After a quick lunch, it was time for a practical exercise inside the Royal Quays Marina to practice basic boat handling including leaving and coming alongside, turning in tight spaces, and low-speed manoeuvring. The weather was kind on Saturday but very cold and we were all suffering from icy feet which prompted an evening trip to Decathlon for Mark who purchased us some emergency Sealskinz socks for Sunday to keep our feet warm.

Sunday was a full day of practice which meant Sarah tackling the first trip through the lock at the Royal Quays Marina in Doris. The conditions on the river were less than favourable with an outgoing tide and a strong westerly wind, and after a quick swap around with Mark at the helm, Kerry on the bow, and Sarah hiding at the stern, it was a very wet ride up to the Police Marine Unit jetty to learn leaving and coming alongside in the current and wind.  (No police boats were damaged in the process). Needless to say, this was one of the most challenging parts of the course, given the river conditions.

After a quick boat swap to the large RIB Daphne, Kerry skippered us safely back to the Royal Quays to moor up and have lunch. The conditions improved after lunch and Sarah drove us out to the mouth of the river in Daphne for some medium and high-speed manoeuvring practice. This was a lot of fun and we all got a taste of blasting around at 20 knots and pulling a few doughnuts. Mark was the hooligan of the group and we had to hold on tight with him at the wheel!

We then transferred boats midriver back to Doris without losing anyone into the Tyne and practised anchoring off Sandhaven beach in South Shields. The weather was pretty miserable, so we went back taking turns driving Doris back to the Royal Quays. This time Mark took us through the lock, and Kerry and Sarah were on line-tying duties. We all thoroughly enjoyed the course and are now eager to get more experience in our club ex-RNLI D-class lifeboat so we can share safety boat duties and pass on our skills to other members in the future. 

Thanks to Tynemouth Sailing Club for the tuition, British Rowing for the grant, and of course the TRC committee for giving us this opportunity.

Thanks to Sarah Richardson for the report, and Sarah, Mark and Kerry for the pictures.