day skipper

Relax and enjoy it. Get some flip cards for the nav marks and lights. Tides is just interpolation ..... and get familiar with charts and plotting. ..... Oh and read those collision regs!

Boat handling comes in the practical. Listen to the instructor. There's many way to do things right, so you may learn a better way ..... or you may already do things in a way that's better for you. Above all learn to manouevre the boat SLOWLY ... the are no prizes for taking risks.
 
scanman said:
I'm doing my day skipper practical and theory course later this year have you any advice.
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Make sure you know what is included and the required depth of knowledge.

Perhaps get a book that covers the syllabus Eg the RYA Day Skipper Handbook. http://www.rya.org.uk/shop/pages/pr...(RYA+Main)&type=BK(RYADefaultCatalog)&course=

The RYA Dayskipper Shorebased Notes http://www.rya.org.uk/shop/pages/pr...(RYA+Main)&type=BK(RYADefaultCatalog)&course=

and
the RYA Day Skipper Practical Course Notes http://www.rya.org.uk/shop/pages/pr...(RYA+Main)&type=BK(RYADefaultCatalog)&course=

are essential minimum reading

Check what might be included in the cost of the courses. If comprehensive notes are inclded you dont want to waste money duplicating them
 
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Later this year, like autumn or winter?

If so, why not do it in the Canary Islands. I can recommend Canary Sail, fantastic bunch and very professional: http://www.canarysail.com/

The books above are great for revision, but don't go into much detail. I suggest Day Skipper for Sail and Power by Alison Noice:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1408193108/dolcetto-21 - note that I haven't read this (it is not published until 1 August), but her Yachtmaster book is superb.
 
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scanman said:
I'm doing my day skipper practical and theory course later this year have you any advice.
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Learn the ColRegs beforehand. Means there's one less thing to take in during the course. "A Seaman's Guide to the Rule of the Road" is good.

Sail as much as you can in the meantime. Any time the instructor spends teaching you Comp Crew stuff is time he can't spend teaching you Day Skipper stuff. You'd be amazed how may Day Skipper ticket holders I've met who are unsure putting a line around a cleat, for example.
 
The main shortcoming of Day Skipper course was close quarter handling. Insist on getting plenty of practice of coming alongside and manoeuvring in tight spots. There is no more confidence sapping aspect of boating if you get it wrong!
 
For close quarters manoeuvering don't be afraid to use a lot of power in a short blip (particularly reverse). When you do it though, look out of the boat at something stationary so that you can easily judge when the power you have applied has had an impact.
And when you practice, try to get a feel for how much speed you need to get steerage (again particularly in reverse).
 
scanman said:
I'm doing my day skipper practical and theory course later this year have you any advice.
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Practical Course
The key skill being developed (not mastered) in this course is boat handling under power and sail. Make sure that you get the practice needed to understand the basics of boat handling - steering in a straight line is easy. Navigation, predominantly pilotage should be developed on this course as well as EP and shaping a course for current; height of tide calculations as well. This course builds on basic seamanship skills with an emphasis on bringing it all together to start managing the boat effectively as a skipper. At the end of the course you should be able to sail a yacht in familiar waters adequately. Reading up on the subject as advised by others before hand will pay dividends.

Theory Course
If you can do this in advance of the practical then I would as it allows you to concentrate on practical matters. This theory will introduce many aspects of seamanship that you can apply during the practical course in addition to the navigation stuff.

Best of luck.
 
It seems to me that people are rarely failed on these courses. Unlike driving tests, where you really do need a certain degree of competence to pass, the RYA day skipper is more for the person taking the course to improve their own skills than reaching some legal level of ability. I did mine as one of those intensive back to back courses. Learnt a lot, but mainly realised how much there is to learn and had a greater awareness of things that can go wrong. The more you use your skills after the course, the more you will improve. There are a lot of youtube videos that cover the various aspects of day skipper. Take lots of notes so you can refresh your memory afterwards.
 
At least study for Theory first, even if you haven't passed the exam - the instructor will expect you to have a good understanding of the theory when you do the practical.

Other than that, have fun! My wife and I did both theory and practical together and it was great - but hard work!
 
lpdsn said:
Learn the ColRegs beforehand. Means there's one less thing to take in during the course. "A Seaman's Guide to the Rule of the Road" is good.

Sail as much as you can in the meantime. Any time the instructor spends teaching you Comp Crew stuff is time he can't spend teaching you Day Skipper stuff. You'd be amazed how may Day Skipper ticket holders I've met who are unsure putting a line around a cleat, for example.
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If you follow common sense, you'll be doing the theory before the practical, so will have all this as part of the syllabus.

Its not really an exam, but an assessment, so unless you are completely useless (you wouldn't be asking for advice if you were), just relax & practice what you are shown. On the practical, I used to debrief a 'candidate' & ask a simple question. "If you were skipper of this boat, would you be confident in your ability, to sail it from XYZ to ABC, in reasonable conditions & during the day". Perhaps using Hamble to Yarmouth or Yarmouth to Poole as examples. Most people were sensible enough to self assess & knew their limitations. Very few were over confident & they were easily spotted. If anyone seemed not capable, or not confident, it would be suggested they take some further tuition in those areas of concern. Another self check, is, would you be happy to take your wife & kids, without alarming them?

PS
Often, even instructors get things wrong, but have the advantage of insisting it was deliberate & was part of the lesson.
 
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alant said:
If you follow common sense, you'll be doing the theory before the practical, so will have all this as part of the syllabus.
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Aye, and how many do that? Enough to justify calling it common sense? And how many schools refuse to enrol them on the DS practical if they don't have the theory or Comp Crew or sufficient equivalent experience?

And I was suggesting learning the ColRegs before the theory course. Easy to do from a good book. There's enough info crammed in in a short space of time during the course and very few would remember all of it - it'll lighten the load if for part of the course the student already knows some of it.
 
I enjoyed my practical course as a holiday, but didn't rate it much as a learning experience. Too much time was spent telling me the minutiae of what I had done wrong, without actually teaching me what I "should" have done. The main problem was that we only had two students and the other guy had never sailed before, so I wouldn't have sailed with him as the only crew in the first place! That said, I agree with the above comments about learning the regs before you start and you will need to have the basics of navigation before you start the practical course or the learning curve will be too steep for you to handle it calmly. Incidentally, when the instructor suddenly announces he is sick, take him below, lay him on a safe bunk and loosen his clothing - he will make a miraculous recovery!

Rob.
 
I have been sailing for 20 years but I am doing the day skipper so that I can go abroad and charter a yacht and its also good to have the certificate, I have my comp crew, PBll, safety boat, and VHF, and would like to get up to coastal skipper.
 
rob2 said:
I enjoyed my practical course as a holiday, but didn't rate it much as a learning experience. Too much time was spent telling me the minutiae of what I had done wrong, without actually teaching me what I "should" have done. The main problem was that we only had two students and the other guy had never sailed before, so I wouldn't have sailed with him as the only crew in the first place! That said, I agree with the above comments about learning the regs before you start and you will need to have the basics of navigation before you start the practical course or the learning curve will be too steep for you to handle it calmly. Incidentally, when the instructor suddenly announces he is sick, take him below, lay him on a safe bunk and loosen his clothing - he will make a miraculous recovery!

Rob.
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The whole idea of the Practical Course, is to 'practice' what you have learnt on the Theory Course.
This includes basic navigation/courses to steer & also basic 'collision regs'.

The "Seaman's Guide to the Rule of the Road", is an excellent primer, but much too heavy for Dayskipper level.
Good for YM, although its designed for teaching "Royal Navy & Merchant Navy sufficient knowledge of IRPCS, to meet the needs of Office of the Watch".
 
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