Dayskipper

[Nick2]

Whilst there was quite a bit of raggie stuff on course I was fortunate to have top tutors who understood the differance between power and sail. There is now more of an emphasis on electronics too which is going to a much larger part of the sylabus soon.

I guess that by actually getting out on the sea will sort out what in practical terms may be more important than others. Having just done so much theory I am itching to get out on the water to see how it fits in with the real world. Yes I am sure that as you say much of the arithmatic side is of little relevancce at 20knts but its still nice to know about it.

What the course has done for me is to give me a taste for all this and encouraged me to find out more about it. That in itself is a good thing for both Joanne and myself (she did course last October).Overll it has imparted heaps of info to us and I suppose we now need to apply what we are likely to need.

I did also learn that the forum flag is considered a great aid to seamanship and navigation and is highly respected the world over.

Nick

At last the waiting is over............I now have my very own brand new dinghy

 

[hlb]

The best advice I can give you. Is get a chart plotter auto pilot and radar. As I said on another thread here abouts. Spend a few day localy. Dont just zoom out and hope to find your way back. It looks a lot different. Looking for this tower on a hill and the white farm house, sounds very easy in a class room. In reality. Which bloody tower. Which white farm house. Theres hundreds of them!! In reality you get familiar with your locality then go a bit further and remember that. After a while you hardly ever look at a chart except maybe theres a rock that your not to sure about, so check.

<font color=blue> Haydn

 

[wheneverIcan]

I did my Dayskipper practical with Top Deck based in Hythe, Mike was the instructor and we didi it in 3 days and one late evening (to get dark experience) as a 1-2-1 course on my boat.

We did it in October which ws good as it wasn't smooth and I got to sample some roughish seas (F5/6) but the problem was that I didn't get much use out of the boat until spring the next year when a lot of the tips had not been used and weren't at the forefront of my mind.

Top Deck are really very good as I am sure others are and offer a very flexible service.

good luck, i've been trying to soak up so much info over the last three years (engine maintenance, day skipper etc etc) and its not until you encounter a new experience that you realise theres a whole lot more to learn.

Simon

 

[Nick2]

Thanks Haydn for all above information . I have also read through your comments on the other thread/post which is also useful to me.

My boat has got radar, gps and a plotter so my next mission is to work out how it all works to best effect.

Thanks

Nick

At last the waiting is over............I now have my very own brand new dinghy

 

[BarryH]

Its true what haydn says, you do get to know you stretch of cruising area, well home cruiseing area, quiet well. The chart is there , but you only glance at it once a month or so. I can't remember the last time I looked at a chart round the Poole area and even took duncan through the wareham channel marked just with withies at 25 ish knots in the dark last december.

Most of ther stuff you've learnt will be forgotten just as quick as you crammed it in. You sort of get a second sense for where you are, then a gut feeling for where you want to go, but if you get that feeling around yer sphincter......your in trouble!

 

[BrendanS]

Exactly what I said to Nick last night on phone. Go out with someone who knows Southampton Water and Solent before going solo with a new boat. Navigation aids and charts are useless when you are learning about things like big waves off Calshot under certain circumstances.

Many places you can just point the boat and go where there is water, but the Solent isn't one of them. Once you've got used to it, you don't need a chart and navigate by depth sounder or experience, but charts are essential to avoid a variety of problems in the meantime....like don't try to go inshore of the forts if you are heading east, and know where the moving zones in front of big ships are

 

[BarryH]

Thats the thing, experience. You can't gain it by sitting in classrooms and reading books. Its a hands on doing thing this boating malarky. But the trick is not to get too cocky, thats when you'll get caught out.
The one thing that I always keep in mind is that its one big continuous learning curve. Theres always something that will crop up that'll make you stop and think.
The advise you give re the solent is sound. First time there should be with someone that has a bit of local knowledge just to point out this and that. Let the helmsman get a feel for the place and read the water in front to get a picture of whats happening. Playing with the Red Funnel Ferries and the Red Jets going up and down Sothampton water is always fun!

 

[BrendanS]

There is one bit of home learning that everyone in the Solent can learn from. Avoids cracked props and legs.. Solent Hazards.A brilliant book.

Pictures taken at extreme low tides, and shows the the rocks and stuff you can hit going in and out of Alum Bay and similar places if you don't have local knowledge

 

[BarryH]

Ah, but thats a bit different. A picture paints a thousand words and all that. Almost as good and going there to have a look for yourself. The one draw back that I find with those books is relating what you see in the pics taken from a plane to what you actually see at sea level from the boat. Your perspective and angle of view changes so dramatically the distances, and scale to some extent, seem much smaller between hazards.
No doubt about it though, information and knowledge is power. Its the way that it is applied to real situations and the way its used that is the problem. Thats all part of the learning curve tho. I've had some brilliant trips up and down the solent, along with the bloody horrific ones. Tides are the thing I keep an eye on. Theres always a tidal curve made up clipped in a handy position with a tidal atlas close by. Especially in the Needles area! Caught out there once, never again!

 

[BrendanS]

Solent is a pleasure to cruise...once you realise that the gps track you took last time out doesn't always work. It's responsible for me understanding the buoy system, and how to keep out of the way of big ships. I

believe if you can find your way safely round the Solent, and really understand the buoyage and big ship clearways, you can probably navigate safely almost anywhere in the UK.

 

[MedDreamer]

I can help Nick out here

a&b) See Pauline

c) Anyone coming to this forum from other forums featuring blow up boats

Martyn