how to document sea miles for RYA licensing.

[frozenhawaiian]

hey guys, question for you. I have a USCG 100ton captains license so I'm well acquainted with the USCG system of documenting sea days via sea service forms. my question is how do I go about documenting sea miles for my RYA yachtmaster license which I'm currently pursuing. I know that the RYA and MCA bases it's system off sea miles instead of sea days, how does one go about calculating these sea miles and how does one go about documenting them?

thanks in advance.

[blackswan]

Originally Posted by frozenhawaiian

hey guys, question for you. I have a USCG 100ton captains license so I'm well acquainted with the USCG system of documenting sea days via sea service forms. my question is how do I go about documenting sea miles for my RYA yachtmaster license which I'm currently pursuing. I know that the RYA and MCA bases it's system off sea miles instead of sea days, how does one go about calculating these sea miles and how does one go about documenting them?

thanks in advance.

Welcome to the start of the generally confusing world of international maritime qualifications.
For the RYA yachtmaster offshore goto:

Yachtmasterâ„¢ Offshore | Exams | Learning | Courses & Training | RYA

The minimum seatime requirements are stated in both days and sea miles so you need both to satisfy the examiner. Just make sure you have every one of the requirements as stated at that link. As for the actual documentation put down the same information that you logged for your USCG license. My experience is include as much info as possible: vessel registration, owner statement, size, tonnage, use etc etc.

Where it all can get confusing is if you are getting the YM as a stepping stone to working at sea which I suspect you may be looking at given your current USCG Coc.*
If you are even contemplating this then have a look at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...on_22_04-2.pdf

And:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...75/msn1802.pdf

I notice that the MCA (which is the UK's USCG equivalent in terms of coc's) will now accept yacht time as valid seatime for their commercial maritime qualifications. This is a good thing and brings the UK in line with most other countries around the world. Sea service is sea service after all whatever vessel you may sail on.*

As you go up the coc ladder you will find the sea service documentation becomes more stringent. If you are going this route I would advise making a list of all the documentation requirements/details needed from each agency that you MAY want to get a coc from in the future and get all this information from each vessel you sign off from. This way your bases are covered for any future steps that you may wish to take.

Good luck..

[frozenhawaiian]

Originally Posted by blackswan

Welcome to the start of the generally confusing world of international maritime qualifications.
For the RYA yachtmaster offshore goto:

Yachtmasterâ„¢ Offshore | Exams | Learning | Courses & Training | RYA

The minimum seatime requirements are stated in both days and sea miles so you need both to satisfy the examiner. Just make sure you have every one of the requirements as stated at that link. As for the actual documentation put down the same information that you logged for your USCG license. My experience is include as much info as possible: vessel registration, owner statement, size, tonnage, use etc etc.

Where it all can get confusing is if you are getting the YM as a stepping stone to working at sea which I suspect you may be looking at given your current USCG Coc.*
If you are even contemplating this then have a look at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...on_22_04-2.pdf

And:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...75/msn1802.pdf

I notice that the MCA (which is the UK's USCG equivalent in terms of coc's) will now accept yacht time as valid seatime for their commercial maritime qualifications. This is a good thing and brings the UK in line with most other countries around the world. Sea service is sea service after all whatever vessel you may sail on.*

As you go up the coc ladder you will find the sea service documentation becomes more stringent. If you are going this route I would advise making a list of all the documentation requirements/details needed from each agency that you MAY want to get a coc from in the future and get all this information from each vessel you sign off from. This way your bases are covered for any future steps that you may wish to take.

Good luck..

sigh, nothing is ever simple, thanks a lot for all the information, from what research I've done it looks like I have more than enough seatime/miles the hitch is having it documented the right way. when you say owners statement is that along the lines of what us yanks call seatime letters?

[conachair]

Originally Posted by frozenhawaiian

and how does one go about documenting them?

thanks in advance.

How you do it doesn't seem too important.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread...htmaster+miles

[blackswan]

Originally Posted by frozenhawaiian

sigh, nothing is ever simple, thanks a lot for all the information, from what research I've done it looks like I have more than enough seatime/miles the hitch is having it documented the right way. when you say owners statement is that along the lines of what us yanks call seatime letters?

Mate at the YM offshore level which is an entry level recreational ticket it is not very complicated or onerous to satisfy the documentation requirements. (See the ybw link posted above).

The owners statement I was referring to wasn't for the RYA for a yachtmaster.
It was for AMSA (oz version of your USCG) for an intermediate small commercial vessel ticket. It was simply a company addressed (and therefore traceable) statement from the (in my case) owners management company but it could have been from the owner himself. It stated the details of my time served on the vessel. If that is what you yanks call a seatime letter then there ya go mate..
Every maritime authority worldwide has its own way of documenting and assessing sea service *especially at the lower level tickets.

You will find it easier to satisfy the RYA documentation for a basic YM than for your USCG 100 tonne ticket as a commercially endorsed YM isn't at the level of a US100 tonne ticket (in terms of responsibility) because a YM is limited to 12 pax whereas the 100 tonne isn't pax limited.

The complications I was referring to are when you start getting into the intermediate professional "yacht" level tickets that the RYA and MCA administer.

Go above that level to the commercial maritime Coc's and you will find things get easier again as it is pretty universal for merchant sea service to be documented in a standard form..

Contact an RYA instructor and/examiner and they will fill you in on the exact requirements for a yachtmaster ticket.

[SailBeat]

Hi there

I used the RYA logbook to document my sailing up to YM Ocean. You can buy one here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/RYA-Sail-Cru...s=log+book+rya

As well as the days/mile you will need to sign off skills such as: Recovery man overboard, adverse weather etc.

In the back of the book is a table you can use to log all your days/miles. It goes like this:

Dates to/from Name of vessel Details of voyage Days on Board Distance logged

Night Hours Skippers Signature.


You can see all the details here. You'll need a GMDSS cert as well.

Hope this helps

[terrysandling]

Its very simple log all your sea miles for the rya off shore , to make it moe credible a signature if possible from the captain of the vessel you have been sailing on ,otherwise if you are the captain keep a log of your own voyages ,i have never heard of the examiner question ones integrity as to the sea miles this will soon show up in the exam, which i have to say is relaxed but very full especially man over board ,blind navigation etc, sometimes like a driving test its not a bad idea to have a few days prep at a know establishment who specialise in preparation before exams regardless of ones knowledge .T sandling ocean yachtmaster.


The rewards of a life lived well is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit

[roland stockham]

The paperwork is simple, when you register you will be given a pack that includes a log book, you simple fill in details from your ships log if it is from your own boat of whatever other records you have for voyages on other boats. There are min requirement for mileage, night hours and passages over 60nm plus time sailed as skipper all depending on the certification level.
Only problem is that if you are using past experience from passages where you where not the skipper or don't have the ships log you should have the skippers signature in your RYA log to verify the experience. If that applies it would be good to have some evidence you are not just making it up!! That said the examiners are very experience and soon spot anyone not up to it. It is a good certificate and worth doing.

[Svanen]

As others have said, documenting past experience need not be a tremendously difficult or involved exercise. Essentially the YM candidate needs to satisfy the individual examiner, who may or may not be very keen on seeing signed-off logbooks.

It will always be possible for the unethical to invent or exaggerate sea time; whether that extends to production of faked logbook entries or forged testimonials is not particularly important.

The examiner will almost certainly have a private chat with the candidate, during which the latter's sailing history will be discussed in some detail. As roland said, the vast majority of examiners are very experienced and will quickly reach their own impressions based upon candidates' actual performance.

The examination is a very practical (and worthwhile) one.

[frozenhawaiian]

thanks for all the information guys

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by blackswan

Mate at the YM offshore level which is an entry level recreational ticket it is not very complicated or onerous to satisfy the documentation requirements. (See the ybw link posted above).



The owners statement I was referring to wasn't for the RYA for a yachtmaster.

It was for AMSA (oz version of your USCG) for an intermediate small commercial vessel ticket. It was simply a company addressed (and therefore traceable) statement from the (in my case) owners management company but it could have been from the owner himself. It stated the details of my time served on the vessel. If that is what you yanks call a seatime letter then there ya go mate..

Every maritime authority worldwide has its own way of documenting and assessing sea service *especially at the lower level tickets.



You will find it easier to satisfy the RYA documentation for a basic YM than for your USCG 100 tonne ticket as a commercially endorsed YM isn't at the level of a US100 tonne ticket (in terms of responsibility) because a YM is limited to 12 pax whereas the 100 tonne isn't pax limited.



The complications I was referring to are when you start getting into the intermediate professional "yacht" level tickets that the RYA and MCA administer.



Go above that level to the commercial maritime Coc's and you will find things get easier again as it is pretty universal for merchant sea service to be documented in a standard form..



Contact an RYA instructor and/examiner and they will fill you in on the exact requirements for a yachtmaster ticket.

The RYA YM offshore cert is probably the pinnacle of leisure certification in the world . , ( note leisure ) it certainly has the most recognition of any ticket.

Without being commercially endorsed it has no validity outside of leisure yachts and even DoT endorsed on,y applies to UK registered vessels

You can go on to do the RYA YM ocean ticket , again which commercially endorsed allows the candidate to skipper non commercial upto to 200grt on British registered vessels only , irrespective of people on board. So in that regard it has become the defacto ticket for super yacht captains , many which formerly had no formal qualifications.. Some countries do take commercial YM for small ( < 12 ) passengers on commercial boats , but very few ( Ireland , UK etc ) but the RYA is not a mariner ticket ( super yachts are not commercial vessels )

Of course merely because you have a my ticket doesn't mean you,re fit to skipper anything

If you intend to go into commercial vessels , ie the merchant marine etc ( not yachts or super yachts ) , maybe carrying passengers or freight , then the RYA. Ticket is not the place to start at all.

Sea miles trips and days , merely need to be logged on paper , there is a RYA log for this purpose and that ist hen sent to the RYA.. You can sign it yourself, the examiner will know if you're not up to scratch. The RYA will examine the log book and appoint you an examiner

The exam is quite difficult and long , often nearly two days on board. There is no specific course , per se .

To get a YM, you will need a GMDSS SRC VHF operator cert , a recognised first aid ticket and a sea safety ticket

Dave ( ex RYA instructor )


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[frozenhawaiian]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

The RYA YM offshore cert is probably the pinnacle of leisure certification in the world . , ( note leisure ) it certainly has the most recognition of any ticket.

Without being commercially endorsed it has no validity outside of leisure yachts and even DoT endorsed on,y applies to UK registered vessels

You can go on to do the RYA YM ocean ticket , again which commercially endorsed allows the candidate to skipper non commercial upto to 200grt on British registered vessels only , irrespective of people on board. So in that regard it has become the defacto ticket for super yacht captains , many which formerly had no formal qualifications.. Some countries do take commercial YM for small ( < 12 ) passengers on commercial boats , but very few ( Ireland , UK etc ) but the RYA is not a mariner ticket ( super yachts are not commercial vessels )

Of course merely because you have a my ticket doesn't mean you,re fit to skipper anything

If you intend to go into commercial vessels , ie the merchant marine etc ( not yachts or super yachts ) , maybe carrying passengers or freight , then the RYA. Ticket is not the place to start at all.

Sea miles trips and days , merely need to be logged on paper , there is a RYA log for this purpose and that ist hen sent to the RYA.. You can sign it yourself, the examiner will know if you're not up to scratch. The RYA will examine the log book and appoint you an examiner

The exam is quite difficult and long , often nearly two days on board. There is no specific course , per se .

To get a YM, you will need a GMDSS SRC VHF operator cert , a recognised first aid ticket and a sea safety ticket

Dave ( ex RYA instructor )


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

again many thanks to all of you for helping clarify all of this. I have a 100 ton USCG captains license and a number of endorsements on that license and by mid 2015 will have the seatime for a 200 ton USCG license. a good chunk of my experience is in commercial work, the reason I want the RYA license is that I've started making the move from commercial vessels (mostly oilfield work) to yachts, and like you said the RYA ocean license is kind of a standard for captains in the yacht field.