Sailing courses

Colin_S

Colin_S

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I've just booked up to do DS in a couple of months time and through a local school on the Med............... way. As this course is aimed at enabling one to sail safely in daylight hours and on familiar waters it makes sense taking it on, well, familiar waters.
Question is for later courses would it be better to take them specifically on unfamiliar waters?
 
Being from the South West coast it made perfect sense to do my DS practical at Largs, on the Clyde estuary.
DS then was a pretty straightforward assessment, but CS was a pretty demanding day/night excercise (I crewed for two others that were doing it at the end of the week) and my thought would be that if I wanted to stand a good chance of passing the exam I would try and get it on familiar waters.... but if I wanted to prove to myself that I could use a boat safely anywhere at that level then go somewhere unknown.
 
Have a bit of fun on school boats and box the compass.

Despite starting dinghy sailing on the Clyde, I ended up in London, so when we got into bigger boats, SWMBO and myself did CC in the Solent, DS out of Largs and CS in Devon - when it came to my CS exam, I *had* to do it out of Walton ;-)

rgds, Alan
 
....As this course is aimed at enabling one to sail safely in daylight hours....

Well thats the racing gone for a burton then.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I was doing my driving test 1955, noticed the speedo was over the 30mph mark, looked across, saw the examiner was looking at the speedo, I said,"I think it's a bit optimistic." At the end of the test , he gave me the correct bit of paper saying, " Here you are Mr White, incidentally I don't think there's much wrong with your speedometer." So there are exceptions to every rule.
 
Did my DS as part of a two week trip from Gibraltar to Portugal and back.......... somehow ended up in Morocco so perhaps my nav was a bit iffy /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif)
Did CS (equivalent) in Canada as part of a two week holiday..... hadn't intended doing any course when I left but joined in with crew mates who were doing their courses.
Did YM (equivalent) in Canada when I returned following year to do a yacht race (Van Isle 360) with the same sailing school. This experience was, as they say over there, AWESOME! I think they still have info on the 2003 race which I took part in on their website www.vanisle360.com . It's worth a look for members of this forum as to how they manage to combine a race that integrates monohulls and multihulls....... also there was a good pic on there of us broaching on the very first leg (one of many).
So, as to the original question, I didn't have "local waters" at the time of these courses as I didn't own a boat then but I would recommend your later courses being in unfamiliar waters for (a) the pleasure, and (b) it gives you the confidence to take your boat out of the "comfort zone".

Cheers, Paul.
 
Why would do you want to do further courses above dazed skipper? If you want to sail outside your normal ground, then take your Toastal Skipper elsewhere. If you are not going to sail outside your normal area, then save your money, and learn from other skippers in the club bar, or this website!

You can learn loads doing your Yachtmaster Theory at any local college, but it won't teach you much about actually handling a boat
 
Currently I don't own a boat and therefore do not have a normal cruising ground as such. Most of my sailing is around the Medway area but in the last year I have crossed the channel to / from 4 different destinations and sailed in various locations including the East coast, Solent, Med and the Atlantic, so I figure learning in a strange location, whilst making life slightly more difficult will be advantageous in the long run. I am not thinking necessarily of an area that I may choose to visit again but just anywhere that I am not familiar with.
Using the driving lesson analogy it's a bit like learning to drive in local 30mph urban roads, passing your test and then making your first solo trip down unrestricted country lanes and motorways that you've never visited or experienced before and are therefore totally unprepared as to how to deal with them.

Re the YM practical, I start that course Tuesday.
 
Re: Sailing courses - Whats wrong with being \'just\' a Day Skipper!

You can take your DS course anywhere, not just in familiar waters.

Unless you have a personal/professional need to gain further qualifications, a DS course, should give you all the 'basic skills' to skipper/manage/sail/navigate a boat/crew safely & competantly. Certainly boat handling etc.

Building up your experience on these 'skills', as long as you are aware of your shortfalls & continue to improve/practice them, will enable you to sail anywhere, including 'unfamiliar' waters.

Many people, for some reason, still think DS is a level comparable to 'Janet & John' & not fully grown-up sailing. Far from it! This level, if you take full advantage of what is being taught in the syllabus, practically covers almost anything that most recreational sailors will ever need/use. eg The RYA DS book, while perhaps looking a bit cartoonish, has a vast amount of information that is easily dismissed or ignored & is one of the best manuals around.

Obviously you may not be taught skills such as 'how to enter an unfamiliar harbour at night under all sorts of difficult conditions', but would you put yourself in that position needlessly anyway.

Better to be a competant/confident DS than an overconfident CS/YM.
 
I used to think you'd learn more in unfamiliar waters, now I'm not so sure. In unfamiliar waters you're gaping at new things rather than concentrating on learning the boathandling etc etc. The pilotage that will be chosen should be enough to test you anyway. So if you're solely into learning do it in familiar waters, OTOH if its a bit of a holiday as well as a learning experience do it somewhere nice;-)
 
When working as a charter skipper I was never very impressed by the holders of RYA qualifications, but then the ones I sailed with did not have their own boats so did not have much chance to keep in practice.

Having come back to sailing my own boat after a number of years ashore I am not very impressed by some of my own recent performances either.

Do the course wherever you will enjoy yourself - but try to keep in practice afterwards.
 
I believe the idea of the DS is to teach you how to handle the yacht, navigation, leadership, etc, etc, therefore I don't feel that it matters whether the waters are familiar or not - you will still have to prove you can handle the yacht, show you can take control, demonstrate accurate & safe navigation, and the DS does cover some night sailing/navigation anyway. I have completed the DS 2 yrs ago from Plymouth, and although I have known this area for a long time, it is a different thing when on a course and constantly being assessed- you might find you could actually get more from it in familiar waters because that is one less thing to be concerned about when being assessed.

Hope this is of some use.
Jonathan.
 
we have to learn to sail and use motorboats,but why do we need a paper? ive been sailing for quite some time ive been to northen Spain the Portuges coast Madira cap Verde (mistake) canneries Gib Med.

Apart from my nav never a problem and today we have not just gps but europe!

I have almost sunk a boat, but then i was totaly pissed! cant do that today .But saili can arrive i can and even without gps my navs not really bad? So why do i now have to pay a fortune to take a test??

For a two years i gave sailing lessons! Im not now going to ask the school to which ive sent my son to give me lessons to get a paper and anyway its an Italian school so wouldent count for me as im English and cant write Italian very well

Doi really have to take a test? The change from Blue book to comunisum under blair already ment a change of boat
 
Some interesting replies everyone, thanks.
Trouville - you're not by any chance totally pissed now? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Two reasons for me taking the course are first and foremost to satisfy myself of my abilities and secondly to obtain a bit of paper that will enable me to charter a boat abroad.
Good points about doing the course in familiar waters which is where I will be doing the DS course although having on a couple of occassions sailed in the same waters in darkness I can certainly say they become completely unfamiliar.
 
No unfortunatly! I have a French female guarding the wine bottle! One glass and two more when i get to do the washing up. with luck!!

French woman seem to know every move when it comes to the bottle. Good for me though! and so is she! Thats why i missed the tide and stuck for now--she has a private mooring.Very near!!! have to behave

That time i had drunk best part of a bottle of gin we had to move at night i was getting the course when the current pushed me on the sand then rocks really silly i was driving a fast motor boat and trying to be carful!!

If id have given gas id have missed the things!i forgot that there wasent a sail up!just had tick over thought i was sailing!

if id been in a sail boat id have been at home and missed as well! Oh well
 
[ QUOTE ]
Two reasons for me taking the course are first and foremost to satisfy myself of my abilities and secondly to obtain a bit of paper that will enable me to charter a boat abroad.

[/ QUOTE ]

For the latter, it might be better to do courses somewhere unfamilliar - OK, buy a chart and read the Almanac first so you've got a vague idea where things are.

Of course, the ticket may not be required to charter in some places, but...

I should have mentioned that all our courses were out-of-season, before we got our own boat, and were interspersed with OPYC outings and flots in the Med.

rgds, Alan
 
[ QUOTE ]
Being from the South West coast it made perfect sense to do my DS practical at Largs

[/ QUOTE ]

Wouldn't Falmouth have made more sense? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Someone on this thread said, "...save your money, and learn from other skippers in the club bar, or this website!"

You'll learn a lot off this website, but from other skippers in the club bar? Come off it! Line-shooting and there-I-was-with-the-whole-crew-sick is all I ever seem to hear in the various yacht-club bars I occasionally inhabit. Yes, you may get a tip or two about what time to leave to catch the tidal gate at X, or where there's a good quiet anchorage or two, but practical wisdom of the kind dispensed on RYA practical courses. Never!

I'm not hugely experienced and I haven't been sailing all my life. I've done DS and CS practicals over the last 5 years and on both occasion been amazed at how much I've been able to learn. I thoroughly recommend them!

Regards, Mudhook
 
I would second that. When I did my practical course with Southern Sailing they were superb. It was amazing how much they were able to teach us in one week. I looked on the whole thing as a holiday with a purpose. Money very well spent.

I must book another course!
 
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