RYA Day Skipper Course - Southern Cross Yachting - Manly

While in Australia on a work project, I decided to enrol in an RYA Day Skipper Sailing Course on Moreton Bay just east of Brisbane. It would be a 3 weekend affair whereby I would be taking a train from Brisbane to Manly and then down to the boat harbour. At the same time as this practical stream I would be taking an at home course for the Theory component of the course. I had found an outfit that were located just outside Perth in West Australia.

Prior to enrolling I had gone to Manly to check things out was satisfied that Southern Cross Yachting of which I wear their blue cap and vest most all the time.

Weekend 1

The boat we had was a Jeanneau 35 named Tourette. After checking things out and conducting safety and provisioning checks, we walked all over the boat to see what was what. After some time we headed out the narrow approach channel to the beginning of Moreton Bay. As I had come to learn, and would learn even more - there are many narrow areas to Moreton Bay.

We did some basic sailing maneuvers such as tacking and gybing to get used to sailing and the boat. The winds were light and the weather was sunny. I don't remember the forecast but do remember that the weather did kick up later in the day.

Weekend 1 Chart

We made our way to Raby Bay where we went to the bottle shop and did a bit of docking practice before heading out across the bay to Canaipa Pass which was on the west side of North Stradbrooke Island.

The wind had come up a fair bit to about 30 Kn and as a result we dropped the main and sailed downwind on only a bit of headsail. We all took turns on the helm - it was quite a ride for the first day of the course.

Things would get a bit more interesting. Damon our Instructor threw me for a loop as he wanted me to navigate the way down the west side of North Straddy - in the dark. I hadn't done it in the dark before so it would be a challenge as well as an experience. I mapped out the course and each turn in my notebook. As the dark settled in I checked off each buoy that we came to in order to know exactly where we were. After a time I was looking for a Cardinal buoy and was being asked are you sure? I thought I was sure but there wasn't one to be found. It was missing. Damon knew that as he was looking at the chartplotter all along to monitor our course.

On arrival to Cataipa, we dropped anchor and had dinner. It had been an interesting and fun day.

Weekend 2

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Weekend 3

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