Volunteering at sea

I'm volunteering this month and the beginning of October in a local sailing event and really having a blast meeting people and working together.

Actually we'll be helping on the water during the regattas. In preparation we have had several days of training: for boat handling, gps and vhf radio use and also on the water training to set out the regatta buoys marking off the zone. It's really enlightening to get an inside look at all that goes on before and during a public event like this. Of course whatever transcurrs that is not on the program, we are supposed to keep it to ourselves. I'm consigning it here only for my eyes of course.

Our first day was for boat and equipment handling: for 1oo vounteers present for the practise, there was just one boat and the gps equipment hadn't arrived, nor the uniforms we're supposed to wear at all times during our service.
So why didn't they postpone the training? Don't know.
What did we do instead? We listened for a couple hours while they explained why they didn't have the necessary equipment to do the training. The excused themselves for having ordered too few uniforms.
Next training day was for buoy and boat handling. We would finally get practise setting out marker buoys. By now more boats and the gps material had arrived. The official trainers explained that each team would consist of a captain seconded by a gps and radio sailor. They expressed regret they couldn't offer us any water to take on board, since it was all gone and anyway we weren't the only volunteers there that day. They proceeded to warn us not to touch the stoppers in the inflatables because they didn't have any scoops or buckets to empty water from the boats. They advised that each captain was in charge of his boat because he had his boat handling certificate, was insured by them, and nobody else should take the wheel. They gave us a paper with the inventory of safety and other material in each boat. They added that this was just a list they made up because the boats were really empty.

We were given compass coordinates to put in the gps as a first position and goto. They went on to explain we would now go out and set out our markers in a regatta area to form a diamond shape race course. Nobody, it seems, had turned on these brand new gps handhelds once to see how the software worked. They were unable to get them working.

We all spent half an hour pushing buttons and I actually got alot farther into the menu than the others.I even helped quite a few get going, thanks to my geek side, but in the end, was not able to finish inputting the data because the numbers given us were incomplete. The gps handheld, of course, would not set the coordinates without those forgotten numbers. Frustrated, the trainers decided we would train without the gps, collected them and away we went to the inflatable boats.

Finally, almost two hours after arriving, we got underway, stopping first at the fuel station after inflating the 3 ft. tall buoys. One inflatable team didn't get far at all because their motor died before they got 100 feet from the pontoon. As the rest of the group of 15 boats moved out of the port, one teammate was supposed to hook the anchor and chain to the buoy to prepare it for anchoring.

Our anchor was one of the ones that could not be fitted because the shackle was rusted shut, just impossible to open without pliers. We were instructed to make a knot instead, which we did. That was when I began to realize that my teammates, in spite of their "boathandling diploma" were pretty clueless. Instead of a marine knot, the anchor road cable was doubled up and wound into an indescriptable wad around the buoy's handles. That way surely it wouldn't fall off, one commented.

Once outside the seawall, the exercise could begin a few hundred yards off the beach. It consisted in setting our buoys a 100 feet apart from the next aligned going out from the shore. As we were preparing to set out our buoy, we noticed it was losing alot of air and would never do the job. Following instructions though, we set it out anyway. Instead of standing up it lay on it's side.

The trainer radioed us immediately that we got it all wrong and it wasn't in the right place. That was when I discovered our diploma carrying captain, didn't know his poop from his bow nor his windward from his leeward. In fact, he really wasn't too sure how to steer the boat. He didn't know where the wind was coming from or how to find it, and didn't know what side you set anchor from, or what end of the boat, nor how to approach and pick up an anchor buoy in the water. So we waddled around and around the buoy but never close enough to catch it. Again the trainer radioed to instruct him on how to get to the buoy. Meanwhile, I tried a couple times to give him a pointer, but he seemed completely overwhelmed and either didn't understand or know what to do when I told him to put the bow into the wind or to fall off while letting the anchor rode out, or not drag the anchor chain from under the boat.
Finally we set the buoy on the water once again while it continued losing more and more air. Again it lay itself woefully on it's side. The trainer approached at that point to show us how, but after trying himself, he couldn't do better and went away again without a word. It wasn't our fault after all, but rather a flat buoy and rusty shackle.

The way back, which should have been an easy ride back along the seawall and into port, about 6 nautical miles in all, became the most palpitating experience of the outing, a joy ride for our captain. Our captain, after realizing that he'd gotten far behind the boat ahead of us, to catch up, put the inflatable at full speed. The new 50hp motor was not supposed to be pushed, but away we flew, literally bouncing from wave to wave, and he seemed not the know how to steer through the waves, take them at the correct angle or avoid the ones that could destabilize the inflatable. He seemed to be driving as if down the open freeway. Both my teammate and I hung onto the the rubber sides, bouncing along while he rode comfortably in style on the motorcycle type seat center board.

Back in port for the debriefing, four hours later, the trainers excused themselves again. Contrary to what we had been repeatedly told, no meal was provided for us volunteers. It was after 3pm.

We had just spent four midday hours out on the water in 85º sunshine, with no water and now nothing to eat even though we had spent our lunchtime volunteering this service.

Next training day, Saturday, it looks like it might be wise to bring a bucket, for removing any water coming aboard, bring along my own gps handheld and maybe see if I can swap captains with someone.