I am on a flight to Grenada and I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am that it is Monday. Can you believe that???
Up till 6 months ago I never thought I would say that: “relieved that it is MONDAY”
The last 3 weeks were brutal. I started off with my STCW and went straight into the Yachtmaster training. I struggled through the theory week. The talent I have in sports I totally lack in learning abilities. And yes, my IQ is fine, it just takes me a (long!) time to learn new things, especially algebra related matters. All the chartwork was a struggle; course to steer, EP, secondary ports.. The English accent of the instructor and the fact the material is very UK oriented did not really improve my situation. I literally wrestled myself through it all. I (barely) passed my exam but at the same time wrote the best passage plan my instructor ever saw.
I was so ready for the practical week and go out and play!
But again, it was hard work (ofcourse). Man Over Board, docking, planning routes, night navigation, safety briefings, crewing, sailing to an anchor line, passage planning etc etc. But as expected I had no problem at all with any of the above. If anything, I kept forgetting to turn on the engine when we practised the Man Over Board situation. It took me until the exam to use it for the first time thanks to a fellow student with whom I had a secret code to remind me..
During the 2 examination days everybody had a one on one with the examinator and I was terrified of my ‘moment to shine’. It was looming over me the entire weekend like a squall on a bright and sunny day. Eventually it was my turn on Sunday afternoon, just before going to shore. Within minutes all my hard work came crumbling down on me with hurricane force. Crazy as it sounds I focused so much on the chartwork I totally forgot to look at the chart itself and learn the meaning of all the abbreviations and codes.
“What does this mean”.. “Uh, I don’t know”.. “What does this mean”.. “Uh, I don’t know”
“Well okay, so you go 6 knots, the tide is 2,5 and you want to go from here to here, what is your course to steer..” I totally blanked out.
The examinator soon puts an end to the torture and tells me I really need to go back into my books. Damn, I feel stupid.
During the de-brief he tells me that I am great on the boat, that I know what I am talking about and that not knowing the abbreviations on the chart should not be a part to fail me. “Go to the Grenada sailing week, study the chart and come find me when you get back. We will go over it and if all is fine I will sign off your paperwork..”
I almost burst into tears.
Angelasails.com 