pre YM cram?

[jimi]

pre YM cram?

I'm off to do my YM practical in a couple of weeks, I'm going to do the week prep with Southern sailing prior to the exam. Its a few years since I've done my theory though .. my collision regs are pretty good so no worries there. What else do any of you YMs and YMI's reckon I ought to brush up on bearing in mind my time is quite limited due to work, family and forum commitments?

 

[Iota]

Re: pre YM cram?

A couple of suggestions for you...

passage planning by the book - tidal streams & heights at secondary ports,

lights and shapes and sounds

met and weather indicators

first aid scenarios

If x goes wrong what action would you take... engine failure just in the mouth of Portsmouth harbour and no wind or lots of wind from the nne etc

the week with southern will take care of MoB and general boat / sail handling

good luck and enjoy

Courtesy is an iota but makes the world go round

 

[jamesjermain]

Re: pre YM cram?

You can be questioned on any aspect of the Yachtmaster Theory. Brush up on met., tides, lights and buoys, crew/boat management and passage planning. The examiner will give you an exercise on the latter in which he will be looking for awareness of the key issues.

JJ

 

[Magic_Sailor]

Re: pre YM cram?

I think, given your experience, that your week prior to the exam will sort things out. It certainly did for me! Things that stood out were

1. Nav in fog
2. MOB
3. cross tide work
4. Boat handling - piles in shallow/busy water (Cowes)
5. Crew handling - don't bark (I did), briefing etc.
6. Anchoring at a precise pre-defined position under sail.

Best o' luck

Oh and offer the examiner a cup of tea when they first come on board.

Magic

 

[AndrewB]

Re: pre YM cram?

Leadership skills. Easy to forget under pressure of exam. Try practicing all you have learnt while retaining the appearance of calm authority. My impression is minor mistakes are tolerated if you seem in control of the situation.

 

[claymore]

SWOT

Jamesie
A hef tae confess tae bein a wee tad disappointed wi yer swotty attitude.
Tel ra mon is a privilij fer him tae be on ra boat wi yersel - ston fer nane o his nonsense aboot regulations an sic, appoint him foredeck monkey and dae plenty o upwind stuff.
when he returns tae the warmth o ra cockpit - tell him yer efter ra winter endorsment tae yer certificate an point oot that the wee bugger will be back tae ra foredeck for ra duration o yin o they cross channel libation cruises yer allus embairkin on unless he signs ra paper.
Shud dae ra trick nicely - an be positive shun, tak a wee pickie o yersel fer ra certificate an hon it tae him as he steps aboord.


regards
Claymore

 

[Twister_Ken]

VHF Channels. nm

(tee hee)

 

[snowleopard]

Re: pre YM cram?

1. get your lights, shapes fog signals and buoys off pat.

2. mark up the tide graphs in the almanac for HW of the day of the exam with any possible secondary ports in the test area.

3. study the chart of the area to identify good transits. during the work-up week, look out for good transits. if set any pilotage exercise (except fog), look to see if a transit can be used. THINK TRANSIT!

4. if doing the exam on a school/chartered boat, make sure you know your way around: all fire extinguishers & other safety gear, gas shut-off, emergency steering arrangements, seacocks etc. are the charts up to date?

good luck

 

[jamesjermain]

Dead right

During my exam I made a complete bollocks of a tricky wind-against-tide buoy pick-up but, because I had a contingency which a) I immediately put into opperation and b) worked, I got away with it.

Also, how about this. We had a man overboard as per normal then, just as we were bearing away and returning to the casualty, he threw a broken rudder at us and an engine failure then two sick crew. We managed but only because the of excellent balance of the Fulmar which needed only the lightest touch on the jury rudder.

JJ

 

[claymore]

I hope

you threw the broken rudder back at him - and that you hit him with it.

regards
Claymore

 

[snowleopard]

doing a Tom Cunliffe...

trying to scare us with tales of horrendous tests in the ym exam! if i'd read his articles before taking mine i'd never have tried. as it was the exam was a breeze.

merchant marine oral exam:

examiner: "you are anchored off a lee shore in a force 4. the wind picks up to force 6, what do you do"

candidate: "let out two more shackles of chain"

examiner: "wind has now risen to force 8, what do you do?"

candidate: "let out 3 more shackles of chain"

examiner: "wind is now force 10, what do you do?"

candidate: "let out 4 more shackles of chain"

examiner: "where are you getting all this chain?"

candidate: "same place you're getting all this wind"

 

[jimi]

Re: Dead right

Ach weel .. tae tell you the truth the only reason I'm doing this is an excuse for a weeks sailing awa fae SWMBO! Sounds like I'll be able tae use the same excuse next year and the year after and the year after ..... ad infinitum

 

[Reap]

Re: pre YM cram?

Hi Jimi
I am an ex full time Southern Instructor so perhaps can offer you some inside information as it were.
Lots of good advice given prior to this post.
Firstly Southern are (or at least were when I was there) in my opinion the best school by far to help get you through your yachtmaster exam.
However if you are going to pass your exam then you are already fundamentally a yachtmaster, nobody can turn you into a yachtmaster in 5 days. What the 5 day prep course will do is polish off the skills you already have, find any weak areas and concentrate on getting you up to speed for the exam. Intense boat handling under sail and power will give you confidence in that area, you will get plenty of chance to hone your navigational skills including quick ways to work out secondary port calculations and calculate courses to steer etc. Pilotage will be intense and with southern you will probably get to pilot the boat somewhere you wouldnt dare venture otherwise.
The main thing to remember for the exam is that the examiner will be looking to see that you are safe, and a commmon part of his/her briefing is to say "If I were to let you take my children sailing for the weekend I would want to know that they would be safe"
So....he is not looking for anything spectacular, just good safe navigation and boat handling. It is important to remember that the Yachtmaster qualification is not a recognition of brilliance....more a beginning.......

Also during your exam if for example you fail to pick up the MOB on the first attempt....don't panic, just inform your crew and go round and try again, and again if necessary.
The examiner is not looking for perfection he wants to see that you have a good understanding of the concepts and how to carry them out.

Never give in.....in the above example or any other exercise, keep trying. You have not failed until the exam is over, and you will never fail on one exercise alone. If you give up though, the examiner will have no choice but to fail you.

You say your rules of the road are good, that is great, as you will not have much time to revise them and as a yachtmaster you should have a THOROUGH knowledge of them. It never failed to amaze me as an instructor how many yachtmaster candidates turned up without having revised at home, the instructor will test you on them but cannot teach you rules of the road. That is up to you.

You should also have pretty good understanding of how to work out course to steer, EP, Fix, Tidal calculations, how to draw pilotage plans and passage planning etc. On a day to day basis I wouldnt worry about the shipping forecast but go with the Coast guard weather reports.

But all of these will be covered in the prep course, you will cover all the theory though there is only so much time.

The main thing to do is enjoy the week....you should learn lots....

good luck

 

[Skyva_2]

Re: pre YM cram?

Jimi,

Don't try to do it all yourself. A YM is capably in control of the yacht and the crew - plan the big picture, delegate as much as possible, brief the crew on everything you intend to do, and have an escape plan for manoeuvres.
Put a competent crew on the helm and stand back whenever you can.

Keith

 

[JamesS]

Re: pre YM cram?

1. As far as the theory goes we don't quite frankly use our full knowlege of lights and shapes - I found those playing card shaped cards ideal - just get them out when you have a few moments for a refresher (not whilst you are being examined of course!).

2. On the day - be in charge! and tell the crew what you are doing.

3. As stated above, if you foul up doing MOB or something DON'T PANIC - go round and do it again - don't try any last minute fumbles.

Good luck!

 

[Peppermint]

An Irish Answer

Young lad I know crewed on a YM test last summer. The candidate was a very experienced but slightly unorthadox Irish sailor. Having just got the yacht of a tricky alongside berth the examiner informed him that a crewmember had fallen overboard. The Irish chap bellowed " Swim to the side you feckin ejit" He passed.

 

[graham]

Re: An Irish Answer

I once watched a ym candidate pick up the pilot boat bouy in Barry Harbour waiting for his examiner to arrive.

The examiner turned up a bit late,someone rowed him out to the boat (a 30 foot long keel cruiser). By now the wind was getting up a bit and as they left the buoy under an over large headsail and main they ran hard aground on the mud on a rapidly ebbing tide.

This is interesting I thought. All of them stranded on the boat at 45° for about 6 hours.

The candidate didnt lose his cool ,backed the genoa to pull the bow around sheeted in hard to heel the boat and sailed off without starting the engine.2 minutes later crew were up changing down to a working jib.

He then went on to pass the exam and thoroughly deserved to from what I watched.

 

[tome]

Re: Dead right

Jim

I did likewise a few years back. Did the 5 day practical CS course and the instructor left us Friday pm when the examiner appeared. The examiner (a wiry Scotsman) tried his best to put the wind up us on the initial night sail. I was first of 3 skippers and we left Portsmouth under sail whereupon he told me that one of the crew was badly injured and there was an ambulance waiting at Northney. I was told to make best speed, and he tested me by calling into question my course and whether we'd go aground. What he was doing was to put me under pressure and see how I'd react. He gave the other 2 a hard time also, and I realised afterwards that this was the main part of his 'test'.

As we returned to Haslar that night we all felt a bit intimidated but it dawned on us what he'd been up to. The following day was all about mooring, man overboard etc but the tension had gone and we all enjoyed it. The examiner spent a bit of time instructing also, and I learned a few valuable new tricks from him.

In the end we all passed and had a night of celebration in the Hamble. We more or less had to carry the examiner back to the boat! The following Sunday morning we sailed back to Port Solent and he gave us some more good tips en route.

Avoid the temptation to spend too much time below at the chart table navigating, and sail in your own style as if the bugger wasn't on board. Bone up on Colregs beforehand. Enjoy the week awa!

Best wishes
Tom

 

[david_e]

Re: An Irish Answer

brilliant!!)

 

[david_e]

Re: pre YM cram?

What's the itinerary Jim?

How long does it last?
Where will you go?
Which boat will you use?
How many will crew, and do you supply them?