New to sailing

[annecherry]

Hello all.

My partner and I have been sailing for quite some time in the last year and although he knows much more about it than I do, I can honestly say that, apart from steering the boat, I know absolutely nothing about much else! He is very patient with me and is taking me through the basics. We are hoping in time to sail to the mediterranean and I need to know alot more before we can do so. My partner has a pretty good knowledge of everything but I wanted to find out what necessary qualifications are needed to be able to do this. We are both aware of the courses that are available in order to gain experience, but I just wanted to know what is essential for now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am looking forward to many years of sailing.

 

[MarkV]

I'm not sure about what qualifications are required, I guess it will vary from country to country. The ICC (international Certificate of Competance) is suposed to cover british sailors going abroad. You can apply for one when you complete certain RYA training courses and the associated Department of Transport assessment. I guess you should start with Competant Crew and work your way through Day Skipper and Coastal Skipper.
Anyway good luck with the sailing.

 

[wooslehunter]

You can get details from the RYA wesite.

Day Skipper or level 5 dinghy plus power boat level 2 will get you an ICC . Or just do a one day assessment.

As for what's needed. I believe that officially in the EU, a UK registered & skippered vessel needs to comply with UK requirements while in the EU regardless of the regulations of the country. i.e. you need no quals. I have heard though that some people have had problems in Spain where a qualification is required by the locals & local authorities want everyone to have be qualified regardless of nationality. Hence best to get an ICC to satisfy the local jobsworths.

If you're going inland through canals you will need a CEVNI qual.

As to what is really necessary in terms of competance, that's up to you to know when you feel competant. Bits of paper don't make you a competant sailor & lack of them doesn't necessarily meen you're not competant.

 

[Stemar]

If you already know the basics, skip the Comp Crew and go straight for Day Skipper. If you want to dso it in the Solent, you could do worse than Commodore Yachting. I did my DS with them - had a great time and learned a lot.

 

[Swagman]

As wooslehunter has said - no qualifications are mandatory unless you plan to skipper on inland French waterways. Stick to the Ocean and you'll be fine.

JOHN

 

[eyupdougdown]

How to sail back to a MOB under control
How to pull a body out of the water
How not to drink saltwater.
How to put on a life jacket / crotch straps / spray hood / light
How to fire flares.
How to do a mayday call
How to set off an epirb
How to launch and get into a liferaft
What to put into a grab bag
How to catch fish
How to ration water
How to give an enema using salt water
What to do when helicopters are overhead
How to fill in an E111 form
Where to get insurance
How to write a will
Getting a seacheck
Points of sail
Wind
Tide
Collision Regs

That should do you for now - good luck!

 

[BrendanS]

If going to the med, then ICC is required by some countries. The RYA have details here
http://www.rya.org.uk/Cruising/faqs.asp?contentID=117152