Course Updates

After 2 intense and gruelling days of lectures and boating.. I've finally completed my Powered Pleasure Craft Driving License (PPCDL) course. 10hrs a day for 2 days, I was holed up at the idyllic and peaceful surroundings of SAF Yatch Club (SAFYC) where my instructor LTC David Lee briefed us on the terms of boating and numerous rules and regulation of marine navigation.

Terms like Aft, Transom, Astern, Bilge, Port, Starboard, Freeboard, Draught, Keel, Awning, Bitt, Wheelhouse and Gunwale... names I've absolutly no inkling of prior to this course.

It's almost like learning a new language. The rules & regulations (R&R) are pretty staggering. Considering there are 3 types to drill into my head.. Powerboat R&R, MPA R&R and Intl Sea Law R&R!

Apart from that.. learning to read nautical charts is an art form in itself, with the complex lines/dots/arrows/ criss-crossing and dissecting all over, the millions of symbols, numbers, beacons and buoys.

We also got to learn to pinpoint our exact location out at sea with bearings taken from our longtitude & latitude, GPS readings, tidal/weather conditions, depths of water, meanings of the different colours/shapes/lights of ships/beacons/buoys/markers out at sea or port.

The sequence of blinking lights.. eg. 3 short blinks, 6 short blinks and 1 long flash, 9 short blinks, short and 3 long.. this is just for white lights.. there's still red, green, yellow!

The different fairways (terms for roads in the sea), plotting of sea routes, reading and understanding stuffs like eg.
( 01°N 27.948', 103°E49.946' )

Seems like alot to cramp in 2 days, ya?! Well, it is. That's why we're only scrapping the tip of this infomation iceberg. In the coming 1 month before my theory test (Jul 20th), I've a 184 page manual to get inside my head.


Looks like its.... Study time!!



















More intersting pics tomorrow!
Do check back!!