Day Skipper booked!

monkfish24

monkfish24

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I've got my Day skipper Practical booked for Easter. :)

Dad has said "about time too" as i've been sailing on yachts since the tender age of 13. Thought i'd do some revision and picked up Tom Cunliffe's Complete Day Skipper from the library. I never realised how much I already know whilst looking through the book.

The main thing i need to concentrate on is chart based navigation, being brought up in this modern age, I've only ever handled GPS's and chartplotters. :)

Problem is I've got hundreds, if not creeping into thousands of hours as crew and quite a few hundred as skipper but ...... never logged them!
I'll sit for a couple of hours and work out where and when i've been sailing over the last few years.

Anyone got any good tips for this course?
 
As a recent "dazed kipper" myself, with a little less previous experience than you!! My best advice would be to sail how you would normally and don't be tempted to over-navigate on passage. If you're a chart plotter navigator usually you'll be hung up on the need to know where you are to a few metres at any one time. Get into a rythym of plotting fixes and you'll be fine.

I'd say it actually helps if you are doing it away from your normal cruising grounds though otherwise it'll be difficult to demonstrate why you are doing certain things you'd normally do without thinking. It's a bit like the equivalent of moving your head to look in the rear view mirror on your driving test.

On my course most candidates were focussed on the boat handling because they'd hadn't done much before whereas it doesn't sound like that'll be a problem to you. You can focus on good safe passage planning and pilotage.

The two most important things I learnt was instructors drink a phenomenal amount of tea and coffee and don't be afraid to challenge their instructions; they may be trying to catch you out!

Most of all enjoy it! If you're anything like me it's not too often you get a perfect excuse to go sailing for a week without any other agenda except to sail.

Good luck.

Tim
 
Day Skipper is the next up from Competent Crew and, whilst I'm not sure how many hours you need to do it, it isnt that many, (relatively). So I think your assumed knowledge and skill isnt high, and the week is designed to teach you most of the skills and knowledge almost from scratch.

Have a completely open mind:

When I did Yachtmaster, having done none of the previous RYA courses, it became clear that there is a RYA way of doing most things, and this might differ from what you are used to. Where there was a difference, I tended to find the RYA method made sense, and was usually better than "my way". So dont fight/resist the RYA method, in favour of your own, would be one tip.

If you dont "get" something, make sure your instructor knows it - in the nicest way, it's for the instructor to get the skills into your head, even if this means a few different ways of demonstrating and practising.

Enjoy it - dont sweat it. You dont have to be perfect for Day Skipper..... it's not a YachtMaster course with an exam at the end.

Good Luck and Have a Great Week!!
 
It's a bit like sitting your driving test again, yes I to am booked in for my practical day skipper in April but on the firth of clyde. I believe the course expects you to know a fair amount of boat handling skills before hand. I am studying the theory at college. The practical is about passage planning using tides and charts, MOB drills, using stern and bow springs, fire safety, some night navigation and using a crew. Good DVD is The complete course made by the RYA takes you from basic yachting up to yachtmaster offshort. It's a bit pricey at around £50, but excellent.
 
I did my DS Practical earlier this year with not quite as much experience as you, though many years experience as first mate, however next to no boat handling under power, and basic navigation skills. I had not done the DS Theory in a classroom, but like you, discovered I knew more than I thought when reading through the books (I got the RYA books, including the exercise book).

Hopefully, your course leader, as mine did, will fairly quickly assess each candidate's abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and cater the course to suit each person. Mine did this, and gave me an enormous amount of confidence in what I did know and helped me gain confidence in the new skills and knowledge I acquired on the course. He even challenged me to a "blind pilotage" exercise (normally done on the coastal skipper course), which to my great delight, I managed perfectly....ok, so it was under engine, and there was not a huge amount of tide running, but it made me feel competent, and taught me a huge amount about pilotage.

It sounds like you have more than enough knowledge and experience to manage the course fine. Overall, I hope you will, as I did, learn new things, gain confidence in what you already know and of course, have a great time!
 
DS booked

With your level of experience I suspect the greatest benefit will be to pick out any bad habits that you may have slipped into over the years. But from the sound of it you'll complete the course with no problems. When I did it the thing that seemed to be the most important to demonstrate apart from boat handling was planning through an activity and explaining it clearly to the crew.
 
Why not start by buying yourself the RYA logbook. Not only can you record your relevant experience but you can also read the syllabus/course content for each of the practical and shore-based courses offered within the Sail Cruising scheme. This should give you a good idea as to where you sit (it’s better to be humble than to be considered arrogant;))

DS follows Start Yachting and Comp Crew and precedes Coastal Skipper. These are all course completion / training programs and not 3rd party assessments of your skill.

I personally think you are disadvantaged by not having basic chartwork skills. I’m biased (as a shorebased instructor) but I think 2 terms night school at a local college is the best, all-round, way to learn these skills.

It's likely to be pot-luck as to who else shares the boat. In any event, you're likely to learn from their experience, good or bad. On a week's course there are too-many-to-mention variables to ensure overall success. I take my hat off to all floating instructors prepared to spend week after week in close proximity to a group of largely unknown's trying to teach good, safe practice seamanship skills.

As for tips, I'd offer two. First, keep an open mind, secondly, the more you put in, the more you'll get out.

Remember to have fun, too.
 
I completely agree about doing the course in unfamiliar territory.... I reckon if you are not used to it, the Solent is the best place. You get uncle Tom Cobley an' all going to and fro' so Col Regs are easily dealt with and the hazards to be found are so numerous that there are plenty of books upon the topic.
Apart from Plymouth, it's one area that you can still get some sailing in when the conditions are dire.

For an experienced sailor I would recommend doing a great deal of homework and 'revision' beforehand, so you can really relax and enjoy the time.

One vital thing, don't try to know it all, especially if there are others on the course less experienced than yourself or doing Comp' Crew.
Be modest and quietly helpful but never try to take the instructors place.
Remember you have 5 days and nights aboard together so you need to get on and know that the best skippers are those who people admire, trust and can be with for long periods of time... :-).
 
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Thanks to all for your words of advice, I'll try and take them all on board.

Hopefully Santa brings a logbook and Day Skipper Theory book like i asked :)
 
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