Tag Archives: powerboat

Preparing for the Japan Marine Recreation Association (JMRA) Class 2 Boat License exam through on-water practice sessions

The JMRA summer class for 2024 has just concluded. Meet the happy team!

As participants await the results, let’s deep-dive into the details of TSPS – Water Practice for the JMRA Class 2 Exam.

Preparing for the Japan Marine Recreation Association (JMRA) Class 2 Boat License exam through on-water practice sessions provides numerous benefits. Here are some of these advantages:

Hands-On Experience:

  • Essential Preparation: On-water practice offers exposure to real-world boating scenarios under various conditions.
  • Confidence Boost: Gaining proficiency in boat controls, maneuvers, and safety procedures enhances confidence for the practical exam.

Exam Relevance:

  • Practical Assessment: The JMRA Class 2 exam includes an underway component, and practicing in advance ensures readiness for this part.
  • Navigational Proficiency: On-water sessions improve skills in navigation, buoy identification, and coastal geography.

Instructor Guidance:

  • Professional Advice: Instructors provide hands-on guidance during practice, offering feedback and rectifying mistakes.
  • Exercise Repetition: Instructors ensure exercises are repeated as necessary for complete comprehension.

Emergency Preparedness:

  • Challenge Management: Practicing on the water equips you to handle unexpected events such as engine failure, abrupt weather shifts, or navigational mistakes.
  • Safety Training: You’ll learn vital emergency procedures, including man-overboard recovery and distress signaling.

Boat Familiarization:

  • Vessel Understanding: Get to know the specific characteristics, responsiveness, and limits of boats.
  • Docking Skills: Practice essential techniques for docking, anchoring, and mooring.

Interactions:

  • Practicing on the water offers an excellent opportunity to engage with other international boating enthusiasts and also mastering the knot-tying skills essential for the Class 2 JMRA exam.

NEW!!! TSPS also provides Refresh Water Practice Classes for those who have already obtained their license but wish to improve their on-water skills. For any inquiries, please reach out to Education TSPS at education@tspsjapan.org.

Moreover, the TSPS offers advanced boating skills classes suitable for both sail and power boats, including the boat handling class from the United States Power Squadrons. This class covers practical skills like real-world docking, collision avoidance, and navigation. A new session will be available this Fall.

Remember, the more time you invest in on-water practice, the more prepared you will be for boating activities!

Wishing you safe and successful boating and sailing!

References:

Class 1 & 2 Japan Boat License | Tokyo Sail and Power Squadron
Guide to Examination for Boat’s Operator (JMRA)
Credit for pictures: Jochen Damerau & Maria M. Tenold

TSPS Silverweek Cruise And Photos

TSPS_Silverweek_2012 1

The crews of Akdenizli, Bifrost, Diva, Mary-Jane, Sophie, and Voyager set out this past weekend for a three-day cruise to Atami and Hayama. Voyager departed Yokohama for Misaki Friday to position the boat for a short sail to Atami. All but Akdenizli made the crossing to Atami on Saturday. Those who made the journey across Sagami Bay enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant near the marina. Akdenizli sailed into Misaki from Yokohama on Saturday bound for Hayama on Sunday, but unfortunately experienced engine troubles enroute and went no further.

The plans for Sunday were for Bifrost and Voyager to sail to Hayama and be joined there by Akdenizli, for Diva and Mary-Jane to return to their home port at Velasis, and for Sophie to sail to Oshima. Voyager’s skipper, however, didn’t like the forecast for Monday and instead sailed to Velasis, thus leaving only Bifrost to sail the TSPS ensign into Hayama port. Sophie, encountering light winds to Oshima instead returned to Shimoda. Meanwhile, Akdenizli, bound for Yokohama and laboring along with a lame engine, encountered strong northerly headwinds and so diverted to the east to Chiba to wait for a more favorable southerly wind, which she promptly got for an enjoyable sail back to Bayside Marina.

Monday saw strong winds, large swells and wind waves from the south. Bifrost rounded Jyogashima enroute to her home port at Velasis in the afternoon. Voyager remains in Velasis awaiting its six-year inspection and re-certification and will return to Yokohama next week.

We’d like to thank TSPS Cruising Coordinator Per Knudsen for organizing the cruise, and also thank the skippers who made their boats available for the cruise, and all the crew that signed up for the trip.

Photos from the trip:

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Did That Fish Just Flip Me The Bird?

The Marlin Jumps

By Jerry Brady, TSPS member with photos from Masayo Wertheimber Saturday, August 18, 2012 9:45a.m.

I’m 15 minutes into a battle with a marlin, and I am losing, damn it. Sweat streaming down my face, clothes soaked right through, arms cramped and cramping. I’m receiving instructions tersely delivered by Diva’s Captain Francis. Masayo is mopping my brow, and Vassili is at the helm enquiring politely whether the fish is still on the line. Yes the fish, the bloody fish, is still on the line, and it’s going on yet another run. His eighth I’m pretty sure. I switch hands to give my cramped left arm a brief respite. I’m exhausted. Then my mind begins streaming questions as the battle renews… “Why is this fish making it so difficult?” “Why doesn’t it just give up and give me and my arms a break?” “Should I ask Francis if an Automated External Defibrillator is aboard? “How about we janken (rock, scissors, paper) to see who wins and call it a day?” “Hmm. Can a marlin show only ‘paper,’ or can it curl a flipper into ‘rock’? “What about that A.E.D.?” “How did I get here?” “Who was the wise guy that once said, ‘If you don’t want a fight, don’t slap a bear.’

This all began two weeks ago when TSPS member Francis Wertheimber and his wife Masayo invited another TSPSer Vassili Ermakov and me to go fishing for marlin off the coast of Chiba before the start of theTSPS barbecue and fireworks party at Velasis Marina. I figured physically this would be a cake-walk. In years past, I considered myself an athlete. I played many sports including snowboarding, scuba diving, rugby, racquetball, and did some physically demanding commercial tuna fishing in Vietnam. I’d always thought physical activities were easy. I’d do anything, regardless of difficulty, and then drink beer and talk about it later. That was until a few years ago. Training didn’t seem important when I retired from rugby, so I hadn’t worked out in ages. Oh, silly me. Aboard Diva I was about to be worked over by a fish, a 170-kilogram taskmaster of a fish, but a fish nonetheless.

When the marlin took the hook, I was told to take a seat in the fighting chair. We strapped the rod and reel to the chair and listened as the line sang off the reel as the marlin ran out more than five-hundred meters. We watched as it then engaged in fish aerobics by jumping clear of the water several times. Clearly this fish had been working out. Bah! Show off! I reeled it in, but then it took off on another run. This was to be expected and so the fish and I did this several times in succession; it would get close to the boat, take one look at me and then bolt on another 300 – 400 meter sprint. Can’t blame the fish, really.  I had quickly lost my usual saintly expression and and was fearsomely grimacing in shades of red and blue. The battle continued and I was losing hope of landing the marlin, but just when I was thinking of cutting the line the fish decided to stop showing off and instead ambled over for a visit. I was ready to offer my nemesis a congratulatory beer, but then remembered marlin are big-game fish loaded with machismo and prefer stronger drink.

Masayo took a load of pictures, and exchanged family photos with the marlin as I mentally prepared to deliver the coup de grâce. In spite of my respect for the fish, I was looking forward to eating it, dining on barbecued marlin steaks with coconut milk and lime juice. Francis got out the boat hook, stepped to the stern and then paused to take a long look at the fish. He then slowly turned to me, Masayo, and Vassili and told us that even if we provided one steak each for the thirty-five TSPS members at the barbecue, we would consume only a quarter of the fish, and that since nobody had any way of transporting the leftover meat, we would have to pay for the rest of the carcass to be commercially disposed of.

Reluctantly, we all agreed to release the fish. But as it slowly swam away, it turned on its side exposing a raised flipper. Did that fish just flip me the bird? When we headed back to port, my arms were so tired that Masayo could have beaten me in an arm-wrestling match. For some reason, I was reminded of something a friend once told me. We had worked together on a construction site in New York before I moved here. He’d said, “When I was younger, I was a real bad-ass. Now that I’m older, I’m just an ass.” It took a fish to drive the point that I was out of shape home. I vowed to myself that I would resume training this month so I would be ready for the next fishing trip. You know… pull-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, squats, the whole home-training routine. But today, meh… It’s so hot and I’m so tired that I’m going to default back to my usual training regimen; fridge sprints, speed email finger work outs, and flip-fop curls.

Yeah, better to start training in September. It’ll be cooler then and the fish will be smaller… Many thanks to Masayo and Francis Wertheimber and Vassili Ermakov for a truly unforgettable experience. 

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At Anchor: Looking for Cherry Blossoms

On April 7, four boats- Akdenizli, Andiamo, Bifrost, and Diva- met up off the Chiba coast for what had been promised to be a great two hours of cherry blossom viewing from the sea. Bifrost was the first to arrive and drop the anchor, followed by Andiamo, and Akdenizli. Diva, having powered south about ten miles to get some fishing in, arrived a little later and was the third boat in the raft. Akdenizli, being the smaller boat tied up last. After finishing tying the boats together in somewhat windy and wavy conditions, some of the twenty-one crew began to notice there was not a single cherry tree in sight. “Yes, I realize that,” said a skipper, “We’ve been misinformed.” A third person commented they’d seen cherry blossoms further down the coast. And so the question became where the correct spot to anchor was. We all came to the conclusion that it was elsewhere. The absence of blossoms was soon forgotten as crew brought out the food and beverages and the conversations turned to boats and boating, fish and fishing, sandwiches and vegetable sticks. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, with brief gusts and a small rolling swell coming through. At just past two the wind kicked up and the raft quickly broke into its four component parts that were each quickly flying off in all directions, two boats under power and two under sail all bound for their homeport.

Warren Fraser

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