Absolute beginner .

[Joanthewad]

Since I have last posted , I have taken much of your advice on board , so thankyou for that . I have booked onto the dayskipper theory course which starts in October . So I bought the Rya introduction to navigation . And have been reading this and watching YouTube videos. To be honest it has been overwhelming , especially as I am mathematically challenged . I have gone over true and magnetic variations on the loop in order for it to try and sink in , and am taking tiny baby steps . I find it difficult tofind videos where the person explaining can explain things as if to a small child (which is what I need) , ,many blind with science and are difficult for me to grasp. Anyway I’m going to keep on doing this so that when I actually start I’m not left behind completely. Any suggestions for good videos would be appreciated and I’m looking for a good Rya navigation / or dayskipper theory book if anyone has one for sail .
Anyway , adventure awaits

 

[rafiki_]

I’m not sure the video tutorials are helping? Most helm trading companies will provide navigation tuition. Some Further Education colleges too.

 

[Rocksteadee]

Since I have last posted , I have taken much of your advice on board , so thankyou for that . I have booked onto the dayskipper theory course which starts in October . So I bought the Rya introduction to navigation . And have been reading this and watching YouTube videos. To be honest it has been overwhelming , especially as I am mathematically challenged . I have gone over true and magnetic variations on the loop in order for it to try and sink in , and am taking tiny baby steps . I find it difficult tofind videos where the person explaining can explain things as if to a small child (which is what I need) , ,many blind with science and are difficult for me to grasp. Anyway I’m going to keep on doing this so that when I actually start I’m not left behind completely. Any suggestions for good videos would be appreciated and I’m looking for a good Rya navigation / or dayskipper theory book if anyone has one for sail .
Anyway , adventure awaits

Welcome to the boating world. Don’t know what boat you have but from zero to day skipper is quite a leap.
I teach Powerboat 2 aimed at beginners in a Rib (or other small power boat )
It is a 2 day course and cover a lot of stuff but at a very early level and will give a very good grounding

 

[Joanthewad]

Hi , yes i am going on a powerboat level 2 before the day skipper . And I don’t have a boat , only an inflatable dinghy.

 

[Joanthewad]

I’m not sure the video tutorials are helping? Most helm trading companies will provide navigation tuition. Some Further Education colleges too.

Yes iv mostly watched Rya videos and such schools as leith etc .A couple have been very good , easy and clear to follow , but many others confusing and assumes that you have a previous background and knowledge.

 

[Parabolica]

Welcome to the boating world. Don’t know what boat you have but from zero to day skipper is quite a leap.
I teach Powerboat 2 aimed at beginners in a Rib (or other small power boat )
It is a 2 day course and cover a lot of stuff but at a very early level and will give a very good grounding

I went straight to Dayskipper from nowt. Found it fine tbh and i’m certainly not the one whose homework you’d copy.

I think online i’d have struggled but we did a four day on board course, all in one go and I found that to be really good as you do get to go over points that you haven't fully grasped plenty of times more without feeling like you shouldn’t ask.

 

[Rocksteadee]

Hi , yes i am going on a powerboat level 2 before the day skipper . And I don’t have a boat , only an inflatable dinghy.

An inflatable dinghy is still a boat. Good start point

 

[Alicatt]

My wife is starting from scratch, we are going on a Powerboat level 2 next month when we are back in Scotland, as part of the PB Lv2 I was given access to the Day/costal skipper navigation RYA videos, my wife took one look and got frightened by it all, while I have been brought up with maps and charts since a youngster.
She is getting nervous about being on the course and as we have recently discovered a health issue, I have had to back off on trying to give her a bit of a help and head start as stress can affect her health in the long term, she got an not quite but almost okay from the doctor yesterday, but she stressed not to put my wife under any undue stress.

Personally I used Gerry Smith's Coastal Navigation: A Programmed Learning Course book when in my late 30s as I wanted to know better what I was doing and help me understand why while driving a dory round the Caithness coast for diving and fishing, I found the book very easy to understand and it broke down the tasks into manageable bites that are easily understood, I did not have access to a RYA course at the time.

This is a link to the book, mine is the 1992 3rd Edition Amazon.co.uk

Just now I'm between boats and am actively looking for one.

Now this is the course material I will be looking at after I have got the PB level 2 and ICC, it is for the Vaarbewijs/Stuurbrevet or boat licence in Belgium, I want to get a bit of formal instruction in English before I tackle this in Dutch.
The FOD Mobilteit en Vervoer (dept. of Transport) have an online theory examination plus test exams you can do before tackling it for real, I have managed to scrape a pass on the practice but it's not good enough to just pass in my eyes.

 

[scottie]

They do not want to fail or trip you up but to assess your actual ability so don’t let it phase you but enjoy and learn Having done both original PB2 (safetyboat ) and ICC without any prep other than many years boating I am last person to ask especially as as I nearly failed knowing how to state of tide whilst standing on a slip with several foot of wet concrete showing to be told correct way was via tide table but perhaps the examiner had more wet behind his ears the on the slip