed Windlass 10, Water Pouring into the Bilge 10, Wine Spillage on the Carpet 10, and Managing Head Odour 20. Both Dean and I had to re-sit most units, as one of the key assessment criteria we consistently failed was how not to get into the pickle that required the skills in the first place. I found, for instance that I have a tenacious commitment to jamming the windlass. Dean likes a challenge so his favourite units were Bar Crossing 10 (no breaking waves) and Bar Crossing 20 (breaking waves). He appeared to show aptitude, but I noted that the teacher leapt to take over from time to time on the practical bits.
David kept encouraging and reassuring us: it’s all easy, David says, if you know how.
Like all good teachers, David’s teaching goes well beyond the practical. He was also keen to teach us the correct attitude to life and how it should be lived. It’s hard to sum up and it was as foreign to us as the inner workings of a windlass.
One thread has to do with self-sufficiency. David’s lore (or rather my interpretation of it) goes something like this:
· Every problem has a simple solution and a range of hard ones. Always pick the simple solution. (This bewildered Dean and me at first. We had always understood that a dialectical, all-encompassing analysis is superior. )
· Don’t get someone else to do it if you can do it yourself. (WHAT? Are you joking?)
· If you employ a professional, learn from them, but first make sure they know what they are doing. A certificate doesn’t always ensure competence. (Well, he’s right there!)
· Don’t get strangers to do things for you. They might stuff it up and mates are better anyway. (Has he met our mates?)
· Because humans are ingenious and entrepreneurial, there is a product or service on the market for everything conceivable, and someone who will sell it to you. Check to make sure there isn’t a simpler and cheaper way to go. (This sounds like the end of capitalism as we know it…. OK. Why not?)
· Equally, if there is a product that is simple, inexpensive and it works, buy it. In fact buy two or three, as it will break one day and odds are it will be out of production by then. (Now he’s talking, except for the bits about simple and inexpensive. I should have bought three of those automatic tea makers.)
Another curriculum thread has to do with good seamanship. Everything, David asserts, must be ship-shape and Bristol fashion. I thought this sounded like a universal good, until I learned that it is actually code for making sure everyone is exhausted at the end of the day. Stainless steel should be shiny. Sails should be set nicely. Clears should be clear. Metal should be rust free. Paint should be kept up to the mark. Engines should be maintained. Bilges should be dry. Make sure everything is securely stowed in lockers. Coil ropes correctly.
He is also somewhat sceptical about all those modern gadgets that make life comfortable. While insistent that we fully understand how to use modern technology he was equally insistent that we never rely on it. GPS and plotters are OK but, always know where you are on the chart. Bow thrusters on small boats (less than 50 tonnes) are really just aids for the lazy or unskilled. Wear safety jackets (unless your parents named you David). Know your bilge pumps but keep a bucket handy.
Another dominant thread in David’s teachings is to maintain a healthy dose of scepticism about officialdom. He appears to think that the government is not always there to help you! In fact, seeing things from David’s perspective is enough to make you into an anarchist, really. Government will, for instance, insist that you keep buying flares and throwing away perfectly good ones, even though ‘out of date’ flares still work. So, keep some in-date ones to show them if they inspect but don’t throw out the old ones. They might come in handy. Government will insist on regular expensive, heavily regulated testing on your life raft, even though it has never been used and has been well looked after. So, don’t worry too much about the specifics of testing dates. Government will demand that only a licenced gas person (i.e. expensive specialist) be allowed to fiddle with your gas fittings. Really that takes the cake since the only reason you need the gas guy in the first place that the government regulated into obsolescence your favourite style of gas regulator and the hoses on your BBQ. Lesson: don’t sell you boat too often, and so the officials have no excuse to check.
David also teaches a strong sense of community responsibility, is very safety conscious and is a practising greeny if not a political one. Dean and I felt much more a home with this part of the syllabus. Obey speed limits. Don’t tip rubbish into the ocean. Leave it how you left it. Help your fellow yachty where you can. Use biodegradable products. Obey the rules of the sea. Thank God for weather forecasters. Keep the seas healthy. A surprising one was ‘Don’t bother Marine Rescue services unless you absolutely can’t help yourself’. I originally thought the various rescue services were the marine equivalent of the RAC: there to help you any time one of your husbands is not available and you lock your keys in the car. Apparently not. They are best thought of as the triple-0 service. Damn.
We began this adventure as a couple of in-experienced urbanites. Unkind people might say that we were members of the chattering classes who had never before raised a spanner with intent to fix. But, thanks to David, we now have a new range of skills (elementary level) and responsibilities (degree level) and the opportunity to develop new perspectives on life.
The course assessment is still to come. We will ultimately be marked against David Casson's standards of how well we look after Moonraker, the quality of our seamanship and our success in adapting to the yachty life and all that that entails.
Thank you David.
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