Steve writes:

Simon Brooke , wrote:

Steve writes:

If you think you can't go into open water with less than 25 horse
power, you aren't safe to go into open water at all.

That's not quite what I said, I'll explain further.
www.skiathosinfo.com/islandmap.htm
I hired a 40hp boat from a place in the bay to the South called
"Vasillias" which is indicated on the map. The island had winds
coming in from the North so I was advised to remain within two
points at either side, from Krasa to the west and the Is Arkos to
the east.

Please don't think this is snide.

If you experience this sort of difficulties at your level of skill,
don't you think a course in boat handling would actually be useful to
you?

"Seriously, could I have done any better while holding a
certificate?"

Seriously, you could have done a lot better if you'd known to get into
shelter earlier, which the course you so deride would probably have
taught you. You put the lives of two other people at risk because you
had not the skills to cope with the situation you were in. Wouldn't it
be a good thing to make sure, next time you re in that situation, you
do have the skils? I agree with you that a bit of paper by itself is
worth very little, but the knowledge the course should impart might be
worth a lot.

Getting into the shelter of the off-lying islands is probably what you
should have done in the first place.

How could I have done that "in the first place"?

Headed for them immediately rather than running for a lee shore?

As you found, conditions will be
a lot less difficult under the lee of the land, and you can either get
ashore there or ride out the blow.

There was nowhere to "get offshore" and had I decided to "ride
out the blow" I would likely have sank the boat and drowned with
my family.

Then you shouldn't have been in the boat in the first place.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; If God does not write LISP, God writes some code so similar to
;; LISP as to make no difference.