Meet the instructor, collect food and move onto the yacht to settle in
Stowe away all provisioning and personal kit
Instructor’s safety briefing and yacht familiarisation talk
Get weather forecast
Introduction to deck gear, ropes and rigging and various parts of the yacht
Engine start controls and rigging/slipping of mooring lines and fenders
Slip mooring and motor down giving everyone a chance to steer the yacht under power
Practice coming alongside and leaving various pontoons with everyone rotating jobs and having the chance to practice in a variety of wind and tide situations
Short sail to an anchorage or mooring buoy giving everyone the chance to get used to the yacht under sail practicing the basic sailing manoeuvres of tacking, gybing and putting in and shaking out of reefs. This will give everyone the chance to refresh the basics of sail handling and trim
1300 Lunch at a mooring buoy or anchorage. Discuss the use of liferafts and how to handle emergencies such as flooding, fire and collision
The first skipper of the day will plan a short passage taking into account wind, tide and pilotage information from the charts and almanacs
The Instructor will demonstrate MOB procedures on route with and without the use of an engine. Each student will get the chance to practice this manoeuvre.
On route the instructor will demonstrate poling out the headsail .
1830 Enter a new harbour and moor up. Stow sails and tidy up on and below deck
1900 Debrief on day’s events whilst dinner is cooking in oven
2000 Supper followed by a trip ashore to a local pub
TUESDAY
0800 Showers at marina facilities, breakfast, clean up and get weather forecast
0930 The first “Skipper” will plan a trip to an anchorage for lunch. On route each crew member will practice MOB. The instructor will explain the procedure for deciding a good anchorage and working out the required heights of tide
Prepare to enter anchorage. Learn how to prepare the anchor and foredeck in anticipation of arrival
1400 Lunch at anchor
2nd “Skipper of the day” plans a trip to an evening destination that involves a cross tide course and entry into a shallow harbour.
Set sail for evening destination revising the collision regulations on route. Instructor will explain the procedures for handling navigation in restricted visibility followed by a simulated exercise to find a buoy in fog
1730 Arrive at a new harbour and prepare supper
Debrief the day’s events
Each candidate will plan a leg of a night sail that will involve entries or departures from harbours or finding unlit marks as a navigational exercise
1900 Depart for night sail exercise
0100 Arrive at destination
WEDNESDAY
0900 Showers at marina facilities, breakfast, clean up and get weather forecast
1030 Carry out some more manoeuvring under power using pontoons and mooring buoys
The instructor will demonstrate how to sail onto a mooring buoy in a wind against tide situation followed by each student having the opportunity to have a go
1200 Lunch at nearby mooring buoy
1300 Undertake a longer passage for example from Ijmuiden to Texel with the trip split between 2 skippers. On route the instructor will demonstrate the use of electronic navigational aids such as GPS and Chartplotters. Each student will practice working up EP’s and dipping distances from lighthouses and running fixes etc.
Each student practices MOB on route
Supper prepared on route
2200 Arrive at new harbour. General discussion about etiquette when rafting
2230 Debrief on the days events
THURSDAY
0700 Showers ashore, breakfast, clean up and get weather forecast
0800 Practice pile moorings in harbour
0900 1st “Skipper of the day” plans the return leg
1000 Set sail for lunch time destination practicing Man Overboard on route. Practice some slightly advanced sail trim techniques and rudderless sailing
1330 Lunch on route
1400 Arrive at lunchtime destination
1400 The instructor will demonstrate how to sail onto a mooring buoy in a wind with tide situation followed by each student having the chance to practice
1500 The second “Skipper of the day” plans a passage to a night time destination
Depart for evening destination with discussion on route about weather and the factors that affect yacht stability
1900 Arrive at destination and sail onto the anchor for the night
Debrief the day’s events
Supper followed by row ashore
FRIDAY
0900 Wash onboard, breakfast, clean up and get weather forecast
1000 Sail back to Amsterdam practising all aspects
1200 Early lunch on mooring buoy
1500 Arrive back at Amsterdam
Clean up yacht followed by debrief and issue of certificates
