Posted on 12th February 2026

Soca Training Session February 2026

WEDNESDAY 11th February @ Hatfield Swim Centre

In conjunction with Mid Herts Divers, SOCA arranged a Sea Survival Liferaft session at Hatfield Swim Centre This was an informal training event based on RNLI, BSAC and RYA safety advice ensuring members learn to use equipment before they are in any emergency situation.

More than 20 people attended, from SOCA, BOSG and 2 local diving clubs. All that attended agreed it was a worthwhile event.

CLICK HERE FOR A SHORT YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE EVENT

Below are the notes from the training session

SEA SURVIVAL THEORY SESSION
We are not qualified sea survival instructors. We have attended a full day RYA sea survival course at an environmental tank. Other courses are available and there is a multitude of information online.
www.rya.org.uk/course-finder/basic-sea-survival-certificate
www.bsac.com/training/skill-development-courses/safety-and-rescue-courses/rnli-diver-sea-survival-workshop/#tab-1
RNLI Safety information
Float to live:
1 Tilt your head back submerging your ears
2 Relax and control your breathing
3 Move your hands and legs to help you stay afloat
4 Your legs may sink – that’s OK everyone floats differently
5 Practise floating at a supervised location like a swimming pool
https://rnli.org/safety/float
Cold water shock:
If you enter the water unexpectedly: Take a minute.
The initial effects of cold water pass in less than a minute so don’t try to swim straight away.
Relax and Float to Live.
Keep calm then call for help or swim for safety if you’re able.
rnli.org/safety/know-the-risks/cold-water-shock
Yachting & Motorboating:
Safety checklist:
Always wear an appropriate lifejacket.
Always carry a means of calling and signalling for help.
Ensure there is an emergency action plan in place and everybody has an onboard briefing (in particular on the location and use of the safety equipment, including the spare kill cord for powerboats).
Get the right level of training for your craft.
Always check the weather and tide times.
Make sure someone ashore knows where you are going and who to call if you don’t return on time.
Always drive your boat at a speed that is appropriate to the weather conditions and to the environment you are operating in.
https://rnli.org/safety/choose-your-activity/yacht-sailing-and-motorboating
Scuba Diving:
6 safety checks for scuba diving:
1 Be fit to dive: Be fit to dive – cold water will put extra strain on your body. Always consider your cardiac health before diving and get any concerns checked out.
2 Check your diving equipment: At the start of the season make sure all your diving gear is in service and ready for another year’s diving.
3 Plan your dives: Check the weather and tides. Tide tables and sea conditions for the UK and Ireland at metoffice.gov.uk.
4 Always complete a buddy check: No matter how experienced you are, or however many times you have dived with your buddy, don’t skip the buddy check. It could save your life, and theirs.
5 Be spotted: All divers should carry a surface marker buoy (SMB) or delayed surface marker buoy (DSMB) on every dive to aid their visibility to all surface craft.
6 Carry a means of calling for help: If something goes wrong, how will you call for help? Consider carrying a personal locator beacon (PLB) or similar device in a waterproof canister.
https://rnli.org/safety/choose-your-activity/scuba-diving.
SAFETY EQUIPMENT:
Lifejackets
Crouch straps, Spray hood, whistle, light
A well fitted and suitable lifejacket can rotate you and keep your airway clear of the water.
Preventing Downing/Secondary drowning.
Help position in water (Heat Escape Lessoning Posture)
More safety equipment
First Aid MOB kit
Communication Grab bag
Flares
Liferaft
Fire extinguishers
PLB/Epirb
WHAT TO DO IN AN EMERGENCY:
Are you in distress?
Serious and imminent danger to life
Collision causing foundering, life threatening injury, fire, or MOB
This is a mayday call
Radio usage, mayday call, Lifeboat and helicopter rescue MHD
Shout Man overboard
Keep pointing at the casualty
Throw MOB equipment
Press MOB button on GPS
Manoeuvre vessel
Early Mayday call
Retrieval equipment/Methods of retrieval
Abandon Ship
Mayday
Lifejackets, flares
Seasickness pills and water
Warm clothes
Grab bag
Liferaft is the last resort but prepare it early
Try not to get wet, step into life raft
Entering the water
Wear lifejacket
Hold jacket and cover airway
if possible enter slowly
Grab bag Waterproof floating container
VHF & GPS Water & Energy bars
Torch Multitool
First aid Kit medication
(Phone, Credit card, car keys, passport)
Lists on the internet
Life raft what’s inside? Typical leisure raft
Knife, Bailer, Sponges – collect condensation for drinking,
Sea anchor, paddles, repair kit, throwing line
Life raft righting Stand on cylinder
Take care with moving & handling
SEA SURVIVAL POOL SESSION
We all like to think we’re competent on the water.
We’ve got the kit.
We’ve got the training.
We’ve watched the YouTube from the sofa.
But no one plans to use a life raft.
It’s the most expensive bit of equipment you hope never to use.
Sailors trust their boats.
Divers trust their buddies.
But when things go wrong, they go wrong fast — and cold water doesn’t care how many qualifications you’ve got.
Tonight It’s about answering one simple question:
If you had 60 seconds before abandoning your vessel… would you actually know what to do?
Would you inflate at the right moment?
Could you turn a raft over alone?
Could you get in safely?
Would your lifejacket fit properly?
Survival at sea isn’t about strength — it’s about preparation and staying calm when your brain is trying to panic.
Tonight we’re going to: Inflate a few rafts
Get wet
Turn them over
Climb in
And maybe prove that it’s harder than we all imagine.

More than 20 people attended, from SOCA, BOSG and 2 local diving clubs. All that attended agreed it was a worthwhile event.

Life Raft & Survival Quiz
1 Should you inflate a life raft inside the cabin?
A) Yes, safer out of the wind
B) Only in calm conditions
C) No
Answer: C (Unless you want a very expensive orange interior
redesign.)
2 If your boat is still floating but disabled, should you:
A) Immediately abandon ship
B) Stay with the vessel if safe
C) Swim for shore
Answer: B. A boat is bigger, easier to spot, and usually safer than a
raft.
3 In UK waters (10–15°C), how long before cold water seriously affects you?
A) 10–15 minutes
B) 1 hour
C) 3 hours
Answer: A. Cold shock and swim failure happen frighteningly fast.
4 Can one reasonably fit adult right an inverted life raft alone?
A) Yes
B) No
Answer: Yes — but technique matters. (demonstrate later.)
5 Should you inflate your lifejacket before entering the water from a sinking vessel?
A) Yes
B) No
Answer: No It makes movement and escape much harder.

Life Raft practical
4 Groups
DEMO lifejacket auto inflate for unconscious Help position
DEMO Secure the painter
Inflate 2 liferafts
ALL Enter liferafts from Shore
Remove contents from liferafts
Seal liferafts
Shore crew free liferafts
Paddle liferafts
Exit to water
Float to live
Upturn liferaft
Righting an upturned liferaft
Enter liferaft from Water
Use throwing line to casualty
Paddle liferafts to exit
join together
remove liferafts from water
Safety Diver to recover any flotsam
Dry liferafts, clear away
Debrief – Life Raft Evening
This session wasn’t about proving who’s strongest, fastest, or best at hauling themselves into an orange bouncy castle.
It was about reducing panic.
When something goes wrong at sea, it’s rarely the equipment that fails first.
It’s decision-making.
Cold water steals your breath.
Noise steals your concentration.
Confusion steals time.
And time is everything.
We saw that rafts inflate violently.
Turning one over takes technique, not muscle.
Boarding is harder than it looks.
The people who survive at sea aren’t superheroes.
They’re the ones who rehearsed the boring stuff before they needed it.
So whether you’re under sail or under bubbles
Check your kit.
Practise your drills.
Talk through scenarios before you leave harbour.
You’ve added a little more training.
Hopefully you’ll never need it.

Skipper Alex, with crew John and Paul assembled on board Honfleur in the basin at Walton on the Naze on Friday 12^th September for a week’s cruise. Original plan was to head down to Blackwater but forecasts for strong winds led to a change of plan, and a trip around the Stour and Orwell estuaries.

Left the Walton basin about midday on the Friday through the gate at HW and headed down Walton channel, out of the Backwaters and across Pennyhole bay and into the Harwich channel. The last section towards Harwich was rough due to the wind conditions, although calmed down within the estuary. Headed for Shotley marina situated on the corner of the Stour and Orwell, locked in for the night and had dinner at the Shipwreck pub within the marina complex. Saturday 13^th locked out from Shotley and headed up the Orwell and moored for night on the RHYC pontoons. Evening meal was had at the RHYC.

RHYC Pontoon – Evening view up Orwell from Honfleur

Moved on further up the Orwell on Sunday and locked into the Royal Dock in the centre of Ipswich. Stopped there for two nights (Sunday & Monday) as strong winds forecast. Royal dock are undergoing changes, there is now only one marina (Beacon Marina) operating, currently with pontoons located on the opposite side of the dock from the town. The town side pontoons are being removed and new ones installed. Whilst there the replica of the Santa Maria was in port waiting for a weather window to continue its journey. It was open to visitors whilst in port and made for a fascinating visit. The first evening we ate on board, the second evening the Anchor restaurant located near the marina office provided a nice meal. There were some nice pubs with real ales around the waterfront.

Santa Maria berthed in Royal Dock Ipswich

Tuesday morning locked out from Royal Dock and headed down Orwell. The original plan was to stop at halfpenny pier at Harwich but unfortunately this was closed as was the foot ferry due to high winds. So instead moored up on a buoy off Harwich yacht club for a couple of hours waiting for the tide before heading on up the river Stour. Made it right up the Stour to Misley with the tide and was able to moor up on the pontoon there, partially dried out overnight. Walked into town to fish restaurant in the evening.

River Stour – Honfleur moored up at Misley Pontoon

Left Misley on Wednesday morning headed down Stour and moored up at Half Penny Pier for a couple of hours and walked into Harwich town. Visited the museum and Harwich yacht club where we were shown round their facilities. Afterwards carried on back into Orwell to berth at the Suffolk Yacht Club (SYC) and an evening meal on the lightship there.

Half Penny Pier Harwich – Honfleur moored up

Thursday saw a return across Pennyhole Bay and back into the Backwaters, a calmer trip than the way out. Stopped off for a couple of hours on a mooring buoy in Walton channel and had lunch before heading further up to the twizzle and into Titchmarsh marina for the night. Ron and his wife SOCA members who live locally came and meet us and provided an evening meal and entertainment. The final morning (Friday) John left us to return home, and Alex and I returned with Honfleur to the Walton Basin on the tide. That concluded a lovely weeks trip.

Honfleur moored at Titchmarsh and returning into Walton

Jester skippers are organising an event in Letchworth in 2026, which some of our member may like to attend. It’s a not for profit event to talk mainly about single handed sailing and give an idea as to what a jester challenge is like.

They are an international and eclectic bunch who are very welcoming of all ages.

Below is attached a flyer which gives more details

BOSG, SOCA & NOSCA Members do join BOSG at these events:

# BOSG Air Experience Gliding Friday 11 July 2025 18.00 hrs

Flying at The Cambridge Gliding Club.

An Air Experience Gliding evening.  The Cambridge Gliding Club, Gransden Lodge Airfield, Longstowe Rd, Little Gransden, Sandy SG19 3EB is situated on the B1046 Longstowe to Little Gransden Road SG19 3EB.  A delightful and relaxing and exciting opportunity to fly quietly in the air, you will be with a qualified instructor. They will allow you to have a go at flying if you wish or you can just sit back and enjoy the flight and the view. The first flight will cost £38.00 with subsequent flights £22.00. This is an experience not to be missed.  Numbers are limited to ensure as far as possible all attendees get a flight.  Bookings are on a first come first served basis. To book contact Bob Leonard on 01767 260293. 

# Dingy Sailing & BBQ

Paxton Lakes   Thursday 18:00   10 July 2024

Paxton Lakes Sailing Club, Little Paxton, PE19 6EY

This promises to be the usual happy and most enjoyable BOSG evening. Boats can be sailed, you will probably be able to watch swimmers in the lake, and cook on the BBQ provided, — all in good company.

Yes it maybe warm weather. Just come along, relax and enjoy, BOSG, SOCA, NOSCA Members, Partners, their Children & Partners and Grandchildren are all very welcome  –  there is no requirement to sail if you don’t want to. Sailing boats ready to go and a fired up BBQ will be provided Free – just bring your BBQ food and drink.

#  Sailing The Solent, 20/21 – 23/24 July 2025

BOSG Member Peter Parry Okeden invites you to ‘Sail The Solent’ on S/Y River Song, a Dufour 380 GL.

BOSG Members have priority on this one.  We will open up to SOCA if numbers permit.

The boat is berthed at Lymington. Crew slots avail Sunday evening 20 July – Thursday afternoon 24 July.

We can charter a second yacht for these days or even a full week, subject to crew numbers and desires.

If number of crew more than 4 we may do daysailing with AirB&B overnights in Lymington or IoW. or maybe take the second boat.

Costs per crew member will be subject to need or want of a second boat and / or AirB&B, marina fees, etc. — at this stage your costs are a little vague

Please advise me if you want a Provisional Crew Reservation, by 16:00, Friday 23 May 2025 latest.  email: sailpeter646@gmail.com

Peter

Peter Sackett Commodore BOSG 2025