Our one-day course covers all the usual first aid subjects, but from a boating perspective. It is aimed at anyone who goes afloat, whether on inland waters, rivers, estuaries or on cross channel passages
The syllabus is based on the recommendations of the Heath and Safety Executive and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
The subjects specific to boating include
- the recovery position in a confined space
- CPR, including the drowning protocol
- cold shock and hypothermia from immersion and/or exposure
- seasickness and dehydration
- medical assistance or advice by VHF
- helicopter rescue
Advanced first aid while afloat is rarely used but the ability to recognise whether a situation is serious and to look after the casualty until help arrives is a reassurance for skipper and crew.
This certificate is accepted for Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Practical Exam candidates, RYA practical instructors and skippers of small commercial vessels up to category 2.
Training for recreational and racing skippers and crews who encounter rough weather and problems at sea
At the end of the course you will have a good knowledge of the safety equipment carried on small boats and the seamanship techniques needed to survive at sea in heavy weather.
Course topics include:
- the one day sea survival course
- half a day of first aid training
- half a day of training in seamanship and emergencies, including heavy weather seamanship, weather forecasting , fire fighting and man overboard recovery
The certificate awarded conforms with the eligibility requirements of section 6.01 of the ISAF Special Regulation for category 0, 1 and some category 2 offshore faces. These regulations require a percentage of the crew to have taken personal survival training. Full details of the Special Regulations can be found on www.sailing.org
Recommended RYA Books for this course:
RYA Sea Survival Handbook
A one-day course for anyone going to sea, providing and understanding of how to use the safety equipment on board your boat. A genuine lifesaver.
Cruising is one of the safest leisure sporting activities, and 99% of these afloat will never use their life-raft. However, if you are part of the unlucky 0.1% your chances of survival will be greatly increased if you understand how to use the equipment and hot to help yourself. It is a well proven fact that, in the event f an emergency at sea, people with training are more likely to survive
Course Topics include:
- life-rafts and the equipment they contain
- survival techniques
- the design of life jackets
- medical aspects of sea survival
- search and rescue techniques
An important part of the course is a practical session in a swimming pool. Experience first hand the problems of entering an uncooperative life-raft and assisting others whilst fully kitted out in wet weather gear and a life jacket
[quicktime width="480" height="285"]http://www.yachtingtv.co.uk/images/videos/videoarchive/video/sea_survival_skills.mov[/quicktime]
Recommended RYA Books for this course:
Unravel the mysteries of astro navigation, using a sextant, ocean passage making, worldwide meteorology and electronic aids.
This course is for those aspiring to blue water cruising and is ideal for holders of the Yachtmaster Offshore certificate who are preparing for this first ocean passage. Prior to the course your navigation skills should be at the standard of the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore shorebased course.
If you are working towards your Yachtmaster Ocean certificate of competence, completion of this shorebased course exempts you from the written exam.
The course is taught over 40 hours with one exam paper. It can be covered as a series of short sessions, as an intensive week-long course, or by distance learning.
Recommended RYA books for this course:
Advanced training for more experienced skippers building on the Day Skipper course
THis course equips you to navigate safely on coastal and offshore passages. It allows some time for revision of the basics and then moves on to advanced navigation techniques.
Course topics include
- position fixing
- course shaping and plotting
- tidal knowledge
- use of almanacs and admiralty publication
- electronic position finding equipment
- taking and interpreting forecasts
- plotting weather systems
- weather predictions using a barometer and by observation
- collision regulations
- custom and excise regulation for cruising abroad
This course will take your theory knowledge to the standard required for the Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Offshore practical exams, concentrating on advanced navigation and meteorology skills.
As with the Day Skipper shoredbased course, the RYA’s specially designed chart plotter software will be used during the course to give you a realistic taste of modern electronic navigation.
Students in the southern hemisphere can take advantage of the southern hemisphere version of our training materials, ensuring that your course is relevant to you.
This course is taught over 40 hours with three exam papers.
It can be covered as a series of short sessions, as an intensive week-long course, or by distance learning.
Recommended Books for RYA Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore Shorebased:
An introduction to navigation and safety awareness for new, inexperienced or rusty skippers and crew
This course is for anyone new to sailing, motorboating including RIBs and other small powerboats, sean angling and diving as well as experienced dinghy and keelboat sailors and inshore racers
Course topics include
- charts and publications
- safety
- engine checks
- buoyage
- tidal awareness
- visual and electronic navigation
- pilotage
- rules of the road
- anchoring
- weather forecasts
- passage planning
This course is the perfect introduction or refresher for anyone going afloat on inshore waters, and a stepping stone to the more in-depth Day Skipper shorebased course. It also complements our on-the-water training such as the Intermediate Powerboat, Start Yachting, Helmsman or Day Skipper course.
You will receive a course pack which includes a chart, plotter, course handbook, exercises and an electronic chart plotter CD.
This is a highly practical course with lots of opportunities for you to put your new found knowledge into practice using the exercise provided.
The course is taught over 16 hours with exercises to complete along the way. It can be covered as a series of short sessions or over two full days.
Take the guesswork out of radar
Radar sets are becoming commonplace on board cruising boats. In experienced hands, they are a useful aid to safety and pilotage. In inexperienced , untrained hand they can lead you right into danger.
There have been a couple of well publicised accidents when cruising yachts and ships have collided, despite both parties being aware of each others presence. Both skippers had misinterpreted what their radar sets were telling them.
Would you know what to do if the target on your screen seems to be heading straight for you?
The RYA’s one-day radar course clears the fog of confusion, and helps you exploit your set’s strengths and be aware of it’s limitations. It is run either on board using a real radar set, or in the classroom using specialist simulation software. No prior knowledge is required, so the course is great for beginners, but some quite experienced yachtsmen have been surprised at how much they learnt.
“I thought I knew all about radar, but this couse has helped me understand how to get even more from it”
What you get on the course
- Setting up – how the radar measures distances and direction, radar set components and the different types of displays and how they work
- Adjusting the picture – range, gain, brilliance and clutter, and how to tune for a better picture
- Understanding the picture – know your set’s abilities and what you are looking at
- Radar reflectors – how they work, false contacts, shadows, different type of radar reflectors and bearings
- Pilotage by radar – tips on creeping into harbour using radar, using clearing lines and parallel indexing
- Collision Avoidance – using radar for piloting, determining risk and working out how close another vessel will pass you
Around 300 of our training centres run the RYA radar course. If you need help locating on visit RYACourses.com
For new, inexperienced or rusty skippers and crew
“I now feel more confident in my abilities and can’t wait to get on the water and put the theory into practice.”
If you haven’t spent much time afloat, or if you want to move on from simply following orders and tying on fenders, our Basic Navigation and Safety Course can help. This two-day course gives you hands-on introduction to navigation techniques and useful information on how to stay safe afloat, building your confidence and enabling you to play a bigger part on board.
Like many of our courses, the syllabus is relevant to both sail and motor boats. This course, in particular, is easily adapted to suit what you want to do, whether you cruise, race, fish, dive sail, or just potter around in a RIB. It is full of practical advice and plenty of opportunities to practice what you-re taught using the course workbook. The accompanying handbook is packed with easy-to-follow notes and pictures for you to refer to whenever needed
It’s the perfect introduction or refresher and, if you want to learn more, to more advanced shorebased courses such as Day Skipper. Increasingly, people are choosing to take the Basic Navigation and Safety course prior to taking training afloat. This allows them to concentrate on learning how to handle the boat, already armed with the basics.
