How Many Have Done Theory and Navigation ?

[pablothesailor]

Hi All, have not posted for a while, am in Gibraltar next week for a 5 day course for Day Skipper Theory, Navigation! I just wondered how many of you who are out there sailing have done this, and up to what level most have gone to....Day Skipper, Coastal Skipper, Yacht Master?? I fully understand the value of ¨being out there¨ and getting the miles under your belt, but ive not seen any comments on the forum as to what is considered a basic requirment before setting off around the world! Just to end, we plan to get to Coastal skipper and then live on our boat (once we have bought it) for 4-6 months or more if we feel we need it before setting off! Thoughts, Best, Pablo!

[SaucySailoress]

Hey up, Pablo; nice to see you again. I got my Day Skipper ticket about ten years ago. When we brought an RYA instructor in to conduct a few yachtmaster exams, we kept him on and ran a few short courses with him. They were interesting, and confidence inspiring. We also ran a weekly Yachtmaster study group before he came as preparation. Fantastic food....

We also, at that time, ran annual Day Skipper study groups for new trainees who joined the Club, and internal 'passouts' before anyone could charter the club boat. It was all valuable. Most folk now go of to Greece or Cyprus to participate in RYA stuff, since the cost is not much more than flying out and accommodating an instructor... and is way more fun!

The more experience you can get the better - it's all about the sailing - that's how you learn. Theory is largely just learning how somebody else thinks it should be done... but clearly when it comes to regulations it's good to have some knowledge in that area...

[Pete7]

Pablo, getting up to the RYA Coastal theory and practical course level would be good. Whether you take the exam or just do the courses is a personal choice but its the experience and knowledge gained from the instruction that is important.

The yachtmaster level is all about managing a boat not just sailing it which could be useful. The alternative is coastal plus a couple of days personal tuition on how to navigate across an ocean if you are thinking of crossing the pond. A school should be able to tailor something to meet your requirements, especially if you have already done a course with them so you are at a known standard.

I stopped at Coastal for now btw.

Pete

[pablothesailor]

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

Hey up, Pablo; nice to see you again. I got my Day Skipper ticket about ten years ago. When we brought an RYA instructor in to conduct a few yachtmaster exams, we kept him on and ran a few short courses with him. They were interesting, and confidence inspiring. We also ran a weekly Yachtmaster study group before he came as preparation. Fantastic food....

We also, at that time, ran annual Day Skipper study groups for new trainees who joined the Club, and internal 'passouts' before anyone could charter the club boat. It was all valuable. Most folk now go of to Greece or Cyprus to participate in RYA stuff, since the cost is not much more than flying out and accommodating an instructor... and is way more fun!

The more experience you can get the better - it's all about the sailing - that's how you learn. Theory is largely just learning how somebody else thinks it should be done... but clearly when it comes to regulations it's good to have some knowledge in that area...

Hey Saucy, was reading your thread on Cats and Monos with great interest its a can of worms as ive found out!! Gibraltar is a fantastic place to do sailing courses, you can land on the runway from London and Manchester in the UK and then walk 400 meters to the Marina to the school! Am trying to work out how to post a you tube video on here of our 5 day trip for competent crew (am not great on computers am afraid)! I found sailing through the busy straights of Gibraltar to be very informative, the night sailing was spectacular! www.sailing.gi is the RYA school! We sailed to Northern Africa, it really was spectacular!

PS..we thought we had sold our property last month www.pubinspain.mijasgraphics.com but the bidders own property sale fell through so still waiting!!

[boatman61]

Pablo... I did most of my Nav learning as a 'Baby Sailor' at HMS Ganges... then later in the '80's when I finally got a boat of my own I took Coastal & Ocean Yachtmaster Theory courses at night school as a refresher...
Like Pete the 'Mod' I too settled for Coastal Skipper as its enough to get you round the world document wise...
if I'd realised paper was going to become more important than real time experience I might have gone all the way... didn't think I'd end up doing delivery work..
Now I'm to old to bother taking the YM....
Coastal is enough for just about everything including Nav... a crossings no different to a long coastal leg really... same factors with currents/winds/drift/weather planning etc.... just a lot fewer hard things to bump into...

[Going-east]

Originally Posted by pablothesailor

Hi All, have not posted for a while, am in Gibraltar next week for a 5 day course for Day Skipper Theory, Navigation! I just wondered how many of you who are out there sailing have done this, and up to what level most have gone to....Day Skipper, Coastal Skipper, Yacht Master?? I fully understand the value of ¨being out there¨ and getting the miles under your belt, but ive not seen any comments on the forum as to what is considered a basic requirment before setting off around the world! Just to end, we plan to get to Coastal skipper and then live on our boat (once we have bought it) for 4-6 months or more if we feel we need it before setting off! Thoughts, Best, Pablo!

Hi Pablo,
How to sail your own boat no books can do much about.....
But the sea is getting pretty full of ships of any kind......
After more 100.000 miles around I got my licenses up to Yacht master Ocean and a part for the cost of it I don't regret it.
I have also to say that to push me to do such a thing is the fact that the Insurance started to ask qualifications......
now I am sailing in Asia where small boats don't respect (and don't event have) the red and green nav lights; but plenty on big cargo ship in big hurry are everywhere.
Ok you can build your experience at sea from scratch....... But with few courses you can start few steps ahead......
All the best
Andrea

[conachair]

Originally Posted by pablothesailor

I just wondered how many of you who are out there sailing have done this, and up to what level most have gone to....Day Skipper, Coastal Skipper, Yacht Master??

I did day skipper in Gib then coastal in Canaries a while ago. Went cruising before getting round to yachtmaster though did the theory. Not sure how much i ever actually use but very healthy to get some good habits formed early on.
I think UK is very good place to learn as well, big tides, massive amounts of traffic, fickle weather, all the stuff you don't really want. Mostly just gets easier after here

[boatman61]

Speaking off strong tides etc...
An important point to remember is the Med qualifictions don't cut as much ice with insurers etc as its classed a non-tidal area...
The UK quals count a lot more in perceptions of overall competence... used to be stated on ticket once... dunno if it still is..

[Jeannius]

I started with Day Skipper some 30 years ago and then sailed mostly in horrible weather around the UK. Eventually got around to doing Yachtmaster 4 or 5 years ago (wanted to skipper commercially or I probably wouldn't have bothered. This time I took the course in Gibraltar and had an excellent time.

boatman61... Gibraltar isn't regarded as a Med location for qualifications. There is a pretty strong tide running through the Straits, it goes in different directions at different points in the crossing. Also you get fog their where the colder Atlantic meets the warmer Med. It can be pretty tough there.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Jeannius

I started with Day Skipper some 30 years ago and then sailed mostly in horrible weather around the UK. Eventually got around to doing Yachtmaster 4 or 5 years ago (wanted to skipper commercially or I probably wouldn't have bothered. This time I took the course in Gibraltar and had an excellent time.

boatman61... Gibraltar isn't regarded as a Med location for qualifications. There is a pretty strong tide running through the Straits, it goes in different directions at different points in the crossing. Also you get fog their where the colder Atlantic meets the warmer Med. It can be pretty tough there.

Yeah.... tell me about it...
Read that cloud...
I was meaning the ones run in Croatia, Greece etc... in case he wanted to do the practical somewhere pretty....
Its more value in experience and quite beautiful along the Dorset/Devon and Cornish coasts.. even in January...
Doubt you'll find a school open then tho... lol

[pteron]

I did a coastal skipper practical about 10 years ago without any theory! My background in flying and engineering gave me enough to pick the theory up from my fellow sailors and the instructor never noticed

Since then, I've done the Coastal/YM offshore theory, the YM offshore practical and last year I took the instructor course so can now teach the RYA theory courses.

How much do you need? It depends. There was a chap on my YM prep and exam who'd done the world ARC on his own boat. He failed the exam. He was a great boat manager but couldn't manually navigate.

Personally, I like having the theory to back things up.

[pteron]

BTW I did my coastal practical in the Channel Islands - 11 knots of tide and a range of 10m or so. Great fun and I think there is something to be said for doing the course and/or exam somewhere that is particularly difficult - most other places are pretty straightforward after that!

[buster99]

[must of the sailors i konw have done got at least the day skipper, a couple of friends and i sailed across the atlantic on just day skipper tickets.

motor boaters are a different sort of animal though.