Coastal Skipper – Suggested itinerary
DAY 1
On the first day of arrival at Hamble Point Marina, check in at our office (adjacent to The Ketch) You will be provided with wet weather gear and shown to your yacht. Fuel yourself up with breakfast onboard, after which you will receive a full safety briefing.
This week you will be focusing on the techniques required to skipper a yacht safely on longer coastal passages.
The morning will act as a refresher of your skills, consolidating your knowledge. We will work on position fixing and sailing manoueveres such as reefing, tacking, and gybing. Time will be spent on boat handling with lots of practice mooring in varying conditions.
Lunch will be taken at an anchorage or mooring bay and your instructor will discuss the use of life rafts and emergency situations such as flooding and collision. In the afternoon the ‘man overboard procedure will be practiced without the use of the engine.
Evening accommodation is provided onboard where you will be preparing a meal at sea and eating with your crew. Enjoy a trip ashore for a beer to celebrate your first day’s hard work and accomplishments!
DAY 2 – 4
Freshen up at the Marina showers and have a bite for breakfast onboard. Over the next 3 days, each student will take part in the planning and execution of a leg of night sailing while we steadily work through the RYA Coastal Skipper syllabus. This gives every student the time to develop their skills and confidently deal with potential issues associated with longer passages, managing all aspects of the yacht to maximise crew comfort and safety. We will tackle issues like navigation in reduced visibility, and identification of buoys at night.
We will focus on crew leadership and seamanship skills, practicing advanced chartwork, and use of electronic navigation techniques and students will undertake pilotage by night with consideration of longer-range weather forecasts. Confidently utilising tools such as GPS and chart plotters. You will be responsible for engine checks throughout each day.
Advanced sailing trim techniques and rudderless sailing will be covered alongside entry and departures from harbours finding unlit marks in navigational exercises. This will include blind navigation and anchoring in specific spots.
Each day will be followed with an instructor debrief to aid learning and development effectively. Where possible you will stop ashore for ‘down time’ and to explore.
DAY 5
Today you will be sailing back to Hamble with your newfound confidence and day-skipper knowledge and skills. There will be opportunities to refine exercises and fine-tune aspects of the course you have been practicing. A break for lunch will usually be taken at a mooring buoy with a return to Hamble by approximately 3.00 pm. Time will be spent clearing the yacht, and returning your wet weather gear followed by the appropriate certification given.
All your catering is provided for the duration of the course, and you will have the opportunity to prepare food on board. There may be times when we are able to step ashore for refreshments and a visit to a local pub/eatery.
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