 A long-time Coast Guard-licensed master and former delivery captain, Capt. Battye is well able to teach on express and flybridge cruisers, sailboats, runabouts, center consoles, and sportfish.
He knows single and twin inboards, stern-drives, and outboards. He loves to work in wind and current, and is especially pleased to teach people how to singlehand in those conditions.
Capt. Battye brings to boating a formal teaching background. He wrote a one-of-a-kind curriculum, BoatHandler, which the National Safe Boating Council has adapted to use nationally as their on-water train- the-trainer program, teaching it to professional organizations, like Marine Police. Capt. Battye, their lead instructor, uses his written BoatHandler material to supplement his own private on-water teaching.
Until recently, there was no standard curriculum for professional on- water instructors to follow when teaching basic close-quarters boat- handling skills to beginners. |
Capt. Battye works with boaters of all skill levels. He specializes in singlehanded and short-handed slip-and-pier docking and departure, in varied conditions of wind and current.
Until recently, there was no standard curriculum for professional on- water instructors to follow when teaching basic close-quarters boat- handling skills to beginners. In November of 2005, Capt. Jim Battye and Virgil Chambers, Executive Director of the National Safe Boating Council, teamed up to teach his on-water boat-handling-skills teacher- trainee course to six members of the Lower Colorado River Authority.
The name of the course is BoatHandler. The Council thought enough of BoatHandler to have given it a trial run with LCRA, and the results and feedback were impressive.
In a post-training note, Virgil Chambers wrote:
“The NSBC just completed conducting a Basic Close Quarters Boat Handling Training for the Lower Colorado River Authority…Captain Jim Battye and I traveled to Lake Travis…to conduct the instructor training. I need to comment on the excellent instruction and boat handling skill delivered by lead instructor Jim Battye. He does a super job of breaking down the skills, using a step-by-step process in how to handle a boat in close quarters. The program (presents) a concise and systematic approach to teaching boat control for professional operators. In all my years of training officers and boat operators, I have never felt more confident in what is being offered.”
One LCRA boating enforcement officer who had just completed the training said, “I wish I would have had this training available years ago.” He also noted that it had improved his own boat handling.
Capt. Battye has always favored the unqualified rave about his work, and the above comes pretty close. Capt. Battye now offers his pedagogy (train-the-trainer) course to boat dealers, boat handling schools, and other interested captains and professional groups that wish to learn and use a high-quality formal boat-handling-skills curriculum that has broken well out of the gate.
To quote one LCRA boating enforcement officer who had just completed the training, ‘I wish I would have had this training available years ago.’ ”
Jim Richardson (LCRA Training Coordinator) - 11/21/5 - I am pleased with the training. You and Virgil did a great job on your end. It was a pleasure spending time with you and getting to know you better. I know our courses will cross again in the future and I look forward to the time when they do.
Whether it's group training, one on one or to teach-the-teachers, I'll be happy to introduce you to the BoatHander course! Contact Capt. Battye for more information.
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