Boatability

The Prime Minister announced today that he planned to license armed guards on UK registered ships traveling around the Horn of Africa.

This is a direct response to the continuing threat of attack off the coast of Somalia and as a result of the success of armed guards for other flag nations vessels.

I have to say we do not totally agree with the reasoning here…..

(1) Speed is more important than firepower… no vessel to date has been boarded when traveling at 18knots or above. The shape and nature of the defending vessels wake makes it very difficult to come alongside or to board from the rear at these high displacement speeds. Increasing speed further only increases the difficulty. Proving your vessel is capable of exceeding this speed and has a sufficiently high gunwail/freeboard… you would be better keeping your crew inside in our opinion.

(2) Do you realistically expect to hit and disable a fast moving, pitching skiff with what are in effect small arms… I think it unrealistic to expect private security with small callable automatic weapons to act as anything more than a visible deterrent. Well constructed dummies could afford the same deterrent and a dedicated disabling technology such as RGES (Running Gear Entanglement System) would be more effective.

As you might expect we favour the intelligence, planning and training approach…. BMP4 supports this and mitigates the risk of straying into sovereign Arab states with armed crew on merchant vessels which in itself could cause reprisals…

If you are interested in the techniques and training we offer on this subject please do not hesitate to contact either Nick or Sandy in the Office for more information.

As an integral part of our commercial training we cover both Anti-Piracy awareness and the UKMTO’s Best Management Practice (BMP). The UK Maritime Transport Organisaiton has just released an updated set of guidelines for Anti-Piracy (BMP4).  The first new guidelines since June 2010. As you can appreciate Pirate activity has evolved and these new guidelines reflect the new areas of operation and revised mitigation methods.

These Guidelines cover :

• Pirate Activity – how and where to research
• Risk Assessment
• Typical Pirate Attacks
• Company Planning
• Masters’ Planning
• Prior to Transit – Voyage Planning
• Prior to Transit – Self Protection Measures
• If a Pirate Attack is Imminent
• If Boarded by Pirates
• In the Event of Military Action
• Post Incident Reporting
• Updating Best Management Practices

We have just Updated the following courses to include the new information

1. Anti-Piracy awareness training as part of our (SSO) Ships security Officer
2. BMP4  Watchkeeprs and Operators training

Because of the sensitivity of this information we would prefer you contact the office directly for more information. We can supply .pfd charts of the area and comprehensive briefing notes free of charge.

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You might have noticed that we have been “less than diligent” at posting on our Blog… well it’s been a combination of a very busy summer training and rather a lot of time working on the Boatability YouTube Channel and tending our facebook page.  Well we’re back and have a bunch of new stuff to share…

This week we will look at the Choosing your next boat.

Mike who was on course last week sent us this message which got us thinking.

“Hi Nick -Many thanks for the course last week, I have to say that, for me I enjoyed every moment and can’t wait to go put what I have learned into practice. I have taken onboard your comments on inboard, diesel, Cathedral hull,  as my first fishing boat etc.  I am looking for a boat, would like it  to be economical but can get me out of trouble when needed would like to Sea fish, and take out 2 or 3 people safely and comfortably at the same time. When not sea fishing maybe able to tow or ski. If you have any suggestions as to types of boats  I would much appreciate it, .”

Thank’s Mike   –  This is a question we are often asked. I think the best advice is not to labour over buying the perfect boat that can do everything. There is often a difference between what you think you are going to use the boat for and what you actually use it for . Here are some of the things we think are important.

(1) Buy something that is easy to sell – eg will appeal to families and is in a good state of repair. This way, once you have used it, and worked out what works for you. You still have the option to sell it and change up or down

(2) Seakeeping – if you go for a RIB, for instance, you will be able to go out in much rougher conditions than say a dory. It may not be ideal for fishing but how often are you going to have fair weather on the weekends in your location ??

(3) Running costs - Servicing, repairs and above all fuel… some boats are cheap because they have very thirsty 2 stroke outboards. if you are only planning to fish close to shore this would not be a problem. But if you are spending 2 hrs water-skiing then that could be £200 in fuel and oil for a 200 horse power two stroke outboard. Generaly Modern 4 Stroke outboards are best and if you need to travel long distance diesel inboards are better still.

(4) Storage - Where do you keep the boat? The closer to the water, generally the more you get to use it. Drystacking is ideal if you plan to go out on your own or shorthanded. On a trailer, undercover or at home lets you prepare the boat the day before and get out on the water with little fuss but will require more planning and crew.

(The Golden Rule)  - Once you have made your purchase USE IT..  this may sound obvious but often boats get a few trips out and then the novelty wears off and they languish in the yard. YOU need to plan to use the boat.. regally… every week or month … it’s good for the boat and will give you the experience of a variety of sea conditions. Once you have had the boat a season you will have a much better idea of how you use the boat and what you need from it. If it turns out you want something faster or bigger or even cheaper to run. If you have chosen something easy to sell … you just sell it and move up.

is ther anything we have missed ?

Chris@Boatability

We have been busy this month re-coding our boats

One of the biggest problems with coding a boat is the amount of information that is out there, as well as the conflicting views of surveyors, MCA and RYA.  Luckily for us our surveyor, Nick Crawford (MECAL)  has a common sense approach, for example; hydrocarbon sensors on ribs and small vessels.  Are they really needed or is it just another pointless piece of equipment the code of practice says you must have?  Having just coded a NAB 23 Dory (cat 4) this seemed to be the case, however when asking if we were to put an electrical component into a void space that was not deep enough to meet the manufacturers guidelines, would this be a good idea?  The answer was no and common sense prevailed!

Another big bone of contention is what sort of lifejacket should be worn when operating an open powerboat?  Some may have heard about the unfortunate incident when some people were ejected into the water near to Portsmouth Harbour from a high speed rib last December.  They were only wearing Manually operated self inflating life jackets (Semi Automatic), however when the MCA got involved with the investigation the person heading the investigation stated that all open powerboats should wear fully automatic lifejackets!  Where is this written down then?  Either way it certainly gets my vote!  Whereas a cruiser, ship or aircraft clearly needs semi automatic ones due to the risk of entrapment.

Other areas that recently crop up are Radar Reflectors and deck harnesses for powerboats, if anyone has experience in this field or would like to know more then please join in

Will this sort of thing do?

Over the bank holiday we opened a new classroom right in the hart of old Portsmouth. The new location is fantastic for RYA intermediate powerboat and advanced clients as it is right at the harbor mouth. This gives us an easy access for the open sea and ad great location for hotels and nightlife. we have  posted a few shots of the new location on our facebook page if you want to have a quick look. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boatability-Powerboat-Training/57464807538

This is the time of year when we think holidays and if you are an fan of boating then a power boat charter for couple of hours whilst abroad might seem an attractive idea.

So your on Holiday, wonder down to the local harbour. Boats for hire a chance to haggle and practice your Spanish.

You have it all except that bit of paper the ICC 10m

Contact us now.

On the 28th we had eleven Personnel from the Royal Saudi Navy attending our City & Guilds Boat Handler Course.

Day one was VHF DSC  Mark ran the course with ken and myself  pitching in during the voice procedure exercise to advise on the Phonetic alphabet.

Day two saw them doing the RYA Level 2 which meant we had Four Boats in use during the after noon. this training takes place in the  Marina for as we call it bumps and grinds. In reality we teach to avoid this.

One of the challenges was the fact we had three different boats on the course so once they had got used to one of our training Dory’s we moved them onto a single engined Rib the fun didn’t stop there as we had our twin engine Rib ready to sort the men from the boys.

Wednesday saw the continuation of the Level 2 and by the end of the day We were able to award a Level 2 to all students as well as the ICC 10m . Under the new guide lines for issuing the ICC to residents of non UNECE countries we believe that 11 in one go is a first for overseas students.

Thursday was taken up with further training both on and off the water.

Friday was a written test for the City & Guilds, debrief and Q & A.

A very successful week not only for the students but also for Boatabillity with VT Flag Ship agreeing to send us future Saudi Navy Personnel.

Its Monday again with 8 people  doing aVHF course. Four of them are from Arun District Council

Tomorrow will see another RYA First Aid course here in Port Solent and on Wednesday we have a bespoke course running for a couple  of clients who want some special training.

Moving on to Thursday we have a RYA Advance course which is fully booked up if you fancy going to the next level we have another one running in April .

Well another week comes to an end with seven people sat in classroom 2, attending the RYA First Aid Course.

At the end of the day we will have seven RYA First Aid qualified students with some of them going on to do there RYA Advanced and a couple of the students working towards gaining  Commercial Endorsement to enable them to work in the maritime industry.

I almost forgot the RYA Level 2 course going on in classroom 3 we run these about four times a week at the moment,but demand is increasing as the weather improves and people think about holidays.

As i mention a few days ago  for boat charters abroad you will need to hold an ICC Certificate be it 10m or 24m we can provide the training you need.

Looking ahead to the weekend we have an ICC24 running and all next week we have our City & Guilds boat handling course with a full compliment of students.

Well its the middle of the week and so far we have trained five people on the VHF DSC and three others  have attained there ICC 10 m

Thursday sees a level 2 course and and a client taking a half day refresher before they do there RYA Advance course.

On Friday we have 8 students on the RYA First Aid Course.

We also have an ICC24m and  a level 2 running as well so a very busy couple of days ahead.