not really a trip report but the best place for it I thought
Being located in the centre of the country, during the winter its mostly days at inland quarries or a very good chance at getting blown out if I'd booked a boat, so I don't book sea diving and hence have little to do (I'm boring really!).
So I thought that I'd look at doing a theory/shorebased skippers course, to give me an idea of what the typical skipper has been through to get to where we see them.
I'd emailed the RYA and was given the details of an experienced local (very local as I later found out!) instructer to speak with. He couldn't have been more accomodating, I could do evenings, midweek or weekends to suit me and his existing schedule.
I booked in to do the RYA Day Skipper Shorebased, and as I didn't want to do 30 evenings, decided to go the fast-track route, picking 6 weekend dates to finish before Christmas. So it was late November I went down to his house, where he has a nice classroom set-up to start the course. I'd also managed to get one-to-one tuition which I thought would help me greatly, and was soon glad I did.
Over the six days we learnt the basics of:
terminology of boats and nautical terms
chartwork
tidal heights & streams
position fixing
course to steer
buoyage and pilotage
safety
meteorology
passage planning
collision regs
passage making
We'd specialised on power-driven rather than sailing boats, as this fitted in with my idea of what a proper boat was! It was quite intensive which although thats the reason I booked the days I had, was hard work in parts, and more than I originally anticipated. I struggled to understand some of the basics even though I thought I knew them beforehand and made a mess of a couple of sections but thats what the course was all about. It was a reference course, you weren't meant to remember everything, and was certainly an "if in doubt, refer to the books rather than guess", just like in real life.
The exams we're continually assessed as you worked through the sections of the course rather than a large one at the end, which I liked. And it was great to know that at the end I'd passed.
So that was RYA Day Skipper Shorebased which is the theory side of a two section qualification. The other being the practical part which puts the theory into reality.
Having got on quite well with it I thought, I wanted to carry on, so booked up to do the RYA Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Shorebased Course. Again I wanted the fast-track one-to-one, so we booked in 6 weekend days after Christmas, the last being today.
The course was covering some of the same subjects as the previous one but in much more detail, and also some new topics. It was certainly a much tougher course, which was partially what I was expecting, given the possible qualification (and responsibility) at the end of it.
Again, the exams we're continually assessed, marking was tough and if you got something wrong, you had to explain the reasons why you gave the answer you did, but not in a strict teacher type way!
So that was RYA Coastal Skipper & Yachtmaster Shorebased which again is the theory side of a two section qualification.
Anyway, the good news is, today I passed!!!
So its "just" a matter now of getting quite a few (read 2500) hours practical experience starting off with the basics, working my way up to the actual driving of a boat (plus a few other things like long and night passages) before I can do the practical part of the qualification which will
eventually lead to a full skipper qualification, which is the long-long term goal
Happy bunny tonight so the crate of 1664 has been opened
