RYA competent crew - living ashore?

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Bash

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Hi guys,

I'm planning a holiday on my own and would love to learn to sail at the same time (probably in the med) but would rather not be forced to stay in boat for 5/6 days in order to get any "valuable" certificate. Does anyone know of any company that does these courses from morning till say evening so I can be free to do what I want afterwards?

I understand night hours are required but can this be done by sailing at night and coming back to shore after a certain number of hours? Or is staying the night aboard also a requirement?

Maybe I'm just being too picky? Thanks for any help
 
Bash said:
Hi guys,

I'm planning a holiday on my own and would love to learn to sail at the same time (probably in the med) but would rather not be forced to stay in boat for 5/6 days in order to get any "valuable" certificate. Does anyone know of any company that does these courses from morning till say evening so I can be free to do what I want afterwards?

I understand night hours are required but can this be done by sailing at night and coming back to shore after a certain number of hours? Or is staying the night aboard also a requirement?

Maybe I'm just being too picky? Thanks for any help
Click to expand...

For an RYA course it is a requirement that you spend five nights on the boat I'm afraid.

- W
 
I see, are there any other options? maybe learning separately and applying for an ICC test afterwards? Or do most companies only teach via the set RYA courses?
 
Part of learning how to sail is also learning how to live on a boat, it's not like a house when you can just walk out the door when you want to. It's living in close company (some times too close) with other people and getting on with them, the process of becoming a crew, a team, learning together, it's not about each man for himself when the sun goes down.

Besides what will you do if the boat anchors for the night? swim ashore and find a hotel? :)

If you think sailing is being "forced to stay in a boat", may be sailing ain't for you? :rolleyes: Just a thought
 
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snooks said:
If you think sailing is being "forced to stay in a boat", may be sailing ain't for you? :rolleyes: Just a thought
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I was just thinking that. When I did two weeks sailing tuition in Gibraltar we stayed on the boat for two weeks. It was one of the best two weeks of my life and I absolutely loved it. I enjoyed the sailing, the company, the laughs, the camaraderie, the learning, the evenings sharing a meal and chatting about the days events and just being on a boat.
 
Bash said:
I see, are there any other options? maybe learning separately and applying for an ICC test afterwards? Or do most companies only teach via the set RYA courses?
Click to expand...

Perhaps look at day sailing in open boats, dinghies or cats even?
There are many aspects of sailing, this forum focuses on the cruiser sailing end of things.
 
Bash said:
I see, are there any other options? maybe learning separately and applying for an ICC test afterwards? Or do most companies only teach via the set RYA courses?
Click to expand...

You could do the sailing separately without the need for a course.
The RYA courses are to a large part attendance courses so only attending during the day is an issue. There is other stuff that goes on in the evening other than practical sailing. i.e. homework is set and presented.
Having said that you could attend a Comp Crew course where there were fewer clients. i.e. often schools go out mid-week with only 2 clients, equally during the winter weekends there may only be 2 clients. So this could ease the concerns about staying on board.
Another thing you could do is negotiate with the school in advance to have your own cabin. Some schools allow it, other schools charge extra for it.
You could get a school to run a course exculsively for you or you and mate but this may cost more.
So there are options.
 
lw395 said:
Perhaps look at day sailing in open boats, dinghies or cats even?
There are many aspects of sailing, this forum focuses on the cruiser sailing end of things.
Click to expand...

+1

If your sailing is going to be constrained by a desire to stay on shore at a hotel each night, you might as well look at dinghies, the benefits of a cruiser-type boat over a keel equipped day boat won't really apply to you.

Perhaps RYA dinghy levels 1-3 might be a better route?
 
snooks said:
Part of learning how to sail is also learning how to live on a boat, it's not like a house when you can just walk out the door when you want to. It's living in close company (some times too close) with other people and getting on with them, the process of becoming a crew, a team, learning together, it's not about each man for himself when the sun goes down.

Besides what will you do if the boat anchors for the night? swim ashore and find a hotel? :)

If you think sailing is being "forced to stay in a boat", may be sailing ain't for you? :rolleyes: Just a thought
Click to expand...

Good insight there thanks for the post. The prospect of living on a boat is beautiful, the only problem for me is that I'm 23 years old and after emailing a few of the sailing schools it seems as though all the other students are in their 50/60s. I have no problem spending time with people older than me but I'm sure you can understand preferring to be with people my age!
 
Bash said:
Good insight there thanks for the post. The prospect of living on a boat is beautiful, the only problem for me is that I'm 23 years old and after emailing a few of the sailing schools it seems as though all the other students are in their 50/60s. I have no problem spending time with people older than me but I'm sure you can understand preferring to be with people my age!
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I had that thought when first learning, I was only a couple of years older than you when I started (and I'm not all that much older now...)

It's really a non-issue. Unless you absolutely have to be down the beach bars every night, it's just a bunch of like minded people and you'll soon break down any (perceived) barriers. You get pillocks in all walks of life and at all ages, but really, it's not a problem provided you don't go and force it to become one.
 
Thanks so much for the helpful posts, great community you guys have here.
I've just started learning to sail dinghies in the UK (I'm a complete beginner to all of this as you can see) - I guess I should think about focusing on this for now and just hire a boat wherever I decide to travel. Downside I'm assuming is that I wouldn't be able to sail as far :/

Do you recommend any destinations where there are islands etc. close enough to get to with an open boat?

(Apologies this conversation has completely diverted from cruising!)
 
Flying Penguin said:
I had that thought when first learning, I was only a couple of years older than you when I started (and I'm not all that much older now...)

It's really a non-issue. Unless you absolutely have to be down the beach bars every night, it's just a bunch of like minded people and you'll soon break down any (perceived) barriers. You get pillocks in all walks of life and at all ages, but really, it's not a problem provided you don't go and force it to become one.
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Very true, at the end of the day the aim is to learn to sail. Well I definitely haven't ruled anything out yet, thanks for providing so many options. Luckily I have two months off and my plan is to spend up to 2-3 weeks combining traveling and learning to sail, somehow. Just have to figure it all out
 
Bash said:
I see, are there any other options? maybe learning separately and applying for an ICC test afterwards? Or do most companies only teach via the set RYA courses?
Click to expand...
THe ICC and the Comp Crew are almost entirely separate from each other -- though if you you have an RYA Day Skipper practical you can get an ICC without taking the test.

The Comp Crew is about learning to live on a boat and operate most of the usual bits of equipment. The ICC is a piece of paper to prove to foreign bureaucrats that you can drive a boat.

If you want to learn to sail you will achieve a lot more, a lot quicker in dinghies or dayboats.
It is (relatively) easy to transfer that knowledge to bigger boats.

PS When I started teaching would-be Yachtmasters, I had a similar problem -- I was less than half the age of many of my students -- but we all survived!
 
Bash said:
I have no problem spending time with people older than me but I'm sure you can understand preferring to be with people my age!
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I can understand. But there is nothing wrong with sharing time with those that have more life experience than you. We're talking one week of your life, not the rest of eternity...A chance to meet other people who you wouldn't normally socialise with, from different parts of the country/world....who knows where it might lead?

I was 16 when I used to go out sailing with sea schools who needed extra crew, quite often I knew more than the rest of the crew, but learning how to tell people who are older than you what to do, or ask them politely, is a handy tool to have for the future. It was also a lot of fun and I got to meet some interesting people. OK so they might not be up for a bit of clubbing, but you're there because you want to learn how to sail....aren't you? :)
 
Bash said:
Good insight there thanks for the post. The prospect of living on a boat is beautiful, the only problem for me is that I'm 23 years old and after emailing a few of the sailing schools it seems as though all the other students are in their 50/60s. I have no problem spending time with people older than me but I'm sure you can understand preferring to be with people my age!
Click to expand...

I did my Day skipper at the age of 24 in Gib, there were 4 on the boat, myself, a 22 year old and a couple in their 50s.

I took my Dad back a year later, and they paired us up with another Father and Son. I then spent a further few weeks doing some deliveries and crewing on exams for people - just ask around the Marinas.

Did my Yachtmaster Coastal at 28 in Lanzarote with 2 guys in their early 20's who wanted to do this as a living and had spent 18 weeks building up to it.

Ask around - Steph at Endeavour or Cath at Trafalgar should be able to ensure there are youngsters on the boat.
 
Bash said:
The prospect of living on a boat is beautiful, the only problem for me is that I'm 23 years old and after emailing a few of the sailing schools it seems as though all the other students are in their 50/60s.
Click to expand...

That wasn't my experience at all, admittedly 10 or 15 years ago. I did Day Skipper in the Firth of Clyde and Coastal Skipper in Plymouth, both when I was in my mid 20s. On both courses I was neither the youngest nor the oldest student on board. Though I had to think about it to be sure - age really didn't seem relevant, we were just all there to learn to sail.

Cheers
Patrick
 
I can honestly say that whenever I've spent time on board training boats (for weeks at a time), it never crossed my mind what age the others were (or any other demographic). What does it matter? You're there to rub along and learn how to sail, folk won't give a stuff how old you are:) Are you sure there's not more to this... I was once on board for ten days and there was a guy in his early 20s who at first stared blankly at the galley... by the end of the trip he could do pasta and also make a mean fried egg sandwich:cool::D
 
I'm 24 and find sailing with older people not a problem, as said before, it has never crossed my mind about how old another person is. I'm coming up to doing my YM offshore now and know I will still be young but I am sure I will be learning and teaching with people from all over the ege ranges.
 
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