RYA Yachtmaster Offshore practical exam

Uricanejack said:
Just playing top trumps.

you hear one long two short then one long and three short.
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The long and two short is letter 'D' which means it has difficulty in manoeuvring and the one long and three short is letter 'B' for 'behind' which is the fog signal of the towed vessel. So its a towing vessel and a towed vessel.

Lots of questions and answers here by the way: http://www.mcaorals.co.uk/Rule19.htm
 
Uricanejack said:
It’s a good point about exams and cramming, though I doubt cramming helps much for a practical demonstration. Exams are funny things I've never done well in. They tend to be easy when you know the answer and hard when you don't.
Even though I don't think exams are good ways to measure knowledge. How else can you assess some ones knowledge in a short time?
The RYA exams appear weird to me. There is a heck of lot to be covered in one day without any written exam first. And a considerable difference in measuring theoretical knowledge and practical ability to use the knowledge.
If you have the knowledge, a few days practice putting it in to practice is a bit different to the cramming I never bothered to do when I was a lad in school.
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A big part of the exam is role play: to be in charge of the vessel and people, that is something you need to have in you. An another part is coping with stress while being in charge, the exam is busy time because it has to cover a lot of situations/exercises and that is mentally draining and in combination of almost constant stream of theory questions is not that easy.

The exam should consist of a lot of theory questions: I had to make a passage plan (across Bristol Channel), answer plenty of questions from flip cards, calculate a depth in a secondary port, answer questions about sound signals during blind navigation exercise, answer questions about meteorology while helming etc.
 
ziacek said:
A big part of the exam is role play: to be in charge of the vessel and people, that is something you need to have in you. An another part is coping with stress while being in charge, the exam is busy time because it has to cover a lot of situations/exercises and that is mentally draining and in combination of almost constant stream of theory questions is not that easy.

The exam should consist of a lot of theory questions: I had to make a passage plan (across Bristol Channel), answer plenty of questions from flip cards, calculate a depth in a secondary port, answer questions about sound signals during blind navigation exercise, answer questions about meteorology while helming etc.
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We are told not to overload the person being examined… The trouble is that its a stressful time and no sooner do you drop anchor and put the kettle on than the examiner will be thinking of what we could usefully do with this bit of time and start asking questions.

If you are quick and efficient with the answers then you get an easier ride. If you aren't sure, then I know I start to probe a little deeper. Get one wrong and I might say, 'go and look it up'… Get lots wrong and you know things aren't going to well.
 
john_morris_uk said:
We are told not to overload the person being examined… The trouble is that its a stressful time and no sooner do you drop anchor and put the kettle on than the examiner will be thinking of what we could usefully do with this bit of time and start asking questions.

If you are quick and efficient with the answers then you get an easier ride. If you aren't sure, then I know I start to probe a little deeper. Get one wrong and I might say, 'go and look it up'… Get lots wrong and you know things aren't going to well.
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I was not overloaded with questions and got the initial theory questions (the passage plan and flip cards) right hence a good impression rolled through the rest of the exam. I was trying to describe the exam as an occation where a few days preparation will not help you much to pass it.
 
ziacek said:
I was not overloaded with questions and got the initial theory questions (the passage plan and flip cards) right hence a good impression rolled through the rest of the exam. I was trying to describe the exam as an occation where a few days preparation will not help you much to pass it.
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Having done all my sailing (except for courses) short handed just with SWMBO on my own smaller boats, I found the 5 day CS practical enjoyable, a good further learning exercise as well as boning up on signals, also good for getting to know the boat.

There were 3 of us taking the exam which lasted 2 full days. My biggest problem was delegating (not used to being mob handed) whereas the other 2 who had done the vast majority of their miles as crew and only the bare minimum as skipper, were much faster sail trimmers/handlers (when acting as crew) but less confident in passage planning and decision making.

I honestly don't know if I would have passed without being pushed for 5 days beforehand and being shown alternative ways of doing things.
 
GrahamM376 said:
I honestly don't know if I would have passed without being pushed for 5 days beforehand and being shown alternative ways of doing things.
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I think I would not pass the exam either without the prep week but if arriving at the preparation course with weak theory knowledge and not much sailing/skippering practice then the preparation time is not going to do a miracle and let pass the exam anybody.
 
john_morris_uk said:
The long and two short is letter 'D' which means it has difficulty in manoeuvring and the one long and three short is letter 'B' for 'behind' which is the fog signal of the towed vessel. So its a towing vessel and a towed vessel.

Lots of questions and answers here by the way: http://www.mcaorals.co.uk/Rule19.htm
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Close enough for horse shoes and grenades,

Vessel towing a manned tow
 
ziacek said:
A big part of the exam is role play: to be in charge of the vessel and people, that is something you need to have in you. An another part is coping with stress while being in charge, the exam is busy time because it has to cover a lot of situations/exercises and that is mentally draining and in combination of almost constant stream of theory questions is not that easy.

The exam should consist of a lot of theory questions: I had to make a passage plan (across Bristol Channel), answer plenty of questions from flip cards, calculate a depth in a secondary port, answer questions about sound signals during blind navigation exercise, answer questions about meteorology while helming etc.
Click to expand...

Its all good in different ways. It depends what you want to get out of it. A plaque for you wall, A certificate to pursue sailing as a carrear. Or to learn somthing to improve your enjoyment of your sailing.
Think of the prep as training. Most of us don't perform well under stress. Most of us fall back on instinctive behavior. Or very fammilliar routines. By doing the prep, you are practicing techniques, hopefully they will become fammiliar enough to become instinctive.
So when sailing becomes stressfull you are prepared to deal with it.
If it was a good course and exam you will have come away having both enjoyed the proccess and having learned something usefull about sailing and yourself.
From your original post it sounds like those were achieved. Well done.
 
Congrats on your pass.

My wife and I spent two weeks with them recently, when we worked out that two weeks' of catered instruction was less expensive that a fortnight's bareboat charter. As she had never had any formal instruction, and I had only done Day Skipper, we decided to go for two weeks in the sun and see what 'level' we were at. Some research turned up positive reviews of Allabroad, so that's who we went with.

I have no axe to grind (I passed YM Offshore), but would offer the following observations on Allabroad for balance:

The boats were in very poor condition. Week 1 boat was very tired indeed. Faults too numerous to mention. Week 2, mainly electrical faults. I spent some of my YM exam fixing the instruments, but maybe that helped me to pass. Despite the fact that the middle weekend wasn't used for sailing, no maintenance was done on the may known faults.

Our instructor had obviously had a long and tiring season. He found it difficult even to feign interest much of the time. I suppose you could argue that, with competent individuals aboard, he didn't need to 'instruct', but I just felt that he had spent too much time with us punters.

Allabroad are very focussed on their 'zero to hero' 18-week YM Offshore customers. I have no criticism of the guys in that category with whom we spent time, but their catering arrangements are different to those that Allabroad advertise for their 'weekly' customers.

For those of us who spend our time sailing in very quiet waters Gibraltar Bay is a real eye-opener. It's bustling with commercial trade and is a great place for testing your knowledge of lights and night-time situational awareness. A great place for a practical course in the sun.

I don't think that, based on my personal experience, I could recommend Allabroad, though.
 
@chunky: thanks and congrats to you too.

As it happens my wife and I spent twould weeks there too: she did DS practical in the first week and I did 4 days prep and exam in the second week. However we chartered one whole boat for us each of us had 1-2-1 tuition with added benefit of a lot of space in the boat. As this was my wife's first proper sailing experience I did not wish her to spend time on overcrowded boat and she loved it. Our boat was not tired and did not develop any faults. The instructor was keen on teaching at all times. All of us had a great time.
 
For those folk thinking about doing YM, the list of exam content is openly available in the RYA G15 log book. Prior to my exam some years ago, on my own boat with my own crew, I copied the list into a simple Word table, and put my own confidence rating (A-E) against each line. Then I concentrated on filling in the gaps either through theory revision or getting out on the water with the crew and practising manoeuvres.

It paid off especially when the examiner asked me to sail on to a mooring buoy - and chose the very same one we had used the previous day !
 
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