best and cheapes way to obtain boating quilifications

[Moderator]

It would be courteous to keep advice to a new poster polite and to the topic. Perhaps when s/he has gained forum experience s/he may wish to enjoy and return the banter.

Some aspects of RYA and ICC courses and exams may not be 'adjusted' to give people with reading/writing difficulties an opportunity (such as more time) to overcome them Advice to the OP on that would be helpful, as I cannot recall this topic being discussed previously.

Moderator

 

[Shuggy]

If you’re in London you will be surrounded by people who have lots of experience and would (I suspect) be very happy to take you out on your own boat and give you some guidance. There’s no substitute for just getting out there and learning hands-on with some friendly experts who perhaps don’t have access to a boat. Why not build your confidence that way and then go on a Day Skipper course once you can relate it to what you’ve experienced on your own boat to date? The great thing about having your own boat is that you don’t need any certificates to go out and enjoy it. Once you’re ready you could even do the ICC assessment at an RYA-affiliated Club and avoid paying money for a full blown course. If you’re fun to go boating with then finding a willing volunteer helper/skipper should be easy. Before you set off, ensure you’ve got a log book and write down who is skipper. It’s all about being clear who the ultimate decision-maker is... and make sure your insurance company knows how you’re approaching it all.

We didn’t bother with qualifications until we got our third boat and I decided to placate my nervous parents, who were worried about their baby grandchildren being whisked off around the west coast of Scotland. For some reason my getting a piece of paper with Yachtmaster Offshore written on it made them happier! But to reiterate, long term real life experience is worth so much more than a course where the learning doesn’t really begin until you’re on your own trying to work out stuff that inevitably goes wrong. And when it does go wrong it’s more down to how you think under pressure than whether you did module 23 of a course.

Others may disagree! Good luck whatever you decide and remember above all to enjoy yourself. I’m not alone in having made a bunch of life-long friends through speedboats, motor boats, canoes, cruising yachts and racing.

ETA: dyslexia aside, if you’re the kind of person who likes independent learning then buy some books and read avidly. Tom Cunliffe writes some great ones with a very relaxed, pragmatic and amusing style. You’ll learn bucketloads.

ETA2: if you’ve not been boating much you’ll probably sell your boat in fairly short order and buy something else. Happens to all of us ;-)

 

[Rocksteadee]

To do the day skipper practical the RYA the level of theory required is the day skipper shore based and is recommended.
On the practical there isn’t time to teach the theory and without the theory the practical will be considerably less beneficial

 

[Rocksteadee]

https://www.rya.org.uk/courses-training/courses/sail-cruising/Pages/day-skipper.aspx

 

[[3889]]

Another prolific poster on here, who has made many valuable contributions, was also criticised for his grammar to the extent that he felt he had to declare dyslexia in his signature. It is unpleasant and unneccesary to attack people, about whom you know nothing, in this way. My former partner was a dyslexia assessor and there are many degrees to which people are affected.

To the OP, you don't need any qualification to sail in France, Spain or Portugal so you can get miles in sailing there if you feel you are sufficiently competent.

 

[langstonelayabout]

i been looking into day skipper course. my question is do i need both theory (Shore based course) and practical or can i go straight to practical ? all i want is enough qualifications to make my 1st trip to Europe (icc) i do prefer practical over theory

Hang on a second. What do you really want out of this?

Do you actually want to get experience, qualifications, competence or just go your own way in your own boat?

You do realise that, as a British person in charge of a British registered boat (power or sail) you don't need any qualifications? (competence and experience are recommended but Qualifications of any kind, no)

So if you don't want to do any training and gain competence/knowledge/experience. That's OK from a legal viewpoint. Just use your boat as you wish. Legal but not recommended...

The RYA courses have theory and practical sections to allow you to learn the theory stuff on the way to work in the winter. Then in the summer, you already know the drole stuff and the practical course concentrates on your sailing and boat handling skills (and tuition and practice reduces accidents and insurance claims).

 

[PaulRainbow]

thanks for the replays. some more info
its a diesel engine power boat.
im 31years old, British , male.
i graduated from plymouth university.
i got dyslexia, i didn't know it was a English test for me to double check my writing just wanted some advice.

Comments about spelling and grammar are completely out of order, ignore them. It's a Practical Boat Owner, not a spelling contest.

i wanted to take my boat on a summer trip to the Mediterranean can i get my hours that way?
so i can't do rya powerboat level 2 to get a ICC for my boat size?
is my other cheapest option a Day skipper course? its quite a difference in price from around 200 to 800pounds

Powerboat level 2 will only get you an ICC for up to 10m.

Getting a 40ft motorboat to the Med by sea is a very serious undertaking. If you have no experience, it would be unwise to make such a trip, IMO.

You don't say what sort of motorboat it is, that would be useful to know. A typical 40ft motorboat would have a restrictive fuel range for such a trip, you need to buy several fuel cans to carry spare fuel. The cost in fuel would make a Dayskipper course seem like loose change.

For instance, Greece is about 2400nm from Lands End, add a bit more to that as you'd need to port hop around Biscay, for fuel stops. Add another 400nm from London to Lands End. The typical 40ft mobo would use around 6-7 ltrs of diesel per mile at cruising speed, in good weather. So, to get to Greece you'll need about 18,000 ltrs of diesel. Not sure what diesel will cost en route, but at UK prices that'd be over £20,000

 

[Rocksteadee]

I went a bit down the track of qualifications.
Legally world wide you need 2 things:
VHF licence;
And a plan, ie when, where and how. This can be a full pilotage (getting in and out of a port or harbour), passage plan (bearings, ranges, times over longer distances) all written down drawn on a chart or recorded on a chart plotter.
Or a simple plan in your head eg. Jump in the tender to go down the pub.

There may be other local legalities, eg ICC for most of Europe or CEVNI for Europe inland waterways.

The ICC is about competence not qualifications, although the ICC can be applied for, with various qualifications.
With a bit of experience an ICC can be applied for and I believe that there is some sort of check test.

I would suggest, as others have done, go out, find friends sail and cruise with others, get to know your own boat, how she handles, works, breaks repairs, drinks fuel, sea worthiness, etc. All locally and get a bit of experience in a safe environment.
There is a hell of a lot you need to know and you yet don’t know what you don’t know. Don’t let this put you off as we have all been where you are now on your learning curve.
I was told once “Don’t rush down to the Med as you have all the south coast to do first” that was 7 years ago and I am still exploring it.

Above all, enjoy the learning experience. I have been boating 50 years and still enjoy learning.

Lastly not forgetting: Experience is what you get, just after you need it.

 

[rszemeti]

You will need an ICC if you want to got to the Med.

Is there a man in a dinghy that comes out as you pass the Straits of Gibraltar and sends you back out if you don't have one?

Are all the bare boat holiday sailors in Greece etc holding an ICC?

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Is there a man in a dinghy that comes out as you pass the Straits of Gibraltar and sends you back out if you don't have one?

Are all the bare boat holiday sailors in Greece etc holding an ICC?

+1

 

[rszemeti]

If you want to take a powerboat from the UK to the Med (and possibly back) for a summer trip, then you must have the sort of money laying around that makes £600 not worth quibbling about

I suspect our live-aboard friend has not done the basic fuel calculations.

A 40 footer could reasonably expect to chew through 100 litres per hour (assuming it is the usual plastic gin palace with a planing hull) ... a figure of roughly 1mpg would be a good ballpark figure for a single-outdrive boat ...

A friend took a 42footer out recently and 125 miles cost him the best part of a grand in diesel ...

A trip to the med from London is about 1700 nm (3200km) ... a fuel budget of 8000 litres, perhaps €15,000 .. one way would seem about right.

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

Is there a man in a dinghy that comes out as you pass the Straits of Gibraltar and sends you back out if you don't have one?

Are all the bare boat holiday sailors in Greece etc holding an ICC?

Not a dinghy but a large customs boat. I have been asked to produce my ICC in Spain (twice) and France. Have been approached by customs boats in Spain, Italy and Greece. You can try to argue that technically you don't need an ICC but it's much easier to just pass the test and show them the certificate.

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

Are all the bare boat holiday sailors in Greece etc holding an ICC?

Haven't chartered a boat myself in Greece but just did a bit of googling and it appears that an ICC or equivalent is compulsory for the skipper on a bareboat charter.

 

[Graham376]

A trip to the med from London is about 1700 nm (3200km) ... a fuel budget of 8000 litres, perhaps €15,000 .. one way would seem about right.

From what mobo owning friends tell me, that would seem to be a reasonable ballpark cost to the western Med but, other things come to mind -

Is this basically a static boat, purchased to live on? What condition is it in, particularly engine wise? Is it equipped and seaworthy for such a trip?

 

[Nina Lucia]

You can join the Greenwich Yacht Club, probably very close to you, and get discounts on all RYA qualifications as a member, also beer is very good price!

 

[[3889]]

Haven't chartered a boat myself in Greece but just did a bit of googling and it appears that an ICC or equivalent is compulsory for the skipper on a bareboat charter.

When I worked for a charter company in Greece I was required to obtain an ICC in addition to my YM cert.
In France and Spain there is no technical argument to be had about an ICC: it is not required and during dozens of boardings by Douane, Gendarmerie Maritime, Adounas and Guardia Civil over the last decade I have never been asked to produce any certificate of competence. Italy may be different.

 

[Blue Sunray]

Comments about spelling and grammar are completely out of order, ignore them. It's a Practical Boat Owner, not a spelling contest.

Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

You have a point, or just trolling ?

 

[PaulRainbow]

I suspect our live-aboard friend has not done the basic fuel calculations.

A 40 footer could reasonably expect to chew through 100 litres per hour (assuming it is the usual plastic gin palace with a planing hull) ... a figure of roughly 1mpg would be a good ballpark figure for a single-outdrive boat ...

Not seen a 40ft gin palace with a single outdrive. Most are on shafts (although Sealine turned some out on legs) but i can't think of any that only have a single engine. Usually a pair of 300-400hp engines.

A trip to the med from London is about 1700 nm (3200km) ... a fuel budget of 8000 litres, perhaps €15,000 .. one way would seem about right.

Some very straight lines on a chart suggest it's a good 2000nm just to Gib.

 

[LadyInBed]

In France and Spain there is no technical argument to be had about an ICC: it is not required and during dozens of boardings by Douane, Gendarmerie Maritime, Adounas and Guardia Civil over the last decade I have never been asked to produce any certificate of competence. Italy may be different.

Same here.
To the OP, more boat details are required.
As pointed out, fuel costs to go round the coast to the Med are eye watering. If your boat is of a size (height and width) that it can go through the French canals, then the trip is feasible. If you fitted an auxiliary outboard engine to use on the canals then fuel costs come down, speed isn't an issue due to canal speed restrictions and if your boat has large turbo diesels, they don't like running at prolonged low speed.
For the canals, you will need an ICC with CEVNI endorsement.