RYA Day Skipper Theory (on-line)

[Rascalz]

Hello,

I am looking to undertake the RYA Day Skipper Theory course and initially thought that doing so over 5 days in a classroom environment would be better. However, I have yet to find a company in London that offers this. Can anyone recommend a company please. I'd also be interested in any comments based on experience of undertaking the course in a classroom versus on-line which brings me on to my next question; as far as online courses, I have looked at Skippers Online and NavAtHome - does anyone have experience of undertaking the course with either of these companies and if so was it positive?

I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your help.

All the best

Russell

 

[boomerangben]

I did NavatHome coastal skipper/yachtmaster course a few years ago. Included a day skipper brush up. Good course and I could recommend. I wasn’t an absolute beginner when I started so can’t say what it is like starting from scratch. My only down side is that there are number of little tricks for remembering stuff which don’t seem to appear in the course.

 

[DreadShips]

Did NavAtHome via somebody or other, mostly as I knew paying for a course would keep me honest in covering the whole syllabus rather than just the bits I found interesting. Was easily sufficient to bring somebody up to speed for DS practical. Lots of firms use them iirc, so shop around. - there's an alternative, which I think sounds better, I'm sure somebody will mention them.

As boomerangben says though, you don't necessarily gets lots of different ways of viewing the same information like you might with an instructor if they noticed something wasn't sticking. I got around that by reading around quite a bit, and I'd really recommend getting the little Reeds Skippers Handbook and leaving it somewhere you'll pick it up and flick through. You will also find an instructor on the practical will run over the essentials and pass on tips as and when.

Finally somebody will pop up and point out you don't actually need the theory certificate, which is totally true. Somebody on my DS practical took that advice and discovered very, very embarrassingly that just bimbling around on their partner's yacht had given them the square root of eff all knowledge. In their case it was as bad as "couldn't recognise a fairway buoy even in context" bad. I'd expect most people to have absorbed more than that, but you do need to be honest with yourself if you go down that route and fill in any gaps.

I suspect I'd have been fine without doing a formal course (I had a really good instructor when I did Comp Crew who had briefly run me through things like tidal curves and how to read the almanac etc), but it did give me a bit more confidence to have it ticked off by a third party.

Whatever you do, good luck!

 

[steveeasy]

Did mine with Ardent training online. I’m pretty slow but managed to do it in 3 weeks. Took a good 40-50 hrs. Yes they were available online every day and in to the evenings to help.

Steveeasy

 

[capnsensible]

Navathome. Mrs S worked for them for quite a few years and she is really good!!

 

[Hacker]

+1 for Navathome. Did my offshore theory with them about 8 years ago. Suited my way of learning.

 

[wonkywinch]

I used Skippers Online for DS and CS/YM the missus Navathome. The latter gets both our votes.

 

[PlanB]

Hello,

I am looking to undertake the RYA Day Skipper Theory course and initially thought that doing so over 5 days in a classroom environment would be better. However, I have yet to find a company in London that offers this. Can anyone recommend a company please. I'd also be interested in any comments based on experience of undertaking the course in a classroom versus on-line which brings me on to my next question; as far as online courses, I have looked at Skippers Online and NavAtHome - does anyone have experience of undertaking the course with either of these companies and if so was it positive?

I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your help.

All the best

Russell

I can't remember if it was these chaps that we used, but we certainly did our DS in Limehouse, over four weekends.
https://www.firstclasssailing.com/rya-courses/day-skipper-theory-course

 

[KompetentKrew]

Having had the dubious pleasure of doing both, I thoroughly recommend Skippers Online (formerly known as Kipper Sailing) over Navathome.

Clearly both are qualified instructors, but Navathome comes across like a retired computer programmer decided to create a website, but he doesn't have any experience of user interface design and everything is a bit cludgy and clumsy. You can't navigate through the answer fields using your tab key, and they took exception when I complained about it. When I did it a couple of years ago they were still using flash animations, and the site had to be whitelisted in Safari.

Skippers Online is, in contrast, much better presented - he uses an off-the-shelf online education platform and has concentrated on the quality of the tutorials. The lessons are displayed larger and much clearer, with consistent style and better narration. An advantage of the 3rd-party platform is that you can download an app and download the lessons to your phone or tablet for offline viewing.

They both have a free trial of the first lesson, so try them for yourself and see the difference in quality.

You will also find a discount if you google "skippers online discount code".

 

[Rascalz]

I did NavatHome coastal skipper/yachtmaster course a few years ago. Included a day skipper brush up. Good course and I could recommend. I wasn’t an absolute beginner when I started so can’t say what it is like starting from scratch. My only down side is that there are number of little tricks for remembering stuff which don’t seem to appear in the course.

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply Could I please ask what 'little tricks' there are or would this cover a range of topics too wide to answer concisely?

 

[Rascalz]

Did NavAtHome via somebody or other, mostly as I knew paying for a course would keep me honest in covering the whole syllabus rather than just the bits I found interesting. Was easily sufficient to bring somebody up to speed for DS practical. Lots of firms use them iirc, so shop around. - there's an alternative, which I think sounds better, I'm sure somebody will mention them.

As boomerangben says though, you don't necessarily gets lots of different ways of viewing the same information like you might with an instructor if they noticed something wasn't sticking. I got around that by reading around quite a bit, and I'd really recommend getting the little Reeds Skippers Handbook and leaving it somewhere you'll pick it up and flick through. You will also find an instructor on the practical will run over the essentials and pass on tips as and when.

Finally somebody will pop up and point out you don't actually need the theory certificate, which is totally true. Somebody on my DS practical took that advice and discovered very, very embarrassingly that just bimbling around on their partner's yacht had given them the square root of eff all knowledge. In their case it was as bad as "couldn't recognise a fairway buoy even in context" bad. I'd expect most people to have absorbed more than that, but you do need to be honest with yourself if you go down that route and fill in any gaps.

I suspect I'd have been fine without doing a formal course (I had a really good instructor when I did Comp Crew who had briefly run me through things like tidal curves and how to read the almanac etc), but it did give me a bit more confidence to have it ticked off by a third party.

Whatever you do, good luck!

Thanks for taking the time to reply and for such a comprehensive response too. I was torn between the practical and the online but decided upon the online route because I couldn't find anywhere in London that was running a 5 day instructor led course. I also felt that the online course would provide more flexibility both in terms of time slots when I could do it and also for revision work.

I am about to order the RSH book, thanks for what sounds like. Avery good suggestion.

As far as the qualification is concerned, it's a combination of wanting to have it to progress and also for my own peace of mind; it is about confidence as you so rightly say. I believe that nothing counts more than actual experience but I am also conscious of the fact that in order to gain that experience it's worth investing time / money to put yourself in a position where you can put yourself out there so to speak as prospective crew with some substance behind you in terms of knowledge / qualifications. My aim is to get up to Yachtmaster and the next stage will be the RYA Day Skipper practical.

 

[Rascalz]

Having had the dubious pleasure of doing both, I thoroughly recommend Skippers Online (formerly known as Kipper Sailing) over Navathome.

Clearly both are qualified instructors, but Navathome comes across like a retired computer programmer decided to create a website, but he doesn't have any experience of user interface design and everything is a bit cludgy and clumsy. You can't navigate through the answer fields using your tab key, and they took exception when I complained about it. When I did it a couple of years ago they were still using flash animations, and the site had to be whitelisted in Safari.

Skippers Online is, in contrast, much better presented - he uses an off-the-shelf online education platform and has concentrated on the quality of the tutorials. The lessons are displayed larger and much clearer, with consistent style and better narration. An advantage of the 3rd-party platform is that you can download an app and download the lessons to your phone or tablet for offline viewing.

They both have a free trial of the first lesson, so try them for yourself and see the difference in quality.

You will also find a discount if you google "skippers online discount code".

Thank you for your reply and amusing comparison - I had looked at the 'free trial' that Navathome do and felt that it was simply 'the way it is' as a result of basic design input. I hadn't seen that SO did a trial so will check that out now. And thanks too for the discount code tip.

 

[boomerangben]

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply Could I please ask what 'little tricks' there are or would this cover a range of topics too wide to answer concisely?

I’ve started a new thread for tips and tricks

 

[Rascalz]

I’ve started a new thread for tips and tricks

Huge thanks! Could you please send me the link to it

 

[steve yates]

Urban truant are another one to consider.

 

[boomerangben]

Huge thanks! Could you please send me the link to it

Aide memoirs and useful tricks for remembering stuff boaty