rya yachtmaster greece

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Mobile: 0030 6971638893

Skype: Thessalia Sailing

Whatsapp: 0030 6971638893

RYA sailing courses in Greece

SUMMER SPECIAL OFFERS

20% discount on Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses in September.

Maximum 5 students to 1 instructor and you will never be asked to share a cabin with a complete stranger.

Not sure which RYA course is the right one for you?

Our courses chart will help you decide.

Minimum age for all courses is 18

Rya competent crew, beginner to rya day skipper, intermediate, rya day skipper, day skipper (combined), mile building trips, skipper's training week, rya coastal skipper, coastal skipper (combined), rya yachtmaster offshore, yachtmaster (combined), shorebased theory, professional practices and responsibilities, src (vhf online course) , online theory courses.

delivered by Navathome,

an RYA-Recognised Training Centre specialising in online training

RYA Day Skipper theory

RYA Coastal Skipper theory

Based in the region of Thessaly, Greece, as seen in Practical Boat Owner August 2016. Thessalia School of Sailing offers RYA courses from Competent Crew and Day Skipper to Yachtmaster.

Thessalia School of Sailing is a British-owned sailing school in Greece, run by husband and wife team, Carl and Liz.

We run RYA sailing courses with a maximum of five students to one instructor and our school yacht, El Nino, has 4 large cabins.

Learn to sail in the beautiful Pagasitikos Gulf.

End a day’s tuition with fantastic, fresh Greek cooking in a picturesque harbour.

OUR SEASONS SAILING

Our sailing area

Click for a larger image.

Testimonials

John Colling (September 2019)

Carl is an experienced and very knowledgeable instructor and we learnt a great deal more than we anticipated, given our previous knowledge of being at sea on ships etc.

Click here for more

SAILING COURSES

This course is for beginners and those who would like to become active crew members rather than just passengers..

Learn to steer, handle sails, keep a lookout, row a dinghy and assist in all the day to day duties on board.

Thessalia School of Sailing runs the 5 day course from Sunday to Thursday. You will arrive in Volos on Saturday and spend the first night on the boat. We will arrive back in Volos on Thursday evening, leaving you free to travel home on Friday or Saturday.

Book this course

If you already have basic knowledge of sailing and wish to move up to the next level, the Day Skipper course will provide you with the experience required to skipper a yacht.

The RYA no longer distinguish between tidal and non-tidal sailing areas, so a certificate gained in Greece has the same value as one attained in the UK.

Thessalia School of Sailing runs the 5 day course from Sunday to Thursday . You will arrive in Volos on Saturday and spend the first night on the boat. We will arrive back in Volos on Thursday evening, leaving you free to travel home on Friday or Saturday.

This course is for yachtsmen and women with considerable knowledge of sailing and navigation, wanting to undertake longer coastal passages by day and night.

The training moves away from the shorter passages of day skipper and starts looking at passages that require watch-keeping routines, crew management and the ability to pilot a vessel both day and night. with longer passages it is less likely that you will be familiar with the sailing area, so a higher level of overall navigational and pilotage skill needs to be developed.

Before joining us for the practical course, you will need to complete the RYA Coastal Skipper/ Yachtmaster™ Offshore shorebased course, delivered by Navathome.com, an RYA-recognised training centre specialising in online training.

You can complete the theory and practical with our Coastal Skipper Combined course.

RYA Yachtmaster Offshore

A holder of the yachtmaster™ offshore certificate is competent to skipper a cruising yacht on any passage during which the yacht is no more than 150 miles from harbour., a commercially-endorsed yachtmaster offshore certificate allows the holder to work in the industry, anywhere in the world..

Learn to sail in the idyllic conditions of the eastern Mediterranean.

You will be expected to have completed the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore shorebased course before joining us in Volos.

Under the professional tuition of an RYA Yachtmaster Instructor, you will be coached to meet the exacting requirements of the RYA Examiner during the preparation week.

With a maximum of 3 students to 1 instructor, you will have plenty of time to practice: sailing by day and night, theory revision, and brushing up on your personal sailing skills.

The course begins on Saturday afternoon in Volos, arriving back in Volos on wednesday afternoon. The exam will begin on Thursday morning and finish on either Friday or Saturday morning, depending on the number of students.

COMBINED COURSES including the online theory

Day skipper combined.

Although the RYA does not specify the completion of the theory course before commencing with the practical, we recommend that you at least begin the online theory course before coming to Greece. This will give you a good grounding of navigation, collision regulations and nautical terms before the practical.

If you don’t complete the theory before joining us for the practical you can complete it afterwards without effecting your success with the practical course.

12 day beginner to Day Skipper

Go from absolute beginner to day skipper in 12 days, able to confidently skipper a yacht..

The course includes the RYA Day Skipper Shorebased online course, delivered by Navathome.com, an RYA-recognised training centre specialising in online training.

You will arrive in Volos on Saturday and spend the first night on the boat in Volos harbour.

We begin on Sunday, with the 5 day RYA Competent Crew course, followed by 2 days of rest to brush up on your chartwork in the stunning surroundings of Mount Pelion. Then it's back aboard for the RYA Day Skipper Practical course from Sunday to Thursday. We will arrive back in Volos on Thursday evening, leaving you free to travel home on Friday or Saturday.

Coastal Skipper combined

In order to qualify for the Coastal Skipper practical, you must have completed the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore theory course. This is available online and can be completed before coming to Greece.

This theory course also qualifies you to take the Yachtmaster Offshore practical exam.

Yachtmaster Offshore combined

In order to qualify for the Yachtmaster practical exam, you must have completed the Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore theory course. This is available online and can be completed before coming to Greece.

OTHER COURSES AND EVENTS

Mile-building trips, build your experience, improve your confidence and advance your practical knowledge, whilst putting hundreds of miles in your log., our mile building trips are ideal for both experienced and inexperienced sailors alike. whether you have just passed your day skipper and wish to put some miles under your belt whilst polishing your skills, or whether you want to experience some proper sailing with fifty or sixty mile passages, experiencing night passages and watches, our circumnavigation of the northern aegean has everything to offer..

We run these trips in the Spring and Autumn when the Meltemi wind is at its weakest. 

There’s no reason for a training trip to be unpleasant.

The route of course, is susceptible to change due to varying weather conditions, but this will play a part in gaining experience as we listen to the forecast and discuss passage planning.

As well as some serious sailing, we will be stopping in some of the most stunning places that the North Aegean has to offer. The Sporades islands are one of the last un-spoilt areas of the Mediterranean. You will enjoy nights in idyllic harbours, enjoying the local food and wine and nights at anchor in secluded bays with the Milky Way overhead.

Everyone will have a chance to skipper the boat and plan passages, safe under the watchful eyes of your English RYA Yachtmaster Instructor.

​ Thessalia School of Sailing is an RYA-recognised training centre offering RYA sailing courses in Greece

• Sivota Bay, 31082, Lefkada
• Call us: +302102206871

RYA / MCA Yachtmaster Offshore Theory & Preparation

Rya yachtmaster theory & preparation with ionianmode in greece, rya yachtmaster offshore theory & practical preparation course .

• A fitting blend between practical and theory lessons for sailors with experience wanting to sit the Yachtmaster Offshore Exams
• This combination of theory and practical courses is aiming to prepare experienced skippers for the Yachtmaster Offshore exams.
• The duration of the theory course is 6 days ( 09.00 to 18.00 ) and it will be held in our classroom in Sivota  Lefkada, followed by 5 days of practical preparation and the exams the duration of which is 1 to 2 days depending on the number of candidates.

• INDIVIDUALS Join our tuition yacht together with other students and learn how to sail in the Ionian combing training with holidays. You will share the yacht with maximum another 4 students plus the instructor . Provisions for breakfast and lunch as well all the expenses of the yacht are included in the price. Accomodation may be shared and sallon berths may be used.
• PRIVATE TUITION For small groups of friends and families who want to learn how to sail together the option of a private tuition is ideal as you won’t share the yacht with someone else except your instructor. Charter a coded vessel from our fleet considering a cabin for your instructor and combine training with holidays. ( fuel, provisions, the cost of the instructor’s meals and mooring fees are not incuded in the price )

Further Information ? Contact Us

The courses in detail and Pre-requisites to participate

Rya yachtmaster coastal / offshore theory ( classroom ).

The RYA Yachtmaster Coastal / Offshore theory course is shore-based. This course is an advanced navigation course for experienced skippers who want to expand the knowledge gained during the RYA Day skipper theory course. This course will equip 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. This course includes lots of advanced navigation, advanced meteorology, regulations, advanced chartwork, passage planning as well pilotage. Our classroom is fully equipped with all the necessary course materials and essential parts and equipment of a yacht where you will be able to familiarize yourself with the safety and communication equipment of a yacht.

RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore ( Preparation & Exam )

The holders of the MCA / RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate with commercial endorsement can skipper a commercial yacht <200 gt up to 150 miles from safe heaven day or night. The MCA / RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate is a great achievement for those who want to start a career in yachting as well as for recreational sailors who want to expand their knowledge and improve their skippering skills. The holders of MCA / RYA Yachtmaster Offshore have the option to become instructors as well as to progress to the MCA merchant scheme. The duration of the preparation is 5 days followed by a 1 to 2 days exam depending on the number of candidates. The 5-day preparation is quite intense and is conducted by experienced Yachtmaster instructors to already experienced sailors with deep knowledge of theory. During the preparation, your instructor will coach you accordingly to fill any gaps and improve any weaknesses of yours. The duration of the exam is 8 to 12 hours per candidate in which you will have to demonstrate a wide breadth of existing knowledge and skippering skills.

Next Steps After the  RYA Yachtmaster Offshore 

The holders of an MCA / RYA Yachtmaster Offshore certificate have the option to become instructors as well as to progress to the MCA merchant scheme.

More information about the RYA Scheme can be found at the RYA Official website www.rya.org.uk

What’s Included

• Services of experienced RYA instructors
• Yachtmaster theory notes
• All course materials available
• Coffee/tea / snacks during the theory course
• Accommodation on the training yacht throughout the practical course (and theory dependent on availability)
• Provisions for meals onboard throughout the practical preparation
• Fuel, gas, water, mooring fees
• Bed linen, towels

What’s not included

• Cost of meals during the theory course
• Cost of drinks and meals ashore during the practical preperation
• Cost of transfers and flights to / from our base

Combination of theory and practical course

• Navigation and meteorology theory
• Ideal for those who want to start a career as professional skippers
• Ideal for recreational sailors who want to expand their knowledge and improve their skippering skills
• Prerequisite to become an RYA instructor
• Prerequisite to progress to the MCA merchant scheme

Get In Touch

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Sailing Qualifications

To skipper a bareboat charter or flotilla yacht, you need to hold a practical sailing certificate equivalent to RYA Day Skipper Practical qualification or RYA International Certificate of Competence (ICC) . For charters in Greece, you must now have the ICC certificate . You must also be assisted by at least one competent crew member over the age of 18.

The port authorities in Greece are now insisting on one of the following practical certificates: RYA ICC (International Certificate of Competence), RYA Coastal, RYA Yachtmaster, ASA IPC (International Proficiency Certificate) or the IYT (International Yacht Training) Passport. If you hold an RYA Day Skipper or ASA104 it will no longer be accepted and you need to obtain either an ICC or IPC from the corresponding issuing body (RYA or ASA). If your RYA Coastal/Yachtmaster or ASA105/106 certificate is more than 12 years old and does not have a photo ID, then we would also strongly advise applying for an ICC or IPC. If you are a member of the RYA or ASA, you may qualify for a discount or free certificate, otherwise, you will have to pay. The approximate cost is £50. Please use this link - RYA application for the ICC or ASA application for the IPC.

For charters in Croatia, Malta and the Canaries , at least one member of the crew or the skipper will also need a VHF licence .

RYA qualifications can be obtained by RYA sailing schools in the UK or alternatively choose from one of our overseas centres in Gibraltar, Greece or Turkey .

For  Seychelles,  the local authorities require an ICC for the skipper of a bareboat or flotilla yacht charter.

For Caribbean and Tropical charters, formal qualifications are not compulsory, however, you should be Day Skipper standard and be assisted by at least one competent crew . A brief sailing resume should be provided to outline your experience.

For Thailand A Day Skipper qualification is required as a minimum and you must have at least 3 weeks of skippering experience prior to your charter. A VHF qualification is compulsory.

If you don't hold the relevant qualifications then why not add a skipper ?

Sailing Levels

Winds force 2-3 (4-11 Knots)combined with generally shorter distances. Good for beginner or intermediate sailors. Line-of-sight navigation but basic knowledge of charts and ability to plot your position required.

Winds force 3-5 (7-21 Knots) with approximately 15-20nm per day. Intermediate experience required. Predominately line of sight navigation but an understanding of how to sail in open water.

Winds force 4-6 (11-27 Knots) with mileage of approximately 20nm+ per day. Ideal for experienced skippers looking to venture out to new destinations. Day skipper standard but with experienced crew would be recommended.

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Rya sail training holidays in aegina, greece.

Aegina is an unspoilt Greek island, less than an hour from Athens by hydrofoil, and the perfect place for you to get your RYA practical sailing certificates in the sun, whether you're a complete novice looking for RYA Competent Crew qualification or a crew member ready to achieve RYA Day Skipper. The good news is this sailing school is now open all year round.

Singles and couples can book onto the 5-day shared courses which run with up to 5 students sleeping onboard a tuition yacht. Couples and groups can also hire a private instructor and yacht for the week. Students may have different levels of experience, but different courses run on the same boat at the same time.

Private tuition is ideal for families who want to get a mixture of training. While adults complete the or RYA Day Skipper course, children over 12 can get their RYA Competent Crew, and younger kids can get involved looking out for wildlife and learning knots.

To ensure success in your RYA Day Skipper qualification you need to have previous experience of chart work, navigation, buoyage, and collision regulations. If you do not have theoretical knowledge you can take the popular 7 day RYA Essential Navigation + Day Skipper Theory & Practical Combined package. We ask you to complete the 10 hour online RYA Essential Navigation & Seamanship course before arriving in Aegina. Once in Aegina, you take part in the classroom based theory tuition which covers the more advanced topics which you will need. The next five days is spent on the training yacht completing the practical section of the course.

The school is run by a team of highly experienced English-speaking instructors, chosen as much for their friendly personalities as their full RYA instructor qualifications.

The practical courses are 5 days long, Monday to Friday, with arrival on Sunday afternoon, the package course starts Saturday Morning.

Athens is well served with direct flights from multiple UK airports. From Athens airport, there is an airport bus to Piraeus ferry port where you can catch a hydrofoil ferry for a 40 minute boat trip straight to Aegina.

The sailing area includes picturesque islands and traditionally Greek ports in the Saronic Gulf which are relatively unspoiled by foreign tourism. Although close to Athens, once you set sail, you'll be well away from the crowds.

RYA Competent Crew Course

This is a 5 day course for beginners who want to become active crew members. By the end of the course, you will know how to steer, handle sails, keep a lookout, row a dinghy and assist with everyday tasks onboard.

Suggested pre-course experience:  None Assumed knowledge:  None Minimum age: 12 Duration:  5 days Course content:  Knowledge of terms & parts, sail handling, rope work, safety, basic meteorology, helmsmanship, general duties, keeping a log, sail with a dinghy. Ability after course:  By the end of the course you should be able to steer, handle sails, keep a lookout, row a dinghy and assist in all the day to day routines on board. Number of students: Maximum 5

5 Days Liveaboard Practical Tuition

Summer 2024 (Jul, Aug & Sep): £1475/person (single); £1275/person (shared cabin); from £5400 private yacht Mid season 2024 (May, Jun & Oct): £1305/person (single); £1115/person (shared cabin); from £5100 private yacht Low season 2024 (Mar, Apr & Nov): £1095/person (single); £900/person (shared cabin); from £3515 private yacht

Includes: Accommodation Sun-Fri, all yacht expenses, RYA course books and certificates, linen & towels, loan of waterproof jackets in low season, breakfast & lunch (cabin charter only) Not included: flights to Athens and transfers by ferry to Aegina, evening meals.

RYA courses are offered through RYA Recognised Training centre Aegean Sailing School.

RYA Day Skipper Course

By the end of this 5 day course, you’ll be able to skipper your own small yacht in familiar waters. The course teaches pilotage, navigation, seamanship & boat handling. This is the minimum level for people who want to charter a sailboat.

Suggested pre-course experience:  5 days sea time, including 100 miles and 4 night hours. Assumed knowledge:  Day Skipper theory course knowledge is recommended. Minimum age: 16 Duration:  5 days Course content:  Pilotage, boat handling, seamanship and navigation. Ability after course:  Can skipper a small yacht in familiar waters by day. Number of students: Maximum 5

Includes: Accommodation Sun-Fri, all yacht expenses, RYA course books and certificates, linen & towels, loan of waterproof jackets in low season, breakfast & lunch (cabin charter only) Not included: flights to Athens and transfers by ferry to Aegina, evening meals.

7 Day RYA Essential Navigation + Day Skipper Theory and Practical Combined

If you are already a competent crew member, this is a popular combination of courses to take your sailing to the next level. You study navigation & chart-work over the weekend immediately before taking your RYA Day Skipper Practical.

Previous experience:  RYA Competent Crew or equivalent experience. Completion of the RYA Essential Navigation & Seamanship online theory course is compulsory before arriving in Aegina. Minimum age:  16 Duration:  7 days Course content:  Navigation & chart work. Pilotage, boat handling, seamanship and navigation. Ability after course:  Can skipper a small yacht in familiar waters by day. Number of students: Maximum 5

2 Days Shorebased Tuition + 5 Days Liveaboard Practical Tuition

Summer 2024 (Jul, Aug & Sep): £1925/person (single); £1725/person (shared cabin); from £7050 private yacht Mid season 2024 (May, Jun & Oct): £1735/person (single); £1545/person (shared cabin); from £6750 private yacht Low season 2024 (Mar, Apr & Nov): £1520/person (single); £1330/person (shared cabin); from £5125 private yacht

Includes: Accommodation onboard Sun-Fri, all yacht expenses, RYA course books and certificates, linen & towels, loan of waterproof jackets in low season, breakfast & lunch (cabin charter only) Not included: Accommodation onshore Friday & Saturday, flights to Athens and transfers by ferry to Aegina, evening meals.

12-Day RYA Competent Crew + Essential Navigation + Day Skipper Theory & Practical Combined

Suggested pre-course experience: None Assumed knowledge:  None Minimum age: 16 Duration: 12 days Course content:  Knowledge of terms & parts, sail handling, rope work, safety, basic meteorology, helmsmanship, general duties, keeping a log, sail with a dinghy, pilotage, boat handling, seamanship and navigation & chart work. Ability after course: By the end of the course you should be able to steer, handle sails, keep a lookout, row a dinghy, assist in all the day-to-day routines on board and skipper a small yacht in familiar waters by day. Number of students: Maximum 5

5 Days Liveaboard Practical Tuition + 2 Days Shorebased Tuition + 5 Days Liveaboard Practical Tuition

Summer 2024 (Jul, Aug & Sep): £3150/person (single); £2750/person (shared cabin); from £12,390 private yacht Mid season 2024 (May, Jun & Oct): £2895/person (single); £2515/person (shared cabin); from £11,790 private yacht Low season 2024 (Mar, Apr & Nov): £2615/person (single); £2235/person (shared cabin); from £9,350 private yacht

Includes: Accommodation for 10 nights (Sun-Fri) during the practical elements of the course spent on board the yacht, all yacht expenses, RYA course books and certificates, linen & towels, loan of waterproof jackets in low season, breakfast & lunch (cabin charter only) Not included: Accommodation onshore Friday & Saturday during the theory portion of the course, flights to Athens and transfers by ferry to Aegina, evening meals.

RYA Day Skipper Training Journal by Kali, Nautilus Yachting

Keen to complete the Day Skipper I enrolled in the Aegean Learn to Sail programme.

I am by no means a great sailor, having simply sailed dinghies at school many years ago, I prepared for the course with two weeks on the water being ship's first mate/lacky. Plus in the lead-up to my course studied day skipper theory for about 40 hours online.

Arriving in Aegina, and was impressed by the vibrant feel of the town. A long road stretched from one end of the town to the other. Each side of the road was lined with restaurants, shops and fishermen selling the morning's catch. I made my way to the Schools' Office, and let the team know I had arrived. The team confirmed the plans for the next few days, and left me to my own devices. Having signed up for the essential navigation class, my first two days were all theory lessons in a classroom and from Sunday night, that I was due to head onboard the boat.

All set I headed to my hotel ready for the following morning classes.

Day 1 - Saturday - Essential Navigation

We met at 9 am in the school's classroom just a five-minute walk from the main strip. There were three in our class plus the teacher 'Dominique'. Dominique was also one of the Day Skipper instructors and she was brilliant at converting so much of the nautical jargon, into English. All the topics that I had spent hours pouring over late into the night, now made more sense than ever and there was a massive realisation that nothing beats face-to-face tuition. By the end of the day we were a little frazzled but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a great meal in Babis, the local restaurant of choice, and a decent night's sleep.

Day 2 - Sunday - Essential Navigation, Embarkation

The following morning I received a Whatsapp notification with our boat name and the details of the others on our boat. Included in my yacht was one of the other students in my class, which worked really well as I then knew there would be at least one familiar face on board. Our yacht contained a group of five students plus Alex our instructor but as much as I wanted to get involved with the friendly Whatsapp messages popping up, I had another day of studying the in and outs of passage planning and all the final theory elements required for the week on the water.

Now at the end of my second day in the class, I felt prepped "in theory" to get going and at 5.00pm we met the crew and boarded our yacht 'Portokali'. After our introductions, all the week's students met up for an €15 "All you can eat" meal but I think I was the only person that took this challenge literally. A Great First Day.

Day 3 - Monday, Aegina - Old Epidavros

The Day Skipper Certification is made up of days where you were the skipper of the boat, and days, practicing and learning from others. With the weekends' classroom tuition fresh in my mind, I opted to be the skipper for the first day. Planning the days itinerary, taking the yacht in and out of the Marina, selecting our headings and route and leading the crew. My destination was 'Old Epidavros' 20 nm away. I checked my plan with another member of the crew for moral support, and then briefed my crew.

I then discovered once the instructor steps in with additional drills and tasks your passage plan goes out the window and the day is spent thinking on the fly, positioning, taking readings, and adjusting headings. Four hours later we safely arrived into Old Epidavros and my first day as skipper was complete.

Day 4 - Tuesday - Old Epidavros - Methana - Poros

Today as per the course we had a change of skipper, however, before we left Epidavros we had to visit the local Roman Amphitheater which makes this town an almost essential place to visit. I have seen a few Roman structures in my time but this was breathtaking. A definite highlight and a recommendation to anyone sailing the Aegean Sea.

Back on the ship we set sail to Methanos, light winds meant we swapped between sailing and motor sailing, our skipper for the day provided our passage plan, but keen to get involved and have the additional practice, I watched and made notes alongside the days' skipper. As crew today, we simply refreshed our skills by tacking and setting the sails. We also practiced manually fixing our positions and setting our position using Triangulation, finally putting into practice some maths from thirty years ago.

Two hours into our journey, our steady sailing and manual positioning exercises were rudely interrupted by a dolphin pod. Again the passage plan went out of the window as we ditched our heading and just sailed in circles with ten or so Dolphin playing in our bow wave. The experience was only ten minutes but it was certainly an unforgettable experience.

Stopping in Methana for the afternoon we prepared for our night sail, a chance to put into practice all the theory we have learned about warning and shipping lights. Four hours of sailing through the night with five sets of eyes desperately looking for shipping lights, warning beacons, and as many things as we could identify was testing work however the reward of heading into Poros and sleeping on anchor, with the lights of Poros in the background was well worth it.

Day 5 - Wednesday, Poros Loop of the Island

A morning coffee, and an easy sail around the island today. With the crew feeling confident about passage planning, today we took things started on the emergency drills. Man Over Board drill was well and truly drilled into us. Under sail, on the motor lots of practicing. Alex's phase "okay again" with everyone switching roles seemed to be the phrase of the day but thankfully, you can understand why this was one of the most important activities on the course. Sailing around the island we had lunch at sea, we spent time swimming from the rear of the boat, using the boat as a huge rib towing us around and generally blowing off some steam, after the morning's mental workout. Then after arguably the best meal I have ever had aboard a boat we continued around Poros. On return to the town of Poros we practiced some stern-to 'med mooring', the item that frightens so many and we had a feedback session with our Instructor and the chance to request additional training (things seemed to be going well so far).

Day 6 - Thursday Poros - Korfos

On the run-in now to get the Day Skipper certificate.

Today was the best day for sailing, with 10-12 knots of wind, 20+nm to the evenings mooring and a temperature of 28C. It almost begs the question to why more people don't sail in May. With the crew settled into various roles and everyone working really well together it was a great day. I spent the day plotting our position using transits, running fixes and working on tasks that meant nothing to me just a few short weeks ago. While even though it was a long day, but being a glutton for punishment the highlight for the day was performing the drill where we sailed onto a mooring buoy. I was really nervous at the beginning as Alex talked to us about the drill, but this time it was me saying "Okay Again" until it was perfect. The physical and mental challenges of feeling for the wind, adjusting the sails, and getting the crew to perform just at the right time to pick up the buoy was far more fun than it sounds.

In the evening we met up in "Georges" with two of the other tuition boats and the evening was filled with fifteen trainee day skippers swapping stories of the last few days.

Day 7 - Friday, Korfos - Aegina

Friday with the sailing and drills all completed, the morning was mainly theory, note-taking, and any other business. We spent time talking through potential emergency situations, the use of equipment, asking questions, and what to do in different scenarios. The day's wind was again fantastic, cruising along at 6 knots, with the group reflecting on things they had picked up over the last few days. Just after lunch, I received an ominous call from Alex below deck, to which he then presented me with a fresh new Day Skipper Certificate with my name on it! To be honest, the rest of the day was just a blur as I and all of my crew mates successfully completed the course and the afternoon was all about where we would like to sail next and what we could get up to with our newfound qualifications. Two of the crew were looking to start new careers in the sailing industry, while I had a family holiday in Croatia on the cards.

Now to book my first trip and sign up a willing crew.

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RYA Yachtmaster Coastal Prep Course & Exam

Unfortunately we no longer run yachtmaster coastal courses.

UNFORTUNATELY WE ARE NO LONGER RUNNING YACHTMASTER COASTAL COURSES

RYA Yachtmaster Coastal students need to have the knowledge to skipper a sailing yacht on coastal cruises but do not necessarily have the experience needed to undertake longer passages.

This preparation week is an intense week of coaching including plenty of night sailing, sailing and power handling exercises and navigation.  You are expected to have all the knowledge and skills of an experienced Coastal Skipper before joining the preparation week as time for teaching new skills is at a premium.

A week of refreshing and refining skills, to get you ready for your exam at the end of the preparation week.

We can organise an examiner for the final day of the week. Upon achieving your RYA Yachtmaster Coastal Certificate, you will be recognised as an experienced & knowledgeable sailor.

NOTE – all our RYA courses are taught in English.

See our entire range of rya courses here, what to expect.

The preparatory part of the course lasts 5 days, which we run from Monday to Friday. This will be with one of our RYA Yachtmaster Instructors.

After these 5 days, on the Friday evening the instructor will leave the boat and the independent RYA/MCA examiner will board the yacht and start with a crew briefing giving you an idea of what will be required from you over the exam period. Expect to plan passages for day and night and be quizzed up to Yachtmaster Coastal level, emphasis will be on your skippering ability and sailing skills with man overboard under sail, sailing on to mooring buoys and close quarter power handling being at the forefront.

The examiner will also give your instructor a tidal passage for you to have ready on his arrival, expect a plan with multiple hours of tide, tidal gates and shallow harbour entries (usually UK to France). The examiner will go through the passage plan with you, quizzing you to make sure you have a full understanding.

The exam lasts between 6 and 10 hours for 1 candidate and between 8 and 14 hours for 2 candidates.

How you can take the course.

What your course includes.

• 7 nights accommodation on board
• An experienced Yachtmaster Instructor for your coaching
• Independent RYA examiner
• Note: the examination fee is paid directly to the RYA examiner at the time of the examination

Course Details

This course is for individuals

This course lasts 5 days preparation + 2 days exam

Student ratio is 4 students to 1 instructor

REQUIREMENTS

Minimum age

• 30 Days living on board
• 2 days as skipper
• 800 miles (at least half of which must be tidal miles)
• 12 night hours
• VHF licence
• First Aid Certificate
• RYA Yachtmaster theory

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Milebuilding Trips

Course information, course description.

If you start your RYA journey but wish to build extra experience in between your courses this is for you. A milebuilding week with us is a dream trip for anyone with ambitions to go blue water sailing. You’ll learn what it’s like to live on a yacht for extended periods and to sail in more out of the way places. Such a trip will give you the chance to not only put hundreds of miles under your belt but also improving your confidence and advancing your practical knowledge.

You have RYA qualifications and wish to build them up.

You potentially have an upcoming trip and want to gain more confidence and experience.

You are enthusiast to learn and participate into sailing the boat.

You want to add hundreds of miles into your RYA logbook.

What will you learn?

During your trip, the crew will be divided into watches, who take turns on duty. Advanced sailors will be appointed watch leaders, but everyone in the team will take part in steering, trimming sails, navigation, catering, and using the yacht’s equipment.

You will learn to grow confidence on board and improve your sailing and decision making while on passage.

What is included?

Your own yacht cabin on board (only to share with your partner if applicable) with all the necessary items for your comfort: bedding and linens, towels, pillows.

Adding all the miles you will do in your RYA Logbook to keep track of all your progress and experiences.

Despite not being an intensive course, an instructor on board throughout the trip to guide and advise you when needed.

Price List Milebuilder (per person)

Price List Milebuilder (per person) - 2025

All prices for practical courses include all yachts expenses, breakfast and lunch. All activities ashore and dinner are at your own expense. Your travel expenses to get to Aegina are not covered.

Find out more

Argolic milebuilders.

These trips visit the beautiful Argolic Gulf, close to our normal sailing area but a little too far to include in a week’s RYA tuition. The Argolic is very beautiful with high mountains and pretty fishing villages. It’s also very unspoilt, making it a perfect choice for those who want to get ‘off the beaten track’.

You’ll cover about 250 miles on this trip and visit the picturesque city of Nafplion in the north as well as stunning Monemavasia in the south.

Cyclades Milebuilders

The Cyclades islands are one of the world’s most renowned cruising areas. At these times of year we usually avoid the worst of the Meltemi, which in mid-summer can keep yachts in port or create uncomfortable sailing conditions.

You’ll cover around 350 miles in all, including two night sails, and two Yachtmaster qualifying passages. As with all sailing, the route is weather dependent!

Other trips

From time to time we offer other milebuilding trips in different areas of Greece and on different types of boat – including a catamaran. Do not hesitate to contact us to be kept informed of the possibilities.

Is Learning to Sail in Greece Right for You?

Read what some of our sailing students have to say, explore our course catalogue, and contact us for more information about each course and our availabilities to come and sail in Greece!

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

How to pass your Yachtmaster Practical Exam

• Theo Stocker
• August 22, 2024

Theo Stocker is put through his paces on an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore prep week, before taking the exam itself. Find out how he got on

The RYA Yachtmaster Offshore has long been the qualification that cruising yacht sailors, both amateur and professional, have aspired to. Quite aside from the fact that it is the gateway to working in the yachting industry if the desire so takes you, it is good to know that you have mastered the sweep of skills and experience necessary for you to be deemed competent at skippering a sailing yacht.

I’ve wanted to test myself and see if I was up to scratch for years, and I finally got the courage up to put my skills under the spotlight earlier this summer. I was going to be taking the test with my friend Andrew, as we’d been talking about doing our Yachtmaster for two decades.

Last month I shared my experience of preparing for a Yachtmaster exam to get our rusty skills and knowledge back up to standard, and to check that there weren’t any major holes in our repertoire. Now that the RYA Yachtmaster scheme has turned 50, we were also interested to see how things have changed with technology.

Things like chartplotters and mobile internet have made some areas massively easier, but bring their own challenges, and in the first part, we discovered that navigating these systems and knowing what information to trust requires just as many skills and as much judgement as the old methods.

If anything, they also bring more opportunity for distraction from the real world with plenty of potential for making navigationally serious mistakes. The standard for passing the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore exam is just as demanding as it ever was.

Having looked at safety briefs, marina boat handling, navigation and pilotage, it was now time to move onto boat handling under sail, the more critical safety manoeuvres, as well as some of the softer skills involved in skippering a crew. The exam was looming…

The Yachtmaster crew (L-R): Matt Sillars, Andrew Eastham, Row Staples, Theo Stocker

Skippering the boat

Part of the reason for having our supercrew, Row, on board for the prep week was that it’s all well and good sailing solo, but a skipper needs to be able to lead and manage a crew safely, and ideally create an atmosphere on board that is harmonious, effective and enjoyable, striking the right balance between being clearly in control, facilitating everyone to play their part, and enjoying life at sea.

A huge part of this is around good, early communication in the inevitable form of briefings. Now, this isn’t patronisingly sitting everyone down and telling them to do things they are totally capable of doing, but of communicating what you want to happen, before it happens.

Briefings can be brief and on-the-go, as long as they are clear and you are confident your crew understand. It also demands some degree of foresight and competence on your part – if you haven’t anticipated something, you can’t brief for it. Whether it’s leaving a berth, setting sail or fighting a fire, everyone having a job and being equipped with the skills to do their jobs should engender a satisfying sense of competence and achievement for everyone involved.

Article continues below…

How to prepare for your Yachtmaster Offshore exam

Many very competent and highly experienced yachtsmen and women don’t have any qualifications at all and are content to keep…

Andrew and I were struck by how much we’re both used to just getting on and doing stuff on our own boats, either by ourselves, or without making sure the crew know what we’re thinking. Talking out loud was a helpful habit during the week. In marina manoeuvres, we tried to warn crew on the foredeck that we were about to turn, or go astern, so as not to unbalance them, and our coming alongsides were a lot smoother when everyone knew what order to get the lines across in.

Make sure there’s cake and coffee – especially during your exam

Soft skills

Whether you’re sailing with strangers you’ve never met before, or with your family who know your flaws only too well and are occasionally good enough to point these out to you, managing interpersonal relationships on board is a skill that’s hard to teach but critical to a safe and happy crew. The more competent and in control you feel, the easier this will be, and thinking ahead will help you keep your stress levels down.

Under the eye of an instructor or examiner, we were of course on our best behaviour. It helped that all of us genuinely enjoyed our time on board and each other’s company, but thinking through what your crew may be feeling or thinking will help. Swallow your pride and do some of the jobs others might not enjoy.

As long as the boat is under control and you’ve got some capacity, make everyone a cup of tea and offer the choccy round. Give people things to do, but let them rest when they need a break too. Make sure they’ve all got suncream on. Keeping an eye on their wellbeing isn’t always easy when you’re nervous, stressed, or don’t quite know where you are.

Briefings can be informal, as long as your crew is clear about what’s happening and what to do

Command and safety

At the same time, you are responsible for keeping the boat safe. There will be times when you need to make it clear who is in charge, and what you are and are not happy with on board. Andrew and I are used to scampering around a boat, but reminding each other to clip on before going forward for a man overboard, or finding a safe way to adjust the mainsail leech line was a useful reminder to err on the side of caution. Demonstrate that you can pre-empt risks and avoid or mitigate for them.

Boat husbandry and housekeeping

Serious problems on board are more likely if you don’t keep on top of the little things. We worked hard to make sure the boat was in a good state during the week; tidy the galley up and stow the crockery before you set sail, coil the halyards and lines away once you’ve finished reefing. A snake’s wedding in the cockpit is going to lead to jammed lines and tangled feet. If you’re happy with the picture of where the boat is and how she’s sailing, look around you to make sure the details are right too.

Shout man overboard and point at the casualty. Crash tack to stop the boat

Man overboard

Man overboard is just about one of the most serious events that can happen on board a cruising yacht at sea. Getting them out of the water as quickly as possible is of paramount importance. When I last did a sailing course nearly two decades ago, the drills were the same as they’ve always been – choose whether you want to get back to the MOB under sail or engine, do your manoeuvre, then fish out the fender and bucket with a boathook.

I’ve spent some time for the magazine testing not only the sequence of actions in this manouevre but how you then actually get the casualty out of the water, and was chastened by just how hard it really is to lift a dead-weight casualty from the water onto deck, especially if they are incapacitated.

I was encouraged, therefore, that the RYA’s approach to MOB training has moved on, breaking it down into three areas: preventing man overboard in the first place, getting back to the casualty, and getting them out of the water.

The usual points of minimising time on deck, clipping on in rough weather or when alone on deck, only going forward on the windward side, and all the other precautions, are something to drill into your crew, and as skipper, it’s important to ensure a safe culture on board.

You can still practise with a fender, but getting back to it is only half the job

Man overboards are no longer taught exclusively under sail. Yes, we practised sailing back to a fender in the water, but this should only ever be as a backup to the fastest and most reliable way to get to your MOB, and on boats with engines, that is under power.

The order in which we did the drill during our training was as follows:

• Raise the alarm – Shout man overboard and point at the casualty.
• Stop the boat – Stop the boat by crash-tacking to heave to, and ensure crew don’t release the sheets. At this point you are close to the MOB and under control.
• Mark the mob – Throw in the horseshoe and danbuoy, then allocate someone to point at the MOB. At this stage you should also be able to communicate with them.
• Make a distress call – Someone can then go below to hit the VHF DSC distress button and to mark the MOB on the plotter, but don’t bother with a voice Mayday call at this point – it’s too slow unless you have a large crew.
• Start the engine – Check the lines are clear, start the engine, furl the jib and centre the main.
• Prepare for recovery – As you motor round, the crew can get the MOB recovery kit ready – a grab bag in the cockpit locker contained a 6:1 handy billy with a sling already attached.
• Rig the handy billy – The handy billy is hoisted on a spinnaker halyard, and guyed forwards to stop it swinging – we used the spinnaker pole downhaul, but a clip to the shroud might also work. The tail can be taken to a primary winch via a turning block if extra power is needed. Before crew go forward, they should clip on to prevent a second MOB, so have tethers in the bag too.
• Depower the main – Once downwind of the MOB, come onto a close reach and the main can be eased out with the deck crew forward of the shroud, and if a topping lift is fitted, scandalise the boom to keep it clear of heads. If you’ve got lazy jacks, you could drop the main, but don’t drop the main onto deck where everyone will be working.
• Approach and attach – As you come to the MOB, aim upwind and drift down. A loop of rope can be thrown over the casualty, which will be easier than trying to catch them with a flimsy boathook.
• Hoist them aboard – Get them to put the sling on if they can, or use the loop of rope secured to the handy billy to hoist them. A floating loop of line pre-attached to their lifejacket, like the MOB Lifesaver, would also speed things up here. If they’ve not been in the water long, and you’re only doing a short lift, focus on getting them out of the water rather than keeping them horizontal.

Stop the boat by crash-tacking to heave to without easing the sheets. You should then be stopped, under control and close to the MOB

Practise alongside

It’s a highly informative process to try out this last part whilst alongside in the marina, with the ‘casualty’ a real person lying on the pontoon. While they would be wet, heavier and needing lifting further in real life, this is a very safe and controlled way of practising with your system and adjusting it until everyone is happy they know what to do.

Having done this exercise now, I am keen to do a full man overboard drill at the start of every season and at the start of every trip so that everyone on board knows what to do – it is this practice that is the deciding factor in whether you can get an MOB back or not.

Once you’re used to lassoing, it’s almost easier than using a boat hook

Manoeuvres under sail – picking up a fender

Sailing back to a fender is a good skill to have, were your engine to fail during a MOB – a line wrapping around the prop, for example – or just to get back to a favourite hat or fender that’s gone overboard. It’s like sailing onto a mooring, but easier in many ways without having to factor in the tide.

The basic principle is that you want to approach on a close reach with enough space to slow down and arrive under control, able to spill all the power from the main. There are two slight variations in that you can bear away on a broad reach to start with as you sail away from the fender, or you can reach away, then dip downwind after the tack. If you do the latter, the dip down will need to be a significant bear away.

As you’ll be sending crew forward to the shrouds, you’ll still need to furl the jib and scandalise the main on your final approach. I managed to get myself confused once or twice and went to put the fender on the windward bow like a mooring, which isn’t going to work.

Picking up a mooring under sail is a satisfying skill to master. Put the buoy on your windward bow so it doesn’t drag you into a gybe

Mooring under sail

There are a few manoeuvres that everyone should be able to do. While you may rarely sail onto a mooring buoy, knowing how to do so is a good skill to have should you have engine trouble or just for showing off. At the same time, it’s a good indicator of a sailor’s feel for the boat and how it will respond to the elements.

When approaching into wind and tide together, our Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 from 2008 had a fairly shallow forefoot, so as soon as our speed dropped off, the bow tended to pay off quickly.

You don’t want a flogging genoa over the crew on the foredeck either, so furling the genoa away is a good option, but you will sail slower and with more leeway, so need to be slightly higher upwind than you first anticipate.

With wind and tide opposed, you would clearly approach under genoa alone, but with wind and tide at roughly right angles, you’ll need to judge which approach is needed. There were two factors that caught us out a couple of times, interestingly more important in lighter airs.

The first is that as the boat slows down the tide becomes proportionally more important, and secondly, at the same time apparent wind will decrease and move aft, further filling the mainsail. The lesson was to prepare for a wind-against-tide approach much more readily than we might otherwise have done.

You may find yourself having to sail back into harbour with engine problems.

Sailing onto a pontoon

You are unlikely ever to sail into a marina finger berth and I wouldn’t advise trying. You may, however, find yourself having to sail back into harbour with engine problems. While a Pan Pan call is pretty ubiquitous these days, a Yachtmaster should be able to deal with engine problems at sea, and if not, to sail themselves back into harbour rather than depending on being rescued.

Most harbours will have a pontoon or berth with a relatively open approach, and it’s reasonable to expect to be able to sail onto it. The calculation of which approach to use is much the same as for picking up moorings under sail, though with other boats around and a solid pontoon to hit, the consequences of getting it wrong are higher. Handling a boat in confined waters means you’ll need to keep control at low speeds, and be thinking ahead about escape routes if it’s not going according to plan.

For us, sailing on the mid-river pontoon opposite Warsash at the bottom of the Hamble river offered a good open approach, and just enough wind to get away with a wind-and-tide together approach, though a genoa-only approach may have been safer.

A properly guyed pole is a more seaworthy setup than just clipping the pole onto the sheet

Sailing downwind

The dangers of a crash gybe are well known, particularly from the mainsheet and boom scything across the boat, with a high potential to damage both crew and boat. I had sailed a bit close to a gybe with the jib collapsing earlier in the week, and when I had intentionally gybed, I hadn’t fully centred the main.

Although no harm was done, the boom did clatter across noisily. Matt gave a stern warning about the dim view an examiner would take of this – a potential instant fail – and we agreed that looking at rigging for downwind legs would be worthwhile, including both preventer and poling out the genoa.

Rigging a preventer

Rigging a preventer is relatively straightforward. We chose the longest, strongest line we had on board in the form of a spinnaker sheet. This was led from the end of the boom, where it was secured with a round turn and two half hitches – both a strong knot and easily released under load – then forward outside everything to the bow fairlead, and then aft to a cockpit winch.

It takes a little bit of rigging, but if the result is a much safer and more manoeuvrable setup, then it’s worth doing, even on relatively short legs

When poling out a headsail in the past, I’ve always set the pole using the pole uphaul and downhaul then clipped the sheet into the end then unfurled the headsail. This works fine in settled conditions for short legs clear of shipping. Were you to need to gybe, change course, or furl away the headsail quickly, however, it would leave you with the dangerous proposition of a loose, heavy pole potentially swinging freely on the foredeck that also prevents you sheeting the sail in for an upwind course without first unclipping it from the pole.

Coming up with a solution

Matt set us the task of rigging the pole in such a way that it could be locked in position whether the sail was set or not, and that the headsail could be sheeted in for upwind sailing without going forward to unrig the pole. After a bit of head scratching, we found a solution.

The pole could be held in position by the pole uphaul, the downhaul, which served to pull the pole forwards and down, and an additional aft guy, which was an extra line taken from the pole end to the aft mooring cleat. We attached a third sheet, in the form of a spinnaker sheet, to the jib’s clew, through the pole, and aft to a spinnaker block at the stern and then onto a primary winch.

The result was that chafe was minimised, the pole could be locked in position whether the sail was set or not, and if we did need to gybe or sail upwind, the normal jib sheets still had a proper lead, albeit the pole would need to be held aft and the headsail with a couple of reefs to keep it clear of the pole.

With examiner Andy Wright aboard, the exam was finally underway

The day of the exam

The exam starts a day or two before the examiner turns up, in that he or she may want to see a passage plan you’ve prepared in advance. If this is the case, the examiner will have passed the information to you via the school providing the training.

It’s best to do this two or three days before the exam so you haven’t got a last-minute panic, but not too far in advance that you’ve forgotten the sums you’ve done and why you made the choices you did. I was set a passage from Bembridge to St Vaast on the Cherbourg peninsula, giving me a potentially fiddly drying harbour at either end, though the forecast given was a conveniently favourable Westerly Force 4-5. With passage plan complete, and some last-minute swotting up on lights, shapes and sounds, Andrew and I retired for an early night.

After the windless drizzle of the day before, Friday dawned bright and breezy with a forecast of a good Force 5 from the southwest and plenty of sunshine – enough that we’d have to be on our toes, but at least something we could get our teeth into. Matt had reassured us that making mistakes wasn’t the end of the world during the exam, if we showed competence in getting ourselves back on track.

Andrew gives the crew an on-deck safety briefing, including the MOB recovery kit

Minor mistakes are to be expected and it’s more important how you respond to your own mistake. The only sorts of things that would probably be an outright fail, other than flunking our lights and shapes, are safety critical things such as a collision, running aground, an inability to navigate and pilot, or an uncontrolled gybe.

We were joined at 0900 by our examiner Andy Wright, an RYA Yachtmaster instructor trainer, examiner and centre inspector, an MCA Master 200 who works as an RNLI area lifesaving manager and who also volunteers with the Rona sailing project. There’d be no ‘getting away with it’ here.

We began the day with a coffee and chat, and Andy spent some time asking about our reasons for taking the exam, before laying out what he would be looking for. ‘I’m not going to be trying to catch anyone out, but what I want to see you demonstrate is that you can skipper the boat, navigate the boat, handle the boat under power and handle the boat under sail.’

Andrew talks examiner Andy through his pre-prepared passage plan

The safety briefings

We began, as we had with our prep week, with safety briefs, with Andy and I splitting above and below decks.

With the engine bay open, Andy took time to probe our knowledge of engine troubleshooting, asking us to point out various parts of the engine, the different significance of blue, black or white smoke from the exhaust (incomplete combustion, burning oil and overheating, by the way), and how to change filters, impellers and belts and how to bleed the fuel.

On deck, we were asked to explain when and why each kind of flare would be used. None of it felt overly pressured, but it was certainly an in-depth examination of our knowledge.

During the day, these conversations continued as he drew information out of us in areas that were not being practically demonstrated on the day – 15-20 minutes on lights, shapes, sounds and collision avoidance, including how we’d handle different scenarios in traffic separation schemes.

Andrew points out where the MOB handy billy and sling is during his safety brief

He asked us to talk through our passage plans, and then went further to see whether we knew if the boat we were on was legally allowed to do so, and what the administrative and immigration requirements would be on either side of the Channel – a tricky one given the ongoing chaos and confusion that surrounds small boat crossings these days.

Being tested underway

In between these chats, we got underway. First with our marina manoeuvres in and out of a selection of increasingly tricky berths, putting the boat into positions that we might not have chosen, including a berth two space into a gulley with a yacht moored either side of the space and a boat opposite. Ferry gliding in bows-first wasn’t too tricky, but with wind and tide pushing us on, getting out again was harder. I opted to use prop walk to pull the stern out against a bow line – slightly unconventional, and it needed a bit of oomph to keep our bows clear, but I got away without a collision.

We then had half an hour or so to each prepare a short passage plan and pilotage from each end, this time from Hamble to Portsmouth and back. As these weren’t Andrew’s home waters, he was relieved that I was going first.

Navigating the boat, piloting into Portsmouth, and recovering a MOB kept Theo on his toes

I know Portsmouth well, but hadn’t been in for a while. With a plan complete, Andy asked me to explain the route I’d chosen. While I had the route in the chartplotter, I’d picked waypoints near easy-to-find buoys so I could see I was in the right place from the cockpit, and I’d elected not to cut the corner over the shallows off Hill Head to keep us clear of a lee shore.

I’d also have to use the Outer Swashway on the way in, as we’d be close to low water and lacking depth by about 0.3m to get in via the Inner Swashway.

Emergency on passage

Underway, and with Row on the wheel, I had decisions to make about how many reefs to put in, and I was torn between sailing the boat properly and being overly cautious. Starting with one reef, with the breeze creeping upwards, life was comfier with two reefs in. I had to stop myself from any gung-ho attempts to tighten leech lines, electing for a quick heave-to to sort them out. Coffees needed to keep on flowing during the passage, and lunchtime was upon us before I knew it.

We needed to devise a rock-solid passage plan

While the pasties were heating in the oven, there was time for a fix on the chart, or would have been had the fender not fallen overboard. We went through our drill and I was relieved to get back to the MOB first go. Andrew and Row looked at me to see if we were doing ‘the whole thing’ and as Andy hadn’t flinched, we rigged the handy billy, attached the fender to the sling and hauled away until it was safely aboard – it’s a complex process that really does need practice, but it had gone well.

A sense of relief

Once safely in Portsmouth Harbour, it was my turn to find and pick up a mooring buoy under sail. Tied up and handing over skippering duty to Andrew for his turn in the hot seat, I suddenly felt a wave of relief that my passage, pilotage and handling seemed to have gone okay. It was only early afternoon, however, and we wouldn’t be finished until we’d done our night navigation.

There was a fresh breeze from the southwest for the passage to Portsmouth

Andrew’s passage went well, too, in a building breeze that was more on the nose on the way back, while I was below wrestling with getting a tray of meatballs and sauce into a wildly swinging oven. I’m ashamed to say that when it was Andrew’s turn at MOB, despite a flawless approach, I messed up the lasso and missed the fender. Sorry, friend.

Night navigation

By the time we were back on a mooring inside Calshot Spit it was time for dinner and a brief respite, before plunging on into our night nav exercises.

Much like earlier in the week, we were asked to navigate to unmarked locations and Andy gave us a bit of time to prepare these. While we were doing this, he also checked our knowledge of how the radar worked for collision avoidance and for navigation, and how to extract relevant information from both the chartplotter and the AIS.

My night nav began well, using multiple sources of position information as requested, and just about making sense of my hastily drawn sketch and notes, looking for the characteristics of particular lights (you’ll need to know how quick VQ compared to just Q really is) and using the radar to plot our course.

Andrew plots a visual fix as the sun starts to set

As it was top of the tide, however, every ship in Southampton seemed determined to set sail, including the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary cruise liner with attendant tugs, police launches and party boats following behind. Cowering at the side of the channel, my plan was thrown into disarray and I lost the plot on radar, and we were blinded by disco balls and oil terminal lights alike. Luckily, Navionics is by no means banned, and a quick range and bearing in the palm of my hand gave me a course and distance to my imaginary point. Another step closer.

Still, Andrew needed to pilot us up the Hamble River, where Hamble Point’s sector lights can be easily lost in the welter of shore lights, and I was asked to bring the boat alongside, stern first at the end of a long gulley, giving me another chance to mess things up, right up to the last minute.

Back at Calshot darkness falls ahead of the night navigation exercises

But with the boat tied up and put to bed, Andy took each of us off for a quick chat on the pontoon. Fortunately, he was pleased with how we had done and broke the news that we had both passed. Phew – mission accomplished!

We could finally open those beers and enjoy what we had just achieved. Both of us had found the week intense, all-absorbing and demanding – perhaps unsurprisingly. As a result, we felt that we’d been forced to up our game when it came to our sailing and skippering, and our skills had been updated by a decade or two.

We were now much better-rounded skippers than we’d been before. There were lots of learnings and some new skills to take back to our own boats, too, but we had also had a fun week along the way.

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