“I had the privilege to practice a lot with you as skipper”

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From theory to practice ⚓️✨ One of our students Andreas from Switzerland , (position to be added) just completed both the Sailing Theory Course *and* the Sailing School with us — and hearing their words after the journey means the world. He began online, learning the foundations step by step. Later, he joined us on deck — setting sails, navigating, and discovering the rhythm of real life at sea. 🌊 It’s a journey of patience, courage, and new skills coming alive with each mile. These stories remind me why I love teaching. Watching someone grow from curious beginner to confident sailor is pure magic. ⚓️ Ready to start your own journey? Our next Theory Course begins September 2025, and the next Practice Week takes place November 1–8, 2025 in Mallorca.

Would you change seacock valve 65cm below the water line whilst afloat?! It might not be as scary as you think. This valve body seized up (despite only being 3-4 years old) so I unscrewed it, popped in a wooden bung, bought a new one and screwed it on. The trick is to be prepared. I had all my wooden bungs on hand, covered any electrical equipment and was ready for the worst case scenario. Fortunately, because it was a fairly new fitting, it came undone relatively easily and the job was pretty straight forward 😊💦 And what’s the worst case scenario I was prepared for? The worst case scenario is the thru hull fitting itself breaking off when I attempt to unscrew the valve. What would I do about it? Just tap in one of my many wooden bungs and then arrange to get the boat lifted out! That scenario was quite unlikely but it helps to think through what could happen. What also helped me is that, from previous experimentation on another boat, we have pumps that I know could easily outrun the water coming in through that hole. An uncontrolled inflow through that fitting wouldn’t be good as it would spray seawater everywhere but it’s good to know that the pumps could cope. It’s always counter intuitive and panic inducing to see water flooding in to the boat and I know many people don’t like to pull out their paddle wheel log transducers for that very reason however staying calm and knowing that it would actually take quite a long time to sink through a 3/4” hole means it may not be as bad as you think. Always worth thinking what else could help. Whilst away, shopping for parts, I left Kate armed with cushions as well as wooden bungs as a cushion pushed hard over a hole will slow the flow enough that most bilge pumps would cope. Despite my previous experiments I was even surprised how little water we took on but the point is that, with a little thought and prep, changing a valve or pulling that paddle wheel so it doesn’t foul up needn’t be that stressful or require an expensive lift out. Luckily for me everything went super smoothly this time so no need for backup plans! It does get the heart pumping a bit when you haven’t done it for a while though! 😊💦 #followintrepidbear #sailinglife #sailing #sailor #liveaboard #sailboat #boatlife