What training for UK coastal waters?

[j3r3m7]

Any of you guys done any training courses for coastal water powerboating, e.g. Powerboat Level 1/2?

Would you recommend them and is there anything they missed that's worth doing independently?

[saltwater_cowboy]

I have done the training for powerboat 1&2 and done the test however the company who where paying for it never furnished the school with the cheque and as such I never got any of the paper work.

Its defo worth doing but can be pretty pricey at around £350 or so. SBDA and ICC for coastal waters will cover some of the basics too and these can be done very reasonably at some clubs.

[rossl]

Workman Marine trainning in portishead marina are good for PB L 2 + ICC for around £200-£250 and they will do your trainning in the severn so you get use to the water by you.

http://www.gwmarineschool.co.uk/index2.htm

[brutto 76]

It may be useful to have the certificate but there isn't anything in Powerboat Level 2 that will be new to you. I did it a couple of years ago at Pwllheli and enjoyed the couple of days. I guess the main thing I got out of it was a healthy reminder about how dangerous the sea is is.

[scary]

I've done BWSA Ski Boat driver and it was a waste of time. But then I've been driving boats on the sea for nearly ten years now. I only did it to get the piece of paper. IMO there's nothing better than plenty of experience- once you've crashed a boat you not going to make the same mistake again!

[Beautiful Freak]

I've also done level 1 and 2 - did the course before I had much (any) experience so found it really useful to make my really big mistakes on someone else's boat (nothing like driving a rib in a Force 5 to teach you about the sea!). Having said that, not sure I would have got much out of it if I took it now with more experience. Took my coastal skipper theory recently and got a lot more out of that (navigation, meteorology, colregs particularly) that I find useful in and around a busy marina.