Lock Twenty, This Is Vereeniging....

In my last post, I mentioned some studying I've been doing. Well, hopefully this won't jinx it but as the title reveals, that's what I've been busy with lately. I'm planning on taking the exam to be qualified for using a VHF radio on board so I can register the portable VHF  I've bought for Vereeniging. 

To my shame, she's never had her own VHF and, quite against the regulations, when we brought her down here to Zeeland, we used the Hennie Ha's. It was only when we were preparing to leave that I realised we didn't have one for Vereeniging. Strictly speaking, it isn't required for a boat under 20 metres in the Netherlands, but it is in Belgium. We'd never been to Belgium on her before, so it was one of those 'oops' moments. At the last minute, we decided to take the Hennie Ha's VHF just in case we needed it, praying no one would question that the name registered to that device was not Vereeniging. Luckily, most of the locks we used were reached by mobile phone and not VHF, so we got by quite well but it made me realise that now I would definitely have to get one. Anywhere we go from our current home port means faring through Belgium and rules is rules!

Anyway, having bought a brand new handheld device, I was faced with the next obstacle. I couldn't register it with the authorities without the qualification, so there were two options: either ask Koos to register it for me, or take the exam myself. Well, I decided to give it a try. After all, what else do I have to do on cold winter evenings? No, don't answer that one. Anyway, for the last month or so, I've been swotting over the course book every night and doing practice tests along the way. 

I was a bit (no, a lot) surprised at how much there was to learn. Someone who shall remain nameless told me all I needed to know was the international radio alphabet and a 'few other things'. I'd be fine, someone said. Wrong! I happen to know that alphabet by heart as I've been teaching it to students for two decades, but if a question comes up in the exam where I'll need to use it, I'll eat my hat. There's heaps of other stuff to know and I am far from confident I'll be able to achieve the necessary minimum of 35 points out of a possible 50 to pass the test.

Still, on the plus side, I did a test exam last night and passed it with 39 points. I even got a certificate to say so, which was quite a thrill and very encouraging, so I'll keep at it. Hopefully, I can do the exam in the next few weeks before I forget everything! I'm just relieved that once I've got it, that will be it. I'll never have to take it again.  Will I or won't I make it? That is the question...

Meanwhile, it was Zoe's birthday yesterday. She is now a grown-up pup at four years old, but she is just as adorable as ever and can behave like a proper little minx at times just to belie any impression of maturity. Just this morning she roared off into a field where there'd been a recent harvesting of sugar beet. The remains of a beet that she found then had to be paraded around like a trophy until I could catch her and remove it from her jaws, by which time she was filthy, but totally without remorse. 

Of course we laughed, and of course she will do it again. Here's a photo of her looking as good as gold, which she rarely is. 

Anyway, that's it for this week. Wish me luck with my studies, allemaal, and I'll keep you posted as and when I get to take the test. If all else fails, there's still Koos to register the VHF!