A couple of weeks ago, as we were heading over to the island to prep the boat for launch, Jim asked Ed if he'd like to learn to drive the winch. Jim looks after training new drivers, and with an aging membership, he's looking for 'young' drivers. Nice to hear that in our 50's, we're young! Anyway, Ed wasn't too keen, but I said I'd like to learn. After a short silence, Jim asked whether I was serious. Of course I was serious. My only concern was whether it required a lot of physical strength. Jim assured me that it didn't really require strength - just some coordination.
I wondered how the training would go, since I wouldn't be at the club until launch day. Early on the first day of launch, Eriks gave me the very serious safety briefing, and explained how the transmission on the engine works and what to watch for when I was driving. Then Jim called me into the winch house to watch the driver, and to show me around the huge diesel engine. Next shift, it was my turn. At first, I just drove the boats towards the water, and as we got close, I would stop the car, and Jim would actually launch the boat. Then it was my turn. I launched three boats that shift, then got to drive again later in the afternoon. The next day, I signed up for another shift to practice my new skills. I can understand why drivers only work in 1 hour shifts. It takes a lot of concentration, and is a little stressful, but what a cool thing to learn to do. My training will continue at haul out.