Dazedkipper Practical?

bilbobaggins

bilbobaggins

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Someone close to me asked for recommendations for an "RYA Approved Training Centre that really knew what it was doing, not the BluddySolentAgain, and with some scenery...."

So, after a bit of soul-searching, these guys.....





And notice which anchor! If it's good enuff for them, there, it's good enuff for me!

:)
 
Well anchor aside that person is not wearing a lifejacket so that school obviously can't be that good. Probaly only use Astro too.........:D
 
Oban Sea School is very good

Www.obanseaschool.co.uk

This is a very good school offering high quality tuition on a very good boat. The boats has been specialy built with tuition in mind. Can't recomend it enough. I an not affiliated in any way with Oban Sea School.
 
Sailed with one of their former skippers at the beginning of the year. Have to say he was excellent. Not to mention the fact they've got Skip Novak, not a bad endorsement really.:D

And damn thats a fine anchor. My favorite.:cool:
 
Day Skipper

New Horizon Sailing on west coast of Scotland is superb. Awesome scenery, excellent tutor, beautiful boat ( Oyster 435 ) and the best food your likely to get this side of Masterchef. Go for it !!!
 
I've got one of those, very good (so far) if a bit unwieldy, LOVES weed, judging by the amount it came up with in Osbourne bay a coupla months back. Er, a bit ashamed to ask, but I suppose I'd better find out at some stage..........what are they called? (hides face in shame).
 
I'm no lover of the Solent, so I can understand that many would like to use the opportunity to see somewhere different, but it does provide a fantastic area for training. Lots of different types of harbours, facing different directions, and a wide variety of conditions - rocks, muddy shoals, fast tides, lots of traffic, and even quiet corners all very close to one another. Water is relatively sheltered so you're most unlikely to lose any of your precious few days if the weather turns nasty.

Hope you have a good time wherever you go.
 
"....and the best food your likely to get this side of Masterchef"
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Well, I'm not that enticed by Curried Emperor Penguin and Elephant Seal Fritters.

Did everyone spot that the picci is 'clicki'? It's a portal to a large range of superb sea/rock/ice/critturs photography - as well as a discreet ad for an 'RYA Approved' teaching centre.

Somehow I just cannot see the RYA's Training Department doing a snap standards inspection on that team.....!

:)
 
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Sailing schools and boat type

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I'm sure it is very nice to spend five days aboard an Oyster 435 with hot water, two heads and cordon bleu catering but . . .

If afterwards you are only going to be able to afford a manky old 30-footer with no mod cons, aren't you setting yourself up for a disappointment?

Sailing school boats used to be tiller-steered traditionally laid out 32-34 footers picked primarily for their sailing qualities - indeed, I have heard (might be rubbish of course) that at one point there was talk of the RYA trying to get schools to standardise on the Sadler 34

Perhaps you should consider what sort of boat you are likely to end up with and what sort of sailing you are likely to be doing before choosing your sailing school. My personal recommendation for learning to sail would be a tiller steered boat under 35ft, but it is a question of priorities - the Oyster previously mentioned - or any bigger boat - will provide a more comfortable holiday if that is your priority.

- W
 
webcraft said:
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I'm sure it is very nice.... a disappointment? ....indeed, I have heard (might be rubbish of course)

Perhaps you should consider what sort of boat you are likely to end up with and what sort of sailing you are likely to be doing ....
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P'rhaps completely missing the point again?

FWIW, my first-ever sailing experience was as crew/passenger on a Tornado Olympic racing catamaran, on the Tay estuary, in February 1966. There were big ice chunks coming down the river, I was in a torn half-wetsuit, rugby shirt(s), baseball boots, no sox, and was briefed/stuck out on the trapeze for a short foray 2 miles across the river and back.

'Green-white-green-white-green-white. GET IN!'

'GET OUT THE OTHER SIDE'

'Green-white-green-white-green-white. GET IN!'

etc.

No-one had heard of hypothermia then. I was just so bluddy cold I could'nt undo the knots of the bluddy harness, so was stood under the lukewarm shower in't clubhouse, with a couple of club girls, until I warmed up enuff for the girls to start giggling.

Maybe I should have taken up golf. It's certainly cheaper - but no girls in the showers, I'm afraid. And no Webby to get the wrong end of the stick every time.....

:)
 
Dazed Kipper Practical

I agree with MoodyJim. I did the practical at the beginning of Oct with RUSailing in Lagos on the Algarve. Good instruction and I ended the week feeling a whole lot more confident than I was at the start of the week. Had a cabin to myself which made the whole experience that much better. No hesitation in recommending them. As with MoodyJim, no connection between me and them. I signed up with them as a result of an enquiry on here earlier in the year.

As to where you learn, in my case I was able to get used to leaving a pontoon in a crowded marina, coming back onto a berth and so on in fairly easy conditions. Now I need to get more experience in higher winds and stronger tides before I'd consider myself qualified to take a boat out as a skipper.
 
For a non solent but still UK based course I can recommend Cornish Cruising in Falmouth. Definitely run as a course, with simple honest food, nights at anchor and the emphasis on learning to sail rather than being a fancy holiday.

Its a beautiful area, and like the solent has a huge variety of places to go both inside and outside the sheltered harbour. I did my coastal there a couple of years ago and there was a guy on the same boat doing his Dazed - must have learned two or three times as much as I did when I did my Dazed course, with Sunsail in the canaries. That was definitely a holiday type course, and I certainly know which approch I'd go for in future!
 
Get over yourself Baggins

bilbobaggins said:
P'rhaps completely missing the point again?

And no Webby to get the wrong end of the stick every time.....

:)
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Whatever your obscure reason for the original post the discussion evolved along the lines of what was the best sea school to go with for a DS practical course. I gave my considered opinion, and in fact I was agreeing with BlowingOldBoots when he recommended Oban Sea School and said:
The boats has been specialy built with tuition in mind. Can't recomend it enough.
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I then contrasted this with the Oyster mentioned by another poster. I have in fact done a fair amount of teaching sailing - both formally and informally - and what I said will make perfect sense to most who read it, whether they agree or disagree.

Now kindly go and boil your head or post your nonsense in the Lounge, there's a good hobbit.

- W
 
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Sounds good

For a non solent but still UK based course I can recommend Cornish Cruising in Falmouth. Definitely run as a course, with simple honest food, nights at anchor and the emphasis on learning to sail rather than being a fancy holiday.
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This is what I would look for in a course. Too many people expect a fancy holiday or a luxury cruise. RYA courses are about learning to sail, and value for money means learning lots of stuff from a great instructor, not gourmet food or a cabin to yourself.

- W
 
webcraft said:
Now kindly go and boil your head or post your nonsense in the Lounge, there's a good hobbit.- W
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I came onto Scuttlebut to post my views on Sailing Schools and get confronted by this, sore-headed, vitriol. I think its you, Mr Webcraft, who needs to go to The Lounge. THIS IS A SERIOUS CRUISING FORUM !
So.
Personally I believe that if a newcomer is to be introduced to the joys of sailing then, sure, a few days roughing it and learning the basics in something like a Mirror is a good idea. As we all know its not always plain sailing. But, for a "residential" course then something like an Oyster 435 is a great idea. Comfort is what we all aspire to and it would be a shame to put a learner off sailing by deliberately subjecting him/her to tough conditions.
 
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