RYA Yachtmaster Offshore!!
.....And so onto bigger and better things. With the wreckage of Dive BVI firmly behind us and our new found confidence of sailing catamarans, now Sadie and I head back to the UK to get on with what we really want to do.........sailing!! Sadie heads for Cowes in the Isle of Wight to brush up on her cheffing skills and I head for Falmouth in Cornwall to complete my Yachtmaster training. We were now able to press on and fulfill our sailing dreams. So where to start? A good sailing school is generally the right move - but which one to choose? Once you start this search and ask people for advice and recommendations you end up with a short list of about 30 reputable sailing schools all over the south coast of England. In the end my choice was an easy one, I opted for Nick Jordan's school, Cornish Cruising based in Falmouth. It was an inspired choice, it was well away from the mayhem in the Solent and conincidentally was the same school that Sadie's Dad, Jim, independently came up with as his first choice to do the same course. Nick and his team were streets ahead of all his competitors when it came to custmer service and support as well as ensuring that the quality of the training was up to scratch and value for money. Nick was the only school to reply with a full response to our detailed brief literally within hours of getting it. Nearly all of the other schools either didn't even bother replying or send a standard reply simply referring me to their web sites for further details if I was still interested! Needless to say, Cornish Cruising got the business.
Jim and I had a tall order ahead of us. The training schedule Nick put together for us was going to be a tough one. In order to qualify as a Yachtmaster Offshore through the Royal Yachting Association (the RYA), candidates must have at least 2500 sea miles, at least half of which needs to be in tidal waters (i.e. not the Caribbean!), you must have clocked up at least 50 days at sea, of which 5 trips need to be of at least 60 miles each and 2 of these need to be at night. All of this culminates with a min 12 hour practical assessment by an RYA examiner. Both Jim and I had a few gaps in our log books which we were hopefully going to be able to complete over the course of the next 7 weeks.
Our first week bizarely was to be land based. There's a lot of theory to sailing even before you hit the water, all candidates must be up to scratch with the Rules of the Road, Lights and Buoyage, Meteorology and most importantly Navigation. Thankfully you can get to grips with all of this in a classroom first before you have to do it in earnest, down below on a rolling boat pitched over by 45 degrees trying to work out where you are and where you're going to next!! The week passed quickly for us and by the end of it we were ready to sit the exams. Thankfully we both passed with flying colours and were now keen to get on with the real deal - sailing.
Our accommodation for the week was aboard 'Polbream' a 46ft Beneteau. For me the transition from living in the heat of the Caribbean to all of a sudden being aboard a yacht in the south coast of England in April was a bit of a shock. I remember clearly while during our first sea training week standing on the pullpit wearing full wet weather gear, freezing cold, while a heavy hail storm peppered the deck around me with thousands of icy ball bearings, each one threatening to roll me off onto the drink without a moments hesitation! As the marbles of pure white ice managed to find their way down the back of my neck I clearly remember thinking "what the fuck have I done!!". While we were to see some significant weather over the next six weeks, this was undoubtedly the coldest I'd felt in over 5 years.
While our first week at sea was more to do with our Skipper 'Ken the Vicar' finding our levels rather than us getting our teeth into the Yachtmaster course, it was all part of the journey of improving our seamanship skills while also building the necessary tidal miles and passages needed to qualify and sit the Yachtmaster practical assessment at the start of June. We spent the week pottering around in local waters up the River Fal, the Helford, St Mawes, Fowey and then back to Falmouth. For me getting to grips with sailing a monohull for the first time was the biggest challenge. Having spent the last two years solely aboard catamarans getting a feel for the reactions of a monohull took some getting used to, as well as understanding points of sail and doing things like sailing up to mooring balls and recovering a man-over-board under sail. It's fair to say that on reflection I was almost ready to pack it all in at the end of that week - nothing seemed to be sinking into me!
The following two sailing trips however somehow managed to restore the level of confidence that I'd been missing. We did a 2 week trip from Falmouth to the southern coast of Ireland, via the Isles of Scilly and up through the infamous Irish Sea. This was with Peter and his wife Stella, Jim and I and another Andy who joined us on the trip. Talk about night and day from the previous one. We stopped for a night in St Agnes in the Scilly Isles and managed to get ashore in the dingy for a beer or two in the only pub. The pub was rammed. The island normally only has a population of about 60, but with the Annual Gig Racing festival now on to say it was standing room only, and that was just outside, would have been an understatement. Fantastic to be part of these marvelous events and celebrations on which much of the islands historic welfare and prosperity was once based.
The Southern coast of Ireland is a great place to go cruising. There are so many places and hidden gems all along the coast and always somewhere safe to head should the weather coming off the Irish Sea turn a little unfavourable. We visited Kinsail, Cork, Baltimore, Bantry Bay and Castletownbere (the home of the famous MacCarthy's Bar), to name but a few. The whole two weeks were amazing, dolphins and huge basking sharks came our way off of the Mizzen Head as we battled our way through heavy seas with wind against current, and past the famous lighthouse landmark, The Fastnet Rock. To add to the experience we also had our share of boat challenges, from leaking water tanks to a loss of all electrics as well as a night of dense fog and a misreading radar all thrown in for the measure. This was definitely what it's all about. The learning process was well underway.
The final week of mileage and passage building came next, and we headed off to the Brittany Coast in Northern France. It was a challenging crossing for me. I was nominated skipper and my task was to take our boat out of Falmouth and over to France organising the crew and sail as I saw fit. Our new leader that week was Chris a retired instructor but lifelong sailor. He went below to his bunk soon after we left Falmouth as we headed out to sea. The weather was up, it was Force 7 occasionally blowing 8, and the seas were at times 30ft plus. With the sails appropriately reefed we set in for the 24 hour journey ahead over to Treguir in France. With seasickness playing a part for some of the crew it was a tough call to continue. Chris seemed to have confidence in us as a crew and he kept me reassured in my role as skipper. While it was a log overnight passage our sightings of the many lighthouses on the French coastline welcomed us just as dawn was begining to break and we headed up the river in search of some 'vin et du pain' in the fresh spring air. Our journey then took us back to the UK via Guernsey in the Channel Islands and then up the River Dart in England and finally to Falmouth. Our final week of mileage building and passages was complete. Now it was time for some fun......
Sadie and Loretta then joined us for a bareboat week as Jim and I had now to put all the training into practice by skippering the boat for ourselves. We were both given our own yachts for the week and the girls helped out immensly by assiting in the preparation and provisioning of our new 'hotels' for the week as well as taking on the role as 1st mate. With Sadie fresh from chef school and Jim and I desperate to eat something different to sausage casserole our appetites were tingling with anticipation as we both set out from Falmouth on yet another new adventure.
It was a great week and the on board cuisine was excellent, and although the sailing was mixed due to some heavy weather midweek, being able to go sailing just with Sadie made it very special. This was to be our first real taste of what was hopefully lying ahead for us. However the uncertainty of our Yachtmaster's practical examination was now just a week away and the pressure was building even more than it was already.
Having said sad goodbyes to the gilrs and amidst various wishes of 'good luck's' and 'you'll breeze it' Jim and I then set of for the final showdown - A week's preparation getting rid of the bad habits and fine tuning our sailing skills and general seamanship knowledge. The week passed quickly in local waters and on the Friday our assessment began.
Like many things the reputations that preceed examiners are usualy outweighed by the various exaggerated stories that you hear about in the run up to your assessment. Mike Stratton was our examiner, at sea all his life and considered to be 'hard but fair'. Well, at least we knew he wouldn't suffer fools gladly and that we woulod be tested to the limits of our experiences and knowledge. All in it was a 14 hour exam, with all four candidates taking thier turn at skippering the boat, while Mike tested our seamanship with man-over-board drills, mooring, anchoring and blind navigation - all under both power and sail. He covered every single Rule of Road, Lights and Buoyage card with us as well as a detailed review of our Passage Plans and our sailing experiences as per our Sea Logs. It was indeed a thorough examination. As we all stepped off the boat, mentally drained and eager for the results to be known, waiting in silent anticipation and hope for the judges final ruling on our individual performances. It was going to be a good day and a very celebratory night afterall. Jim and I both passed. A huge relief came over us - it was over.
After 7 solid weeks of sea training, some 1800 sea miles, over forty days at sea and numerous hours of study and concentration we definitely had cause to celebrate. A huge door was now open for Sadie and I. We now had the necessary qualifations to start our professional careers in the sailing industry and to continue our dream. The course was probably the most challenging but most rewarding thing I have ever done, there were so many memories, high points and low points that it is impossible to put them all down on paper.
The next big chapter in our lives has definitely started!!
Read MoreJim and I had a tall order ahead of us. The training schedule Nick put together for us was going to be a tough one. In order to qualify as a Yachtmaster Offshore through the Royal Yachting Association (the RYA), candidates must have at least 2500 sea miles, at least half of which needs to be in tidal waters (i.e. not the Caribbean!), you must have clocked up at least 50 days at sea, of which 5 trips need to be of at least 60 miles each and 2 of these need to be at night. All of this culminates with a min 12 hour practical assessment by an RYA examiner. Both Jim and I had a few gaps in our log books which we were hopefully going to be able to complete over the course of the next 7 weeks.
Our first week bizarely was to be land based. There's a lot of theory to sailing even before you hit the water, all candidates must be up to scratch with the Rules of the Road, Lights and Buoyage, Meteorology and most importantly Navigation. Thankfully you can get to grips with all of this in a classroom first before you have to do it in earnest, down below on a rolling boat pitched over by 45 degrees trying to work out where you are and where you're going to next!! The week passed quickly for us and by the end of it we were ready to sit the exams. Thankfully we both passed with flying colours and were now keen to get on with the real deal - sailing.
Our accommodation for the week was aboard 'Polbream' a 46ft Beneteau. For me the transition from living in the heat of the Caribbean to all of a sudden being aboard a yacht in the south coast of England in April was a bit of a shock. I remember clearly while during our first sea training week standing on the pullpit wearing full wet weather gear, freezing cold, while a heavy hail storm peppered the deck around me with thousands of icy ball bearings, each one threatening to roll me off onto the drink without a moments hesitation! As the marbles of pure white ice managed to find their way down the back of my neck I clearly remember thinking "what the fuck have I done!!". While we were to see some significant weather over the next six weeks, this was undoubtedly the coldest I'd felt in over 5 years.
While our first week at sea was more to do with our Skipper 'Ken the Vicar' finding our levels rather than us getting our teeth into the Yachtmaster course, it was all part of the journey of improving our seamanship skills while also building the necessary tidal miles and passages needed to qualify and sit the Yachtmaster practical assessment at the start of June. We spent the week pottering around in local waters up the River Fal, the Helford, St Mawes, Fowey and then back to Falmouth. For me getting to grips with sailing a monohull for the first time was the biggest challenge. Having spent the last two years solely aboard catamarans getting a feel for the reactions of a monohull took some getting used to, as well as understanding points of sail and doing things like sailing up to mooring balls and recovering a man-over-board under sail. It's fair to say that on reflection I was almost ready to pack it all in at the end of that week - nothing seemed to be sinking into me!
The following two sailing trips however somehow managed to restore the level of confidence that I'd been missing. We did a 2 week trip from Falmouth to the southern coast of Ireland, via the Isles of Scilly and up through the infamous Irish Sea. This was with Peter and his wife Stella, Jim and I and another Andy who joined us on the trip. Talk about night and day from the previous one. We stopped for a night in St Agnes in the Scilly Isles and managed to get ashore in the dingy for a beer or two in the only pub. The pub was rammed. The island normally only has a population of about 60, but with the Annual Gig Racing festival now on to say it was standing room only, and that was just outside, would have been an understatement. Fantastic to be part of these marvelous events and celebrations on which much of the islands historic welfare and prosperity was once based.
The Southern coast of Ireland is a great place to go cruising. There are so many places and hidden gems all along the coast and always somewhere safe to head should the weather coming off the Irish Sea turn a little unfavourable. We visited Kinsail, Cork, Baltimore, Bantry Bay and Castletownbere (the home of the famous MacCarthy's Bar), to name but a few. The whole two weeks were amazing, dolphins and huge basking sharks came our way off of the Mizzen Head as we battled our way through heavy seas with wind against current, and past the famous lighthouse landmark, The Fastnet Rock. To add to the experience we also had our share of boat challenges, from leaking water tanks to a loss of all electrics as well as a night of dense fog and a misreading radar all thrown in for the measure. This was definitely what it's all about. The learning process was well underway.
The final week of mileage and passage building came next, and we headed off to the Brittany Coast in Northern France. It was a challenging crossing for me. I was nominated skipper and my task was to take our boat out of Falmouth and over to France organising the crew and sail as I saw fit. Our new leader that week was Chris a retired instructor but lifelong sailor. He went below to his bunk soon after we left Falmouth as we headed out to sea. The weather was up, it was Force 7 occasionally blowing 8, and the seas were at times 30ft plus. With the sails appropriately reefed we set in for the 24 hour journey ahead over to Treguir in France. With seasickness playing a part for some of the crew it was a tough call to continue. Chris seemed to have confidence in us as a crew and he kept me reassured in my role as skipper. While it was a log overnight passage our sightings of the many lighthouses on the French coastline welcomed us just as dawn was begining to break and we headed up the river in search of some 'vin et du pain' in the fresh spring air. Our journey then took us back to the UK via Guernsey in the Channel Islands and then up the River Dart in England and finally to Falmouth. Our final week of mileage building and passages was complete. Now it was time for some fun......
Sadie and Loretta then joined us for a bareboat week as Jim and I had now to put all the training into practice by skippering the boat for ourselves. We were both given our own yachts for the week and the girls helped out immensly by assiting in the preparation and provisioning of our new 'hotels' for the week as well as taking on the role as 1st mate. With Sadie fresh from chef school and Jim and I desperate to eat something different to sausage casserole our appetites were tingling with anticipation as we both set out from Falmouth on yet another new adventure.
It was a great week and the on board cuisine was excellent, and although the sailing was mixed due to some heavy weather midweek, being able to go sailing just with Sadie made it very special. This was to be our first real taste of what was hopefully lying ahead for us. However the uncertainty of our Yachtmaster's practical examination was now just a week away and the pressure was building even more than it was already.
Having said sad goodbyes to the gilrs and amidst various wishes of 'good luck's' and 'you'll breeze it' Jim and I then set of for the final showdown - A week's preparation getting rid of the bad habits and fine tuning our sailing skills and general seamanship knowledge. The week passed quickly in local waters and on the Friday our assessment began.
Like many things the reputations that preceed examiners are usualy outweighed by the various exaggerated stories that you hear about in the run up to your assessment. Mike Stratton was our examiner, at sea all his life and considered to be 'hard but fair'. Well, at least we knew he wouldn't suffer fools gladly and that we woulod be tested to the limits of our experiences and knowledge. All in it was a 14 hour exam, with all four candidates taking thier turn at skippering the boat, while Mike tested our seamanship with man-over-board drills, mooring, anchoring and blind navigation - all under both power and sail. He covered every single Rule of Road, Lights and Buoyage card with us as well as a detailed review of our Passage Plans and our sailing experiences as per our Sea Logs. It was indeed a thorough examination. As we all stepped off the boat, mentally drained and eager for the results to be known, waiting in silent anticipation and hope for the judges final ruling on our individual performances. It was going to be a good day and a very celebratory night afterall. Jim and I both passed. A huge relief came over us - it was over.
After 7 solid weeks of sea training, some 1800 sea miles, over forty days at sea and numerous hours of study and concentration we definitely had cause to celebrate. A huge door was now open for Sadie and I. We now had the necessary qualifations to start our professional careers in the sailing industry and to continue our dream. The course was probably the most challenging but most rewarding thing I have ever done, there were so many memories, high points and low points that it is impossible to put them all down on paper.
The next big chapter in our lives has definitely started!!
