Coastal Skippers Course

Went into the bathroom at work today and found toilet paper pieces all over the place, so I started to wonder if someone in the office has a shredder butt, there can be no other explanation for this phenomenon, at home this never happens, but at the office I see it all the time. Fortunately the paper is unused so maybe they have shredder hands or just don’t know how to use toilet paper, perhaps we need to offer a training course at the office for this complicated process.

Coastal skipper practical done, or at least a part of it, sailing on a cat for the first time, what can I say, I am sold. Cat sailing is no different to sailing a monohull, except that the cat does not heel over and that it is noisy with the water slamming a lot under the bridge deck. This slamming was not uncomfortable but did take some getting used to. We did not experience any bad weather so I am not sure how uncomfortable this slamming can become, however at 20 knots of wind the sailing can be very exhilarating and exciting. The cat feels very stable and nothing moves from the place where you have left it. I remember that on our Vivacity we had to make sure that everything was stacked securely before you set sail, we used to put the cold drinks into the sink in order to ensure that they didn’t fall around all over the place but were still easy to reach when needed. On the cat you could just leave your glass filled with cold drink anywhere you wanted and it would be just where you left it when you needed it. I am not sure if this would be the same in heavy weather but for the conditions that we experienced this held true.
The other issue that I was concerned about was tacking, I have read some where that a cat does not tack well, so we put this to the test, and I found hardly any difference to my Vivacity when it comes to tacking, granted we did have good wind which always helps when tacking any boat. I am not sure how the tacking will be in light winds, but even on my Vivacity tacking wasn’t easy without speed so I assume the cat will behave the same.