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WAHOOOOOOOOOOO - today we went out Coastguarding (I got to drive the boat - oh yes!) before going home to watch the rugby games - for me it meant getting my stuff ready and getting out to North Harbour to watch the France v Japan match - for the others it meant settling down on the sofas in front of the projector screen in the media room!
Coastguarding was amazing, Dale, Michelle, Darren and I got picked up early by Andy one of the coastguarding crew and we all went down to the Harbour and met Campbell the Senior Master and Skipper of the boat we were going out on (lovely man, looked a teeny weeny bit like Captain Birdseye, only with less hair, and was a Welsh supporter!). We got taken through a safety breifing and given our life jackets and then jumped aboard when we had our first call - a boat was seen in the Harbour with smoke coming from the engine - off we went!
Half way there and it was called off, but we still went out to find them just in case and to double check they were OK. Back to the Harbour we went, and finished getting everything ready. Final bits and pieces done we went back out on the Harbour and drove round to the Waterfront restaurant for breakfast....we parked up right outside the restaurant went aboard and had the most amazing Eggs Benedict, with Salmon and Bacon it was absolutely goregous - perfect poached eggs, thick slices of ciabatta bread, fresh Salmon or Bacon and a lovely creamy Hollandaise sauce - YUMMMMY
After breakfast we went back out on the boat, we went and got some fuel, and then drove around the Harbour for a bit before we started to practise Man Over Board drills which was fun as Campbell told us all to take it seriously and then after each one we would all talk about it and he would ask us how we thought we did and then offere his advice on how to improve it, or simply to share some of this knowledge.
It was after this that I got to drive the boat which I was very happy about (I have a side adventure going on called Steph's Drive Big Engined Things Adventure - I basically need to drive as many big engined things as possibly on my trip!) and I was quite happy just tootling around the Harbour when I heard Dale shout Man Over Board. I ignored him of course, thinking, well surely they dont want me to do anything about that!?? ..... "Man Over Board" again from Dale, a little louder this time.....
...*I'm still going to just ignore that*....
"MAN OVER BOARD!"
....*Hmmmm.....Nope.*
"MAN OVER BOARDDDDD"
This time I looked at Campbell and said "Am I meant to be doing something now?" to which he replied "Well, you're driving the boat aren't you?"
Oooops.
Cue a quick jump into action and a call for my crew to point me in the right direction, when I had the buoy in my sights (now, admittedly, rather far away....) I told the pointers to stand down and take up their positions as I brought the boat around behind the 'victim' on the Starboard side and Oh My God it was SO CLOSE!! So Close, to being perfect first time round but my hand hit the throttle just as I slowed down along side and the guys just missed pulling the buoy out of the water first time - it was nearly perfect!
I had to turn around and start again but we did get it on the second attempt. Although, Campbell informed me that I probably wouldnt have had any crew left after i'd thrown them all into the water and also that my victim most probably would have been 'no more' after I gave them a nice polish with the blades of the engine as I turned around rather quickly and closely....but still, OTHER than having no crew and killing the innocent victim, I did pretty darn well....
- comments
Dale So the challenge Steph is to find those big engines with more than 500hp!!! That's the bench mark so far. Glad you had fun! Now if someone shouts man overboard, do SOMETHING!!!!