Day Skipper theory online - feedback on sailingcourseonline.co.uk

I have many years of "online learning"experience having studied for my BSc(Hons) at the Open University.
I also have experience of learning "sailing theory" in a classroom having taken and passed my German inland skipper exams "traditionally".

I took the Navathome Day skipper course and then sent Navathome this feedback:

1. I live about as far from the sea (and therefore from sailing schools) as you can in Europe.
2. I wanted to spend my time at a sailing school learning the practical, rather than theoretical aspects of sailing.
3. I have eight years of experience learning online with the Open University
For the above three reasons I decided to spend the alpine winter taking the RYA Day Skipper Online Theory Course with navathome.com.

There was no comparison between this course and the online courses I have previously done. This course offers immediate online feedback as you progress through the course. You see exactly where you need to put in more effort. The immediate feedback reduces the feeling of "lack of direction" that can easily occur when you are studying alone. And when you are totally frustrated because you are too stupid to see the wood for the trees, then you can fire off a mail begging for advice and within minutes you get a calming and informative answer - even on Saturday afternoon or in the evening.

The ability to work on the course as and when I had time was important in fitting my learning around the rest of my life - I often have to be flexible in my planning. It also meant that I could enjoy the learning experience as there was no time pressure to have a section finished at a certain time.

I felt that the course went in to just the correct amount of depth on each subject. I have to admit that I occasionally "lost an hour" as I wandered off in to the Internet to read more information on a subject. (There are some interesting helicopter rescue videos out there). The voice overs are useful. Having some one read to me seemed to make the information "stick" better than just reading it.

The online assessment follows the same format as the training so there is an immediate feeling of familiarity. Once again you receive immediate feedback from the system and from a tutor. On the final question I stupidly wrote 050° instead of 005° and the system kept saying "try again". Georgina was immediately online to suggest taking a short pause and then looking again. Good advice that worked. Within minutes of finishing you know if you have passed or not.

I have met people who are not very good at self motivation. am not sure of the suitability of an online course if you are some one who enjoys putting everything off until tomorrow. I assume that at some point you receive encouragement to "get back to work" from the tutors but I didn't need this.

I enjoyed the entire experience and will be back for another course at the latest next winter.

I then flew to Spain and took two leisurely weeks to pass my Day Skipper. Because I had already "done all the theory" I could concentrate on the sailing.

Later the same year I took the coastal yachtmaster theory again with Navathome and once again I was impressed. This time I wrote:
Once again I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I found it was a big step up from the Day Skipper Course but the ability to work at my own speed made it fun.
Georgina's support was brilliant. I never felt left alone.
The exam took me the full eight hours and I was happy that Georgina was always there to offer support and advice.
Thank you!

Back off to Spain and two enjoyable weeks sailing to Cadiz and back. Once again I "already knew" the theory so could concentrate on the fun (blind navigation for example).

And now I am in the middle of the Ocean Yachtmaster course with Navathome before I sail to the Canarys in December to practice my navigation.

I have really enjoyed learning with Navathome and definitely benefited from taking the time I want to take for each section. It worked for me :-)
 
A while ago I paid navathome for day skipper theory, but due to personal circumstances at the time i fell foul of their time limit to complete which I was unaware of. When I contacted them they asked for more money which grated on me somewhat so it was money wasted. I felt their additional fee (cant recall amount) was unjustified and that once they had your cash they lost interest in you as a customer. Anyway, I read the notes and book and completed the practical without actually getting to do their online course I had paid them for.

I am looking to do further rya training as I have vouchers about to expire but not sure who to do it with.
 
winsbury said:
I did the Navathome course for dazed kipper after research at the time showed most of the other online courses were using the same material, not a surprise really as it all has to meet the prevailing RYA standards. The online advantage for me was taking it at my own pace while being able to still hold down a day job and sail at weekends and not lose any holiday. Their support staff were quick to respond to queries but, as I am an absolute stickler for detail, some of the text I found ambiguous and textbook answers did not necessarily take all possible scenarios into hand. That said, on the allotted day I sat the exam and passed.

So was it useful ? .... yes and no : for my planning and chart work techniques it was great, however, it was assumed on the subsequent practical course that the theory was already known so most theory was glossed over almost entirely. I felt therefore that many people could pass the practical without necessarily having done much background theory and that seems to undermine the value of both courses. The practical course which I subsequently completed in the Canaries to get the tidal endorsed ticket, and some sunshine, was excellent and transformed my confidence and reduced many common situations from panicky to well structured and stress-free.

Dazed kipper is without doubt a stepping stone worth doing for a novice but having already been sailing for some years beforehand I wish I had been braver and signed up for coastal skipper instead because for virtually all passage making there are extra skills needed and insurance companies seem to use that as the bare minimum qualification to start offering discounts.
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Sailing schools prefer that those taking practical courses and assessments have completed a theory course so that they can teach the practical use of the theory without having to waste everybody's time on board teaching the thing from scratch, (Tidal Calculations, Course to Steer, Dead Reckoning etc.) If your instructor did not have you involved in all these kinds of activities then he wasn't up to much.
 
Matt_A said:
Just wondering how the experience with Elite Sailing distance learning was? I am currently looking at this course for day skipper
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I did my comp crew and day skipper practical with Elite Sailing. The other course attendees I spoke to who did the online training said it was a good experience (it's Zoom-based I believe, so a bit closer to a classroom format than something like Navathome, which is who I did my theory with).

Having had most of the Elite instructors for my practical courses now, too, they of course are all different in style, but I've had a good experience with all of them.
 
I recently completed my day skipper theory with a new online provider, Ardent Training. I don't have the experience of the others to compare but I can't recommend Ardent Training enough! Their instructor support was way beyond expectations and their course content was new, fresh, fun and you could really tell how much work they have put into it.
 
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