Example itineraries of 5 day and weekend Day Skipper courses

Monday

• 09.00h Arrive at Amsterdam
• 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
• 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 instructor will demonstrate how to plan a short passage taking into account wind, tide and pilotage information from the charts and almanacs
• The Instructor will skipper the passage and demonstrate MOB procedures on route with each student getting the chance to have a go.
• On route each student will have the chance to fix their position by visual means such as taking bearings
• 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
• 1000 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 short trip to an evening destination that involves a cross tide course.
• Set sail for evening destination revising the basic collision regulations on route
• 1730 Arrive at a new harbour  and prepare supper
• Debrief the day’s events including the second passage
• 1900 Depart for night sail exercise which will familiarise each crew member with light characteristics of buoyage and ships and additional safety procedures needed at night
• 2300 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 teach 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 1st “Skipper of the day” plans a passage to the evening destination. On route the instructor will demonstrate the use of electronic navigational aids such as GPS and Chartplotters
• Each student practices MOB on route
• 1700 Arrive at new harbour. General discussion about etiquette when rafting and the use of courtesy flags
• 1830 Debrief on the days events
• 1930 Supper followed by a trip ashore

THURSDAY

• 0800 Showers ashore, breakfast, clean up and get weather forecast
• 1000 Practice pile moorings in harbour
• 1130 1st “Skipper of the day” plans a short passage to the lunchtime destination which will include entry to a harbour where tidal height is critical
• Set sail for lunch time destination practicing Man Overboard on route. Practice some slightly advanced sail trim techniques and poling out the headsail
• 1330 Lunch at anchor
• 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 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, return wet weather gear followed by debrief and issue of certificates
• 1600 Depart Amsterdam

Dayskipper course over a weekend – note 3 weekends required

FRIDAY

• 20.00h Arrive at Amsterdam
• 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
• If the weather is good and everybody is on time you will set sail for a short trip to a nearby harbour otherwise go ashore for evening meal and drink. A good chance to break the ice and have a relaxing evening before setting sail the next day. It’s a good idea to have a late afternoon snack before coming down as you may not be eating until later on the first evening

SATURDAY

• 0800 Showers at marina facilities, breakfast, clean up and get weather forecast
• Recap safety procedures on deck. 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 the river giving everyone a chance to steer the yacht under power
• Practice coming alongside and leaving various pontoons with everyone rotating jobs
• 1st Skipper of the day plans a sail to an anchorage for lunch taking into account tide, wind and pilotage information from charts and almanacs.  The instructor will demonstrate what makes a good passage and pilotage plan
• Skipper of the day takes charge of entering the anchorage and organising the foredeck crew in preparation to drop anchor
• 1300 Lunch at a mooring buoy or anchorage. Discuss the use of liferafts and how to handle other emergency procedures such as fire and flooding and MOB
• Leave anchorage and practice sailing on and off a mooring buoy.
• Practice putting in and shaking out reefs with each skipper taking it in turns to give the commands
• Practice headsail changes or furling
• Second skipper of the day plans a short passage to overnight destination. On route each skipper practices Man Overboard techniques and the taking and plotting of positions using the handbearing compass
• The instructor will demonstrate some sail trim techniques and how to pole 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

SUNDAY

• 0800 Showers at marina facilities, breakfast, clean up and get weather forecast
• 0900 1st Skipper of the day plans a short trip to lunchtime mooring buoy stop.  On route each skipper will practice using electronic as well as traditional navigational techniques
• The instructor will explain how to sail onto a mooring buoy and give a demonstration.
• Each skipper will practice sailing on to the mooring buoy.
• 1200 Lunch at anchor
• Set sail for Amsterdam learning the basic collision regulations on route
• 1500 Clean up yacht followed by debrief and issue of certificates
• 1600 Depart Amsterdam