Skipper Experience Quiz | Pure Latitude

How the quiz works
Find out how your skippering skills rate with a (virtual) weekend in the Solent. You’ll receive feedback on each answer you choose as well as your overall skipper rating at the end.
Please note that each question allows you to view the feedback for the answer you have selected at that time. In order to receive an accurate final 'skipper rating', you need to have selected your original answer before moving to the next question.

step 1 of 5
Passage planning
You’ve promised dinner in Yarmouth for your relatively inexperienced crew on Saturday night and the marina berth is already booked.
HW Portsmouth is at 1pm on Saturday. A light South Westerly breeze is forecast to build to F4 occ. F5 through Saturday, continuing that strength through Sunday.
Is Yarmouth the right choice?
1. Is Yarmouth the right choice?*
- Couldn’t be more perfect for a weekend trip to Yarmouth.
- You think it will be OK but you have some concerns about Saturday afternoon.
- No, you’d prefer to avoid a bumpy sea in the western Solent and instead plan to head east to Bembridge on Saturday afternoon and leave early on Sunday morning in order to be in back in Hamble in good time.
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Not sure about that. You will be fighting tide all the way to Bembridge, only to arrive at low water when you can't get in to the harbour. Even if you did get in, you wouldn't make it out until Sunday lunchtime - at which point you would have to beat all the way home. More careful passage planning required!
Feedback
Whilst the tide looks favourable for this trip, you should be thinking about the sea state too. Assuming the breeze will be funnelling through the Needles channel, it could be quite lumpy in the Western Solent with wind against tide. Not a no-go, but you need to consider whether you and your crew will enjoy a bumpy upwind leg.
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We understand your concerns for Saturday PM, as it will be wind against tide and is therefore likely to be bumpy. It shows you have a good understanding of what conditions will be like on the water, which allows you to pick the right trip in line with your experience and that of your crew. This kind of thinking makes boating more enjoyable. Good start.

step 2 of 5
Boat systems
You arrive at the boat after dark on Friday evening. You head down below and can’t get the cabin lights to work and none of the electrical systems you need are working.
What would you do first to get the lights working?
2. Boat systems*
- Read the boat manual
- Check the shore power is plugged in
- Check the voltage of the domestic batteries
feedback
It doesn't really make sense to check this first. The cabin lights run off the 12v domestic boat batteries, not the shore power. Only in the unlikely event that the boat batteries are completely flat, would checking the shore power help you turn on the lights.
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Reading the boat manual is always a sensible thing to do when you can't get something to work, but you should be able to switch on the cabin lights without reading a manual. Perhaps you need to spend more time on boat systems when self-inducting!
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We like your style. If none of the onboard electrical systems are working, and assuming the battery isolator switch is on, the first thing to check is the domestic boat battery voltage. You're starting to demonstrate some good knowledge!

step 3 of 5
Leaving the berth
It was a bit of a late night in the King and Queen but you’ve now had breakfast and it’s time to go (about 10am). Wind is still light and HW is 1pm. You are parked bow in, starboard side to on the southern side of F pontoon in Port Hamble.
How would you leave the berth?
3. How would you leave the berth?*
- Having briefed your crew on the strong flood spring tide in the river, you decide to wait to leave until it goes slack at HW.
- Not too much to think about. You plan to reverse off the berth and out of the fairway.
- After reversing off the berth, you plan to turn in the fairway because you prefer to drive out forwards.
feedback
We suspect you haven't checked what the tide is actually doing. With HW at 1pm, you will be experiencing the mid flood stand at 10am - so no tide will be running. It's unnecessary to delay your departure until 1pm. You need to swot up on the tidal curve of the river!
feedback
We understand your thinking. To plan a turn in the fairway, we expect you are aware that no tide is running at 10am due to the mid flood stand. However, a more accomplished boater would likely just reverse all of the way out. In any scenario, turning a boat in the fairway does introduce extra risk and in this case it's unnecessary.
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Spot on. At 10am you will have slack water in the river due to the mid flood stand. With light winds too, there isn't much to think about. Just carefully untie and reverse all the way out - we like your style!

step 4 of 5
Changing conditions at sea
As planned, you are en-route to Yarmouth with your fairly novice crew, but you stopped for lunch in Osborne Bay and are now only just off Gurnard, so you’re running a bit late (it’s 3pm and 2 hours after HW). There is a big black cloud way out past the Needles and where you are the south westerly breeze is towards the top end of the forecast.
What's the best thing to do?
4 What's the best thing to do?*
- Enjoy a leisurely sail in the central Solent before heading into Cowes for the night.
- Push on for Yarmouth definitively. It’s is a bit windy but good experience and the tide will help get you there quickly.
- Head for Newtown creek instead to shorten the journey. You’ll easily reach the entrance before the cloud arrives. (You’ve got food for dinner onboard anyway).
feedback
Have you been to Newtown creek before? It's a tight shallow entrance and harbour. We really wouldn't recommend entering on a falling spring tide and you wouldn't get in anyway!
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It's a bit punchy but an OK call, as long as you feel confident and your novice crew can stomach it. Expect some lively conditions with wind against tide as you approach Yarmouth - get a reef in early, or slow down, if that black cloud arrives sooner than expected.
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It's the kind of decision an accomplished boater makes. You've got nothing to prove and with inexperienced crew onboard you'd prefer they had a good time, rather than hanging on trying to keep their lunch down. Lots of great places to eat in Cowes......

step 5 of 5
Problem solving
Yarmouth was as charming as ever and it was a bit of late night again, although you still managed to get up early enough to take advantage of the flood tide (HW Portsmouth 2pm) to start heading back to Hamble.
You anchored in Thorness Bay at around 1pm for a spot of lunch, but as you go to leave at about 3pm you realise you can’t get the anchor up and the windlass keeps tripping out. The tide is now starting to fall quite quickly and you don’t have much depth left.
What's the best thing to do?
5. What's the best thing to do?*
- The water is pretty clear and one of your crew is a good swimmer who has a snorkel so they offer to jump in and try and free the anchor.
- Call sea start to come and help you sort the windlass out in order to get the anchor up.
- Tie the anchor warp to a fender and let it go in the knowledge that Roland Harper (Pl maintenance) will have the hassle of sorting it out and likely send you an invoice if it isn’t recovered.
feedback
This could go bad quickly. With a fast flowing falling spring tide, your crew will need to be an exceptional swimmer. In addition, the anchor and chain will be heavily loaded with the tide pulling the boat - making it almost impossible to free. Yes, you could use the engine to unload it, but it's getting very messy with someone in the water at the same time.
feedback
Asking for help is always a sensible call but it's likely the windlass is tripping because of overload caused by the caught anchor. The focus should be on how much time you have before grounding and how long it will take for Seastart to arrive - at which point it may be too late. If you don't have much time, it's better to take matters into your own hands.
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Once you are confident the anchor is not coming up, this is the only sensible option. Sure it's going to cost a few quid - but a far better result than having a crew member in the water or leaving the decision too late and ending up aground on the rocks with a falling tide. It's always possible the anchor and fender can be recovered later.

Are you making the right decisions as skipper?

How the quiz works

step 1 of 5

Passage planning

Is Yarmouth the right choice?

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Feedback

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step 2 of 5

Boat systems

What would you do first to get the lights working?

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step 3 of 5

Leaving the berth

How would you leave the berth?

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step 4 of 5

Changing conditions at sea

What's the best thing to do?

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step 5 of 5

Problem solving

What's the best thing to do?

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