Yet another DS practical question

[spindly_killer_fish]

For those who have done the cert recently, how did you find it?

The 'ol balloon knot is starting to twitch now as I have mine coming Monday and I took my theory back in March (i actually thoguht it would take much longer)

We done it with a company where you hire the entire boat so its just me for DS, the wife and daughter will be doing comp crew, on a stunning 2025 41 footer.

I did ask the skipper on our last day sail if he'd failed anyone to which he said 2 people in 8 years which gives me some hope.....although he twatted the boat going out and coming in :/

Thoughts? tips?

 

[ylop]

Don't think about it as pass or fail this isn't a driving test where they are ticking boxes - you'll likely be fine if you already have reasonably recent theory and can sail. People who seem to run into trouble are people who thought they could skip the prior experience. If someone is trying to skip the Comp Crew stage and doesn't have enough prior knowledge then a good instructor/school would just issue Comp Crew to them too. We took my daughter to do CC alongside my DS when she was quite young and the school said sometime at that age they don't do enough to get the full CC cert, but they would still issue Start Yachting. She did actually get CC just fine, and whilst she's now a lazy teenager so needs poked with a boathook to do anything she's actually very good.

What surprised me (in a good way) from the course was it was much less about "sailing" or "manoeuvring" than about how you manage and look after your crew. With family aboard the dynamic may be different from a bunch of other experts - make sure you allocate them meaningful tasks and explain them well.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Its a course completion certificate, not an examination. If you have been taught all the syllabus items, and you have demonstrated the required competency for Day Skipper level, meet the miles, days on boat and night hours criteria, you will be fine.

 

[wonkywinch]

For those who have done the cert recently, how did you find it?

The 'ol balloon knot is starting to twitch now as I have mine coming Monday and I took my theory back in March (i actually thoguht it would take much longer)

We done it with a company where you hire the entire boat so its just me for DS, the wife and daughter will be doing comp crew, on a stunning 2025 41 footer.

I did ask the skipper on our last day sail if he'd failed anyone to which he said 2 people in 8 years which gives me some hope.....although he twatted the boat going out and coming in :/

Thoughts? tips?

Have you got the RYA logbook? It lists all the DS stuff, just pay close attention to the difference between the words "can" and "knowledge of", the latter being almost "fog? oh yes, I heard of that and saw some once" being good enough for "knowledge of".

 

[spindly_killer_fish]

Have you got the RYA logbook? It lists all the DS stuff, just pay close attention to the difference between the words "can" and "knowledge of", the latter being almost "fog? oh yes, I heard of that and saw some once" being good enough for "knowledge of".

the course comes with the RYA logbook, but ill also be taking a few books and study stuff with me to refresh info.

 

[Kwik Decision]

For those who have done the cert recently, how did you find it?

The 'ol balloon knot is starting to twitch now as I have mine coming Monday and I took my theory back in March (i actually thoguht it would take much longer)

We done it with a company where you hire the entire boat so its just me for DS, the wife and daughter will be doing comp crew, on a stunning 2025 41 footer.

I did ask the skipper on our last day sail if he'd failed anyone to which he said 2 people in 8 years which gives me some hope.....although he twatted the boat going out and coming in :/

Thoughts? tips?

Doing your DS course on a boat with only 2 other students on board, and as the only DS candidate means that you'll get a lot more time on the helm / practicing than if you had lucked out, and ended up being one of 5 DS candidates. It's also likely that your wife and daughter will cover some of the DS syllabus as well as CC (getting back to and recovering a MoB?), simply because there will be time.
However to be really well prepared, I would:
a) go back to the Comp Crew syllabus, and make sure that you are comfortable doing everything on it (can tie all the knots, use a winch safely, understand what's required when tacking, gybing, reefing etc)
b) go back to your theory and do a little revision. If you did it in a week, you're bound to have forgotten a fair bit, unless you've been practicing or using it. If you can work out the course to steer to get to a specific destination when sailing across a current, you'll be in a better position than most DS candidates.

 

[wonkywinch]

the course comes with the RYA logbook, but ill also be taking a few books and study stuff with me to refresh info.

My point was that the RYA logbook contains a list of everything you'll be expected to know or demonstrate during the week. It's a course, successful completion (ie don't crash or sink) will earn you the ticket.

Worth joining the RYA and getting an ICC on the back of the DS if you plan on chartering in the Med.

 

[spindly_killer_fish]

My point was that the RYA logbook contains a list of everything you'll be expected to know or demonstrate during the week. It's a course, successful completion (ie don't crash or sink) will earn you the ticket.

Worth joining the RYA and getting an ICC on the back of the DS if you plan on chartering in the Med.

yeah i have high hopes, i don't consider myself a complete muppet...yet. it seems the general pass rate is very high. I will definitely be joining the RYA and getting the ICC as well as doing the breaker breaker licence (although thats a PITA as i live in the sticks and its a couple of hours to find a centre).

I guess it also helps that its just me for the DS so i can have a bit more focus, downside being i cant learn from others i guess.

 

[Reptile Smile]

Did mine recently. Enjoyed the process, and was lucky that I was the only one there doing DS so plenty of practice in nav, and, as others have said, actually skippering - that is, leadership skills, rather than just manoever ing skills.

I'm also going to get my ICC, but have no intention of joining the RYA - out of interest, what do you see as the plus points of joining them?

 

[ylop]

I'm also going to get my ICC, but have no intention of joining the RYA - out of interest, what do you see as the plus points of joining them?

The reason RYA membership gets mentioned in an ICC context are the ICC is free to members. “Coincidentally” it costs the same to join the RYA as it does to get an ICC as a non member, so you could view it as you get 1 year of free membership. That lets you work out if it has any plus points for you.

 

[wonkywinch]

Did mine recently. Enjoyed the process, and was lucky that I was the only one there doing DS so plenty of practice in nav, and, as others have said, actually skippering - that is, leadership skills, rather than just manoever ing skills.

I'm also going to get my ICC, but have no intention of joining the RYA - out of interest, what do you see as the plus points of joining them?

As ylop says, you can pay £59 for an ICC as a non member. Or pay £59 minus the £5/£10 discount coupon that comes with many of the course pass certs and get a year's RYA and a 5 year ICC for the same or less money.

 

[spindly_killer_fish]

I found myself re-reading a lot of this stuff over the last couple of days to brush up and prepare, the question is....would you take any or all of this stuff on the DS practical? is it useful?, overboard?, trying too hard? or just a waste of time?

 

[Reptile Smile]

I took a small book of ColRegs to revise at night. I wouldn't bother taking anything else, other than maybe a book to jot notes or meos down in. not in terms of taking notes from the instructor like in classroom setting or something, just somewhere to scribble down things that occur to you.

 

[ylop]

I think I was told to bring whatever theory notes I would like for passage planning - so I’d take one but not all of them. You will need to make a passsage plan so paper and pencil are useful. If there’s a template or style you like print it off.

 

[Reptile Smile]

Yes, good point. I didn't take passage planning template, and that would have been useful. I did take my own pencils, plotter, dividers, etc, though they were all available on the boat.

 

[spindly_killer_fish]

Right so, colregs book, notebook, pen/pencil, plotter/dividers, and notes.....that will be a bit lighter I do have printed templates which will be useful.

 

[wonkywinch]

Right so, colregs book, notebook, pen/pencil, plotter/dividers, and notes.....that will be a bit lighter I do have printed templates which will be useful.

I find the colregs flip cards much easier to learn from than any book. It turns learning them almost into a game with others on board.

Flip Cards

 

[spindly_killer_fish]

I find the colregs flip cards much easier to learn from than any book. It turns learning them almost into a game with others on board.

Flip Cards

thats a decent shout, although probably a bit late in the day for this course, i might just get them to drum it in though, this time its just me, the wife and daughter and im the only one thats done any studying (the others are put down for comp crew but in reality arent bothered if they get participation certs)

what do they do in the evenings? do you live on the boat 24/7 or is there shore time or downtime for paddleboards etc.? do they goto different marinas and make a trip out of hte course or is it back to the same base everyday (because thats boring as hell)

 

[Kwik Decision]

what do they do in the evenings? do you live on the boat 24/7 or is there shore time or downtime for paddleboards etc.? do they goto different marinas and make a trip out of hte course or is it back to the same base everyday (because thats boring as hell)

The course should be a cruise, staying at different places each night, weather permitting. Ideally there will be one or two nights at anchor, or on a buoy rather than going to a marina each night. The dinghy will have to come out and be used, as that's part of comp crew, and one night will be very late, as there needs to be ~4 hrs night sailing. As you're well prepared there shouldn't be the need to cover lots of theory in the evenings, so there should be some shore time. I don't know of any school boats which carry paddle boards, but I've been out of the game for a few years...

 

[wonkywinch]

thats a decent shout, although probably a bit late in the day for this course, i might just get them to drum it in though, this time its just me, the wife and daughter and im the only one thats done any studying (the others are put down for comp crew but in reality arent bothered if they get participation certs)

what do they do in the evenings? do you live on the boat 24/7 or is there shore time or downtime for paddleboards etc.? do they goto different marinas and make a trip out of hte course or is it back to the same base everyday (because thats boring as hell)

Who are you doing the course with?

I doubt there will be any down time at all, there is a lot to cram in, and certainly not enough time for the instructor to drum in anything that you are expected to have known from the shore based course, eg colregs, position fixes, calculating course to steer etc. The week is more to consolidate and put into practise what you've only seen on paper until now. It isn't time to teach those topics you don't know.

Yes, you are most likely to do a tour of the local sailing area with nights at anchor, on a buoy and in another marina or two.

You also need 4 hours of night sailing as part of the course. In the summer, that does mean one very late night. Generally expect 10 hour days, the instructors I've met, in this respect, offer incredibly good value but the course will stress test your relationship. For that reason, my partner and I did our courses completely separately from each other (albeit with the same instructor who was a personal friend).

Most chandlers sells the flip cards. Colregs are a very useful skill for any of your crew whether qualified or not. Eg, 6 year old says "Dad, there is another yacht over there but it's OK, we're on a starboard tack".