However, the people who typically get into trouble out boating are not the people who would even consider doing a day skipper course. These are the down and outs with a poorly maintained boat, don’t own lifejackets or flares and usually can’t swim.

These people don’t carry the necesseties for safe boating, simply because they don’t care and they know that the gummint (SAR) will be along to rescue them should they get into trouble. I would be interested in knowing the actual ratio of people whom drown from not wearing life jackets that are actually paid-up members of the coast guard. I bet it is negligble.

So, the only people actually likely to do a day skipper course are people that can well afford to pay the full amount for it. The others, probably cannot even spell skipper.

I’ve seen them out there, and they’re an accident waiting to happen, no amount of subsidising or incetivising is going to get them to do anything different than they do now.

I say, let Darwin carry on his work.

Jane Seymour would do that to you.

My bloody memory’s going – off to the old folkes home.
It was Captain Baines, not Master Bates. I’m getting my TV shows mixed up.

And that Jane Seymour was and still is one good lookin’ broad.

Kris K – You forgot Master Bates.

If you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater, then perhaps there is a call for a Waste Water Disposal and Your Infant course.

You’ll remember the ‘Onedin Line’; an english TV show back in the 70s – it had a Master Bates too. Always made me chuckle as a teenager at the time.

And regarding your new course proposal – not sure how much support Key and co will give it – you may have to wait for Labour to regain the helm (thought I’d keep to the nautical theme).

If you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater, then perhaps there is a call for a Waste Water Disposal and Your Infant course.

So Hipkins wants to be Cap’n Pugwash. Which of collegues will be Seaman Stains?

You remind me, Brian, of a mate of mine who I go out sailing with from time to time. His name is Roger, and he got the unfortunate nick-name of ‘Roger the Cabinboy’. Funnily enough, he didn’t see the funny side.

While I agree with the sentiments of many here – that floral arrangement type courses are a waste of tax payers’ money – I do see the value in such couses as the Day Skipper course. Perhaps this reflects on my Surf Life Saving background, and involvement with sailing, but such courses do, I believe, have a net positive return when weighed up against SAR and related costs when unskilled boaties get in trouble. And not to mention the reduction in lost lives when boaties have attended such courses.

We have to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater in our attempts to reduce funding to previously/currently free courses. It’s important to look at the merits of each.

BUT:

DPF: “I’m speechless.”
Clearly you’re not, given the rest of the post. Histrionics much?

DPF: “This is what Labour wants to borrow and tax more money from workers for.”
Borrow more AND tax more? Wouldn’t it be one or the other?

Said the political cheerleader skeleton: eat sound bites…

Actually you do, every time some dickhead gets into trouble at sea because he doesn’t know what he is doing, you pay for the P3 to go and find the fool in question. When it comes to boating I think a better question is should a licence, self funded IMO, be compulsory so said tax payer funded P3 flights not be necessary in the first place.

My visits to a floral arranging course, a stained glass window course and a Spanish course all reinforced the tremendous social value night classes bring to the wider community.

These are all wonderful things to be sure. As are other hobbies like rugby, skiing, and badminton. But you destroy value when you take taxpayers’ money and use it to make these course look like they cost less than they really do. It makes no sense to have people learning these things when they do not value the product as much as the cost to society of delivering those courses. The time and effort of providing those courses is a cost. Using coercively-raised funding to make them look cheap is not the path to riches.

Given also that my last boat cost me $3,500 (Note DPF, far from six figures), I can state from first hand knowledge that not every boatie has the spare cash for a boatie safety course.

I can also see the need to cut costs and hope the next step is the announcement that all S&R will be paid for by the client.

Got a good reason
For taking the easy way out

He was a day skipper
A one way ticket yeah

(apologies to the Beatles).

And boating – um, if you can afford a boat surely you can afford the course? I am sure there are exceptions but day skipper courses would have to be a fair way down the list. Hell, funding physio would have to be well ahead of that (not to mention floral arranging. WTF are they on?)