We have a passion for teaching others the joy of visiting new ports, whether in a sailing yacht or motor boat – it is just magical!
The entry level theory/ navigation course is actually the Day Skipper shore-based course.
This course is designed for those with little or no actual navigation training. It is for the experienced crew member and novice alike.
The course can be undertaken over 7 or 8 evenings plus a weekend, or over two and a half weekends.
The result of our policy on small class sizes is that you enjoy a great learning experience with superb pass rates.
On completion you will be able to navigate a boat in coastal waters by day. The next step is to put it into practice! For the experienced sailor that is “Day Skipper practical” and for the novice “Competent Crew”.
Small class sizes (6:1) mean you get a great learning experience.
Everything you need to complete the course is provided – even down to a pencil, rubber and pencil sharpener! Your instructor and the chief instructor are on hand between the lessons should they be needed – either by email or telephone.
What if I miss a bit?
This happens to us all from time to time, so we are prepared. On day one you will be given a course schedule. If you miss a session we can help with providing slides, online support and running catch up sessions before future classes.
The course will cover: the basics of seamanship; the essentials of coastal navigation and pilotage; chart work; electronic charts; position fixing; plotting a course to steer; weather forecasting and meteorology; tides; collision regulations; construction, parts and equipment of a cruising boat; emergency and safety procedures including distress calls, use of flares, safety harnesses, lifejackets and liferafts.
You do not have to bring anything with you unless you wish to use your own equipment. You will be provided with everything you need to successfully complete the course.
Same as Ever- Best of the best
Christian was superb - I learnt so much
Thank you
Angus
A big thank you from us Colin. We really appreciate your flexibility when we had to re schedule due to my illness, that was a massive relief. The yachts were clean, well maintained and nice to sail. Will was great as our instructor. We really enjoyed the course as a family.
Thanks for posting the Padstow harbour photo on the blog, it makes me feel proud the fly the banner!It was a brilliant week last week, from calm waters near Lundy to rough seas around Land’s end.
Just an important bit of feedback for you... our skipper, Adam Waugh was fantastic, and is a good ambassador for your company. From the welcoming text on Sunday morning asking of our arrival time, the personal welcome at the jetty. He made it perfectly clear that safety was his main concern, obviously an important point, but glad to be told it.
The week continued with his professionalism and experience, and the character mix on Galliver was perfect. This is always a worrying point for everyone. On leaving the boat, we all cleaned up, but Adam personally went the extra mile. It was immaculate, and smelt good too!
Good people are always hard to find, I would recommend his guy as a skipper!
Thanks again for a good week.
Best Wishes,
Nick
Dear Colin,
Please find my course feedback form attached.
Thank you very much for the course, also particular thanks to Gary who was outstanding!
Many thanks
Vlad
Colin and Jon were very patient as I took some time to "get it" with chartwork. I found it very hard work and far more time consuming than I thought it would be. The online videos were very helpful when doing homework.
Great fun. Don't know how Colin remained so calm with a student parking his boat. A brilliant experience including the food.
A great course. Bev is a great instructor and gave me great support and encouragement even when things didn't quite go according to plan. Now I am truly a Yachtmaster!!
Paul was a great skipper, calm and efficient....and he can cook! This trip has given me the confidence to take my wee boat further afield.
An excellent outfit, well equipped with good boats and brilliant instructors, that is small enough to give a warm personal service but big enough to cope with the full gamut of yachting experiences.
Hi Colin Thanks for sharing this picture 🙂 Let me say once again what a pleasure was meeting you. I felt you were genuinely interested in our success and learning and treated us as friends rather than customers. Thank you All the best with sailing and life, I’m sure our path will cross again soon Stefano - Yachtmaster Offshore Candidate
Dear Colin and Jan, Thank you for forwarding the photos. I also wanted to thank you for a fantastically well organised sailing week in a beautiful location. The peace and calm is such a contrast to sailing on the south coast. The sighting of over forty seals on a sand bank was a real highlight. The instruction was clear, informed and very supportive. I particularly appreciated, as a competent crew trainee, the trust placed in me to try all the tactics expected of the yacht masters. We had a good humoured team on board, many laughs and everyone pulled their weight. Your commitment to deliver an excellent experience was underlined by the provision of very good fresh food with our instructor magically transforming into chef in between imparting sailing skills. I wish you and your family all the best and hope to see you again once I have mastered some theory and quite a few knots.
Hi Colin Just a quick email to say what a great weekend I had, Dave was great. And the food was Fantastic. Thank you