Want to drive a dive boat and have the skills to drop and recover divers safely? BSAC’s Boat Handling course is a lot of fun and ideal for anyone wanting to learn about RIBs and how to drive them.
It is also a great way to get both divers and non-divers involved as no diving qualification is necessary to take part, you just need to be aged 14 or over.
You will be out and about in boats on both days of this two-day Skill Development Course (SDC), which includes a mix of four theory, two dry practical and three open-water practical sessions aboard a RIB. You will learn about the responsibilities of owning, towing and driving a boat, and how to launch and recover it.
With a maximum of three students per instructor in sessions on the water, you will have plenty of hands-on time to practise a range of boat manoeuvres to improve your boat-handling skills and safely drop off and recover divers on a dive site.
Practical skills include high-speed driving, slow-speed manoeuvring, anchoring and coming alongside. You will also develop your overall seamanship skills, including voyage planning, essential rules of the road and learn the actions to take in an emergency.
After completing the Boat Handling course and consolidating your skills, you can be assessed to become a qualified BSAC Diver Coxswain. A popular course with members, Peter Dix from University of Nottingham SAC said after completing the course:
What a fantastic couple of days! My boat handling skills and knowledge have come on leaps and bounds and I’m now really enjoying driving the RIB on club dive trips.
You can find out more at bsac.com/boathandling
Take the boat handling course
Book onto a scheduled course near you. Or ask your Diving or Training Officer about potentially running a course within your club.
