Licensed to Tender

The Bluewater tender awaits!

During my time on Mia Elise II there were a few occasions where I was able to join the deck crew on outings to shore and on the tender and it was great to get outside and enjoy the sunshine! I realized that the tender, or smaller power boat we use for ferrying guests to shore and doing watersports, is something that every large yacht has and is similar to my parents ski boat back home. Luckily my dad has given me years of experience pulling him on the water ski and trying to get me comfortable with boating maneuvers. The guys let me drive our tender on our day off and mentioned it may not be a bad idea to go ahead and get my license, even though interior crew don't really drive them much it can never hurt to have it. Plus all the guys thought I would make a great deck/stew (which I agree they do get to have more fun it seems) and if I ever wanted to try to go that route it would be essential to have the license.

View from the Bluewater tender - this particular one was a RIB or Rigid Inflatable Boat

Upon returning to Ft. Lauderdale I decided to sign up for the Power Boat II course through Bluewater so I could officially be able to drive a tender as needed. I have always felt investing in your education is worthwhile, and it is nice to be able to add another skill to your resume. Not to mention the benefit of taking my honed skills home to our lake house to be able to enjoy many boating excursions for years to come. The course is 2 days and mostly takes place out on the water, with a few classroom bits sprinkled in between. There were only 3 of us in the class, which is the max for that particular course. Myself, a gal from Massachusetts who has done freelance stewardess work for years, and a young man from North Carolina who is brand new to yachting and trying to break into the industry. Our instructor was Canadian and a former firefighter who got into yachting initially for a new experience and ended up staying on boats for years.

Our instructor and my two classmates

Instructor Dan placing markers for our figure 8's

Dan behind the wheel

For anyone who has been to my lake house...doesn't this look just like the Miami Vice house?!

We learned various skills on how to handle the tender including ferry gliding (the process of crossing the waterway from one side to another without losing much distance downstream), figure 8s forward and backward, high speed maneuvers, approaching a mooring, man overboard, anchoring and of course most importantly docking. We also learned general knowledge such as when you are leaving the dock you always back away due to the boats pivot points, as well as when you are starting a maneuver you always want to go "into the weather" meaning into the current as you have better control that way. Back in the classroom we learned about how to read nautical charts and symbols and make a passage plan based on plotting which buoys and landmarks we would pass to get to our destination.

Learning how to read the buoys

Iguanas everywhere!

Iguanas taking over the trees

It was a great experience and nice to just tool around the waterways of Ft. Lauderdale and check out the sights. There were hundreds of iguanas every where along the shore and up in the trees and it was fun to spot them along the way. I now have my tender license and even if I decide yachting is not for me at this point (which I am currently at a crossroads trying to figure that out), I am happy to be able to take these skills home with me. Plus my friend pointed out that it just adds to my international woman of mystery skill set which I thought was pretty funny :)

Licensed to make a quick getaway as needed ;)