Where to take RYA Coastal Practical @ Christmas / early Jan?

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PhillM

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I guess now that I am engaging in longer passages it would be a good idea to get better qualified.

I am considering taking an online Coastal Skipper Theory course, followed by the Practical course. If I set my mind to it, I am sure I could do the theory between now and Christmas, then I have the opportunity to take time off work from 20th Dec to 17th Jan and am considering this could be a nice time in which to fit in the practical course. While I could do it in England, perhaps somewhere warmer may also be nice.

Recommendations from customers or school skippers, would be most welcome.
 
PhillM said:
I guess now that I am engaging in longer passages it would be a good idea to get better qualified.

I am considering taking an online Coastal Skipper Theory course, followed by the Practical course. If I set my mind to it, I am sure I could do the theory between now and Christmas, then I have the opportunity to take time off work from 20th Dec to 17th Jan and am considering this could be a nice time in which to fit in the practical course. While I could do it in England, perhaps somewhere warmer may also be nice.

Recommendations from customers or school skippers, would be most welcome.
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I did mine in the Canaries which was testing enough but warmer - a long time ago so I couldn’t still recommend the school.
 
Canaries might be worth a look. Canary sail seemed a good bunch when i was down there sharing a few cold san Miguel's between courses with them. Pretty much always sunny and you get to play in higher winds in the well known acceleration zones between the islands.
 
Thailand at Christmas is always pleasant as you could also fit in some diving -Im sure one of the charter companies out there would be able to advise - as you are based in the Solent another source of info might be some of the stands at the SBS if you have time to attend.

Personally having visited /stayed on Tenerife in Adeje region more times than I can recall it always seems to be quite windy in the south notwithstanding the charms of the smaller islands it might be not that inviting for training and its not that warm there at Christmas. I am sure its great for kite surfers etc but personally I might look for a calmer location for a practical course.
 
Drop capnsensible a PM he is qualified and runs out of the canaries although he might be on a delivery but he could give you a good recommendation for a school.
 
I have been thinking along similar lines. I'm a bit mystified as to why doing coastal skipper in the canaries is 50% more expensive than the UK however! Even before flights are booked.
 
fifer said:
I have been thinking along similar lines. I'm a bit mystified as to why doing coastal skipper in the canaries is 50% more expensive than the UK however! Even before flights are booked.
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Hiya. I'll answer this one first! Simple.... the overhead of running a school in the Canaries is a lot higher plus of course a bit of a premium for the location anyway.

But nice!
 
PhillM said:
I guess now that I am engaging in longer passages it would be a good idea to get better qualified.

I am considering taking an online Coastal Skipper Theory course, followed by the Practical course. If I set my mind to it, I am sure I could do the theory between now and Christmas, then I have the opportunity to take time off work from 20th Dec to 17th Jan and am considering this could be a nice time in which to fit in the practical course. While I could do it in England, perhaps somewhere warmer may also be nice.

Recommendations from customers or school skippers, would be most welcome.
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Can recommend, for your theory, Navathome. I am very biased but I see at close quarters how good they are.

If you are happy with computer based training, then straightforward to do it by Christmas.

For Coastal Practical, you could be hard pushed to find somewhere better than Gib. Winter weather can still be a challenge but a most excellent training ground.

With the time you have over the period, an alternative could be to do YM theory in a classroom followed by the Practical. Even more so in that time scale if you wanted to get real serious, assuming you have VHF operator certificate, then how about sea survival, first aid and everything you need for longer distance sailing?

There are stacks of options which is the great advantage of RYA course programmes to suit people at all levels...... I dont run a school anymore so dont worry Mods Im not selling!!

Please do send a PM if you want any direct school recommends and any of the plus/minus stuff for different places. :encouragement:
 
PhillM said:
I have the opportunity to take time off work from 20th Dec to 17th Jan and am considering this could be a nice time in which to fit in the practical course. While I could do it in England, perhaps somewhere warmer may also be nice.

Recommendations from customers or school skippers, would be most welcome.
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Do yourself a favour. Do the practical course May to September. Do you really fancy nightsailing in January in a howling gale with snow coming down? Apart from anything else, its dark at 4 and not light til 9. The boat heater will be either noisy or not functinal.
 
rib said:
I wonder who gains the most,a exam in warm nicer conditions ,or one who can take whats thrown at them ...
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Hiya. Understand what you mean. I can say though that the winter weather in Gib and in the Canaries is not that warm when sailing in the winter. It will be windy and in Gib area probably wet too.

What you wont loose though are a day or more sailing during a 5 day course with really bad weather as happens a lot in the UK unless you are exceptionally unlucky.

Ive been lucky to be able to teach that Coastal Practical in the UK, Algarve, Gib, Canaries and Antigua. For me, Gib is best. :encouragement:
 
If you’re happy to travel I’d recommend Endeavour Sailing in Lanzarote- nice weather, the two instructors were good and the price only worked out around £100 more than doing it with Plas Menai thanks to the cheap flights from Liverpool.
 
rib said:
I wonder who gains the most,a exam in warm nicer conditions ,or one who can take whats thrown at them ...
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Guessing a week in the sun in somewhere like the canaries would be much more fun and educational than hunkered down in the corner of the cockpit cold, wet and miserable around the solent as it's to rough to leave lake solent. Not very motivational, but will teach you lots about being cold, wet amd miserable :)
In rthe canaries few minutes sailing can go from mid teens to 40 + knots in the well defined wind acceleration zones so great to get experience sailing in high winds . What it lacks is traffic and big tides. But the food's so much better :)
 
rib said:
I wonder who gains the most,a exam in warm nicer conditions ,or one who can take whats thrown at them ...
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On which argument you will of course take the course in the Falkland islands or maybe off Cape Horn!:D

RYA coastal skipper isnt about survival in apalling conditions , its about a beginner learning to sail close to the shore where his / her beginner level skills wont be overcome and where he wont be put off .
 
birdseye said:
Do yourself a favour. Do the practical course May to September. Do you really fancy nightsailing in January in a howling gale with snow coming down? Apart from anything else, its dark at 4 and not light til 9. The boat heater will be either noisy or not functinal.
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Its great fun...
 
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