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I thought I'd start a new thread, rather than hijack the photo one.
To get Started you Need Day Skipper theory and practical. Both are about 5 days each. IMO it's worth doing the theory in a classroom rather than on-line as you will learn a lot more. The online courses are really just ticking the box. They are enough as most of it will come together in the practical. You will learn.
Navigation theory, tides, weather etc.
how to estimate a position and plot a course to steer
what some of the lights and shapes mean
the basics of collision avoidance regulations etc
How to do a passage plan and a pilot plan.
general safety, life jackets, flares.
How to work out how much chain you need when anchoring.
calculating tides
For practical
putting the sails up an down
reefing
points of sail
manoeuvring/parking etc
everything you learned in the theory put in to practice.
you'll do some night sailing
man over board recovery.
its not really a pass/fail. as long as you can skipper the boat reasonably safely, park it without crashing it, recover your mob and roughly set your sails for the wind you will pass.
You also need a radio licence
To charter in Europe you will need to get an ICC. The Day skipper ticket covers you for this and RYA will issue it free to members. You may find charter companies reluctant to rent you a 40+ footer bare boat with no experience on day skipper, but you will find plenty of flotilla companies ready to sign you up. It can be good to start with flotilla since they take care of everything.
When you buy a boat, it's a false economy to go too small as a sub 30 footer will be really limited in terms of use. Anything over F5 is going to be to be rough and sleeping on a small boat under anchor isn't much fun.
There is plenty of choice in 30-36 foot
To get Started you Need Day Skipper theory and practical. Both are about 5 days each. IMO it's worth doing the theory in a classroom rather than on-line as you will learn a lot more. The online courses are really just ticking the box. They are enough as most of it will come together in the practical. You will learn.
Navigation theory, tides, weather etc.
how to estimate a position and plot a course to steer
what some of the lights and shapes mean
the basics of collision avoidance regulations etc
How to do a passage plan and a pilot plan.
general safety, life jackets, flares.
How to work out how much chain you need when anchoring.
calculating tides
For practical
putting the sails up an down
reefing
points of sail
manoeuvring/parking etc
everything you learned in the theory put in to practice.
you'll do some night sailing
man over board recovery.
its not really a pass/fail. as long as you can skipper the boat reasonably safely, park it without crashing it, recover your mob and roughly set your sails for the wind you will pass.
You also need a radio licence
To charter in Europe you will need to get an ICC. The Day skipper ticket covers you for this and RYA will issue it free to members. You may find charter companies reluctant to rent you a 40+ footer bare boat with no experience on day skipper, but you will find plenty of flotilla companies ready to sign you up. It can be good to start with flotilla since they take care of everything.
When you buy a boat, it's a false economy to go too small as a sub 30 footer will be really limited in terms of use. Anything over F5 is going to be to be rough and sleeping on a small boat under anchor isn't much fun.
There is plenty of choice in 30-36 foot
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