(no subject)

[khiemtran]

Saturday morning, and I'm on the upper reaches of Middle Harbour. I'm about to do a power boating course so I can get my general boat licence.

Here's the boat we went out on (photo actually taken at the end of the day).



We start out learning the basics of steering forwards and backwards, then find a nice smooth patch of water to practice getting "up on the plane" (when the boat transitions from forcing its way through the water to riding up on top of it).



The flat water also attracts lots of water skiers - and this mobile cafe!



Lots of paddlers too. And another white-bellied sea eagle (no photo because we were planing at the time and I was too busy hanging on).



You only need a boat licence in NSW if you want to drive a power boat faster than ten knots. But once you have one, you can drive a boat of any size - including the one on the left. (The ones on the right are closer to what I'm used to.)



After learning how to anchor, we pull up to a little beach for a coffee break.



You certainly can't fault the view!



Back on the water now, and we're heading out to Sydney Harbour...



The wind and waves are a lot stronger out on the harbour, and we soon find ourselves in the middle of a yacht race.



We get a guided tour around the harbour to learn about the different navigational marks.



All the while, surrounded by racing yachts.



Looking south towards the city... After our tour, it's back to Middle Harbour, where we get to do more high-speed planing and then practise docking. And after that, our certificates...

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I love-love-love the floating cafe! Marvelous! And the yachts are so beautiful. Motorboats have never really appealed to me much (motors and I have a very uneasy detente), but I am thrilled to learn the phrase "up on the plane," as now I understand completely what's happening when the boats make that horrible uptick in revving noises and then suddenly dash ahead.

And once you have a boating license and are allowed to drive that more sizable boat, we will have to get you this book

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I love the reviews on that link!

Going up on the plane is sort of like preparing the Millennium Falcon for a jump into hyperspace. You need make sure the boat is heading straight before you start because you don't want it to start turning as soon as the bow wave builds up, and you need to make sure you've got a clear route ahead of you. Then, you warn the passengers to hang on, and slowly advance the throttle all the way forward. At this point, the bow will rise steeply, the engine will scream and you'll feel yourself being pushed backwards. As the boat builds speed again, you need to ease back the throttle and then adjust the motor trim (a bit tricky because until you're used to the boat, it may involve looking backwards at the spray the engine is making, while still charging forwards.

We also saw a lot of things that I didn't manage to photograph, including a huge jet boat powered by actual jet engines, a man in a tiny dinghy battling sea gulls for re-possession of "his" yacht, and a nudist beach (no photos for obvious reasons...)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow, that really does sound like going into hyperspace!

P.S.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

The name "Plonk Cafe" for the dry-land cafe amused me.

Re: P.S.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, I don't know if it's true in the US, but "plonk" is British Commonwealth slang for "wine" (supposedly from vin blanc). Our instructor told us that with a previous class (four retirees planning to buy a boat to go fishing), he sent them in to buy coffee and then found them outside with a round of beers and a bottle of white wine just arriving...

Re: P.S.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Heh--cafe in the sense of small-food-and-drink-shop-with-outdoor-seating rather than in the sense of place-that-serves-coffee. Or maybe they do serve coffee, but also alcohol? Something to pick you up and get you working on the one hand, and something to relax you and help you unwind on the other.

Re: P.S.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, they sell coffee as well as food and alcohol. As it was also a particularly well-heeled marina (some of the boats were easily worth millions), the food and drink were as nice as the view...

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Even if you don't want to go fast, it's good to have the training.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's certainly given me a new appreciation for how many different things a powerboater needs to track while at speed. And the boat licence will mean I can help out in the rescue boat at the sailing club and maybe go on excursions around the harbour with friends who aren't quite up to sailing or paddling.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

All that boat traffic would make me nervous. I'm always wondering: Is everyone up to speed on how to give way? :P

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I was a little alarmed that you could get some basic questions wrong on the licence test and still get your licence. And, of course, you don't need a licence at all on a sailing boat. When I first started planing in the powerboat, even though I knew the rules, I found I had to think a lot faster and further out than I'm used to, and it was very draining. On the way back, things seemed a bit easier, so maybe I was starting to get up to speed. I did make a mess of the first few docking attempts though, until I finally worked out what I was supposed to doing.