​The exam week.

Saturday:
Safety brief by the candidates and then out to play.  A bit of tacking and back in, an early finish on day one to allow the other two candidates on the exam to do their passage plans; I have to go to the vet, obviously – it being the most inconvenient time, I have a sick cat.  Nothing drastic, just meds every twelve hours for the next week – not impractical at all given I don’t know when I’ll be in the marina, or if indeed we’ll be in the marina….

Sunday:
32knots of wind, rather unexpected!  And also a little worryingly the forestay appears to be loose – I have a couple of friends who have been demasted before, and on the whole the experience sounded decidedly unfun.  The instructor manages to winch away the genoa (something he had told us earlier one should never do, but we just could not furl the thing away by hand) and we turn tail; three hours later we’re safe in home marina for some parking practice, until the guardia civil decide to board us and verify all paperwork….

Monday:
8.30am, genoa replaced with a smaller one, and we’re off out to sail.  Many, many MOB practices and the theory is starting to make sense, unfortunately the wind is also building to 29knots which means it’s more theory than demonstration; at least we know what we would do if we could do it – whizzing past the fender at 4knots merrily shouting, “That would have been a pickup!!!”
 
Tuesday:
A foray in anchoring under sail (wind still 15knots in the anchorage) and some MOB under motor, then back in the marina to relax (questionable) before the examiner steps on at 7pm.  We are examined until 11pm, I made five silly (but not unsafe) mistakes in two hours as skipper, and rather significantly squished a fender.  I hope I haven’t already failed. 

As an aside, one of the candidates left at 7.30pm.  He decided he didn’t want to do the exam, nor did he wish to remain on as crew; he checked into a hotel and we’re continuing as a two.  It remains to be seen if we have crew tomorrow (borrowed a friendly yachtmaster instructor to act as crew this evening), but on the bright side the exam will be finished tomorrow rather than Thursday.

Wednesday:
Having volunteered to be skipper last night I was excused this morning, except a couple of parks and then a review of my passage plan (approx 8hrs of homework).  I would like to suggest an edit to the wording on TSS in the nav book; you strictly do not adjust course for wind and tide when crossing, BUT you must use both to calculate an EP on exit.  Also when receiving the book on chart symbols and abbreviations I wish I’d been told to read it for a Q&A session….

It is a 24hr exam for two people, ours shall be 26hrs due to necessary night hours.  Without anyone else on the boat she and I have to do everything crew wise whilst our colleague is skipper, it is exhausting physically and draining mentally.  You find yourself losing sense of direction and stuff you know is stuck behind cotton wool.  By 4pm we are both pretty sure we’ve failed, yet we still have to carry on until the bitter end as the examiner cannot provide feedback midway.  Chin up, force a smile, and when asked if we’d like a Q&A on weather say, “Yes, of course!”

9pm, we get back to our marina and find someone has parked in our berth…..  As a pair of desperate wannabe yachtmasters we prise our 36ft Bavaria between a 40ft Hanse and a 45ft Beneteau, it isn’t my night entry so I’m crouched on the pushpit as we creep in, with much admiration for the patience of the lady at the helm; the last 24hrs has brought a bond between us, but by this point we just want to get off the yacht and have a drink.  It’s time for feedback.

My strengths:
– safety
– boat handling and sailing (the examiner told me the practical side of things was my biggest plus, especially under pressure)
– meteorology 
– general fantasticness as someone to spend time with on a yacht.

I fracking passed.  And breathe.