The final day (Day 6) of the CBYA Competent Crew course was an exercise in preparing a meal on board, dining onboard, and sailing in the dark. This completes the syllabus.
The participants last night declared that this was the best day of all. We sailed out of Club Náutico Jávea in bright sunshine at 5pm, and with a fair wind, were soon tacking across the bay. Suddenly we were surrounded by dolphins, and the magic started.
At dusk, we anchored in beautiful Bahia Sardinera and prepared dinner – a British feast; Ploughman’s Lunch, with cheese, ham, Branston pickle, pickled onions, crisps and French bread, all washed down with a glass of wine or beer, and enjoyed as the sun set over the hills to the west. Then we sat and gazed upwards in the twilight watching the stars appear. Our instructor, John Mackney, pointed out many of the visible constellations and important stars used for navigation, as well as identifying the positions of Mars, Venus and Jupiter. As twilight turned to dark, we slipped our mooring, and navigated back to the Club Náutico, using the lights on Cabo San Antonio, and other red and green marker buoys (which the crew identified from their various light characteristics on the chart). The wind was fresh, and we had an exhilarating fetch across the bay, finally tying up back on our berth dead on 9pm
To date we have had 11 people sail on the CBYA Competent Crew course, and although most people are yet to complete all 5 days, most are 70% of the way through, and are taking their RYA Day Skipper Theory course with Skippers Online*.
We will be repeating the course from Day 1 through to Day 6 again, so if you are a Big Boat Sailing beginner, and want to join in, you can still do so, and learn all the competencies you need to go forward to the RYA Day Skipper level. Watch out for upcoming newsletters and events.
*The Skipper Online RYA Day Skipper Theory course is open to CBYA Club Members at a big discount. If you would like to take the course, please contact John Mackney at chairman@cbya.org to get the link and discount code
