What a great weekend, the sun was shining, the sea was calm, we were zipping across Portland harbour at around 25 knots in Ian Fullers 6.5m twin 60hp rib. With low vis in the water I could not think of a better place to be.

John, Andy and I met in the cafe for 9am on Saturday to start the two day course, run by Ian Fuller. The course was mainly skills based with the classroom theory covered in two sessions where we were given valuable information on all aspects of boating.

By the end of the first classroom session I was dying to get out on the water. After carrying out all the pre launch checks, under the guidance of Ian, we took control of the rib for the next few hours going through the slow work skills. Then, it was off to Weymouth harbour to try our hand at mooring up and towing skills.

Sundays classroom session gave a brief overview of chart plotting and weather patterns then it was back on the water for the rest of the day to hone our skills around Portland and Weymouth. We carried out Man over board drills and the useful skills of dropping off and picking up divers. We even managed fish and chips and ice cream for lunch in Weymouth which felt more like the Med than an April weekend in the UK.

The course finished of on Sunday afternoon after we had recovered the boat from the water and washed it of ready for its next trip.

I can thoroughly recommend this course and will be looking to get myself a boat in the near future.

Thanks to Ian Fuller for the great training.