Example itinerary of Yachtmaster Offshore MCA/RYA Exam Prep Week

• 09.00.h 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
• Chat with the instructor about what you want to achieve from the week.
• 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  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
• Prepare cross channel passage plans as re quested by examiner
• 2000 Supper followed by a trip ashore to a local pub or finishing of pre prepared passage plans

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 recap the procedure for deciding a good anchorage and working out the required heights of tide
• Prepare to enter anchorage. The designated skipper will organise the foredeck crew to prepare the anchor and chain 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
• 1000 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 1st Skipper of the day will plan a short trip to the evening destination. On route the instructor will demonstrate the use of electronic navigational aids such as GPS and Chartplotters.  Each student will practice using waypoints.
• Discussion on route about crew management and skippering techniques
• Each student practices MOB on route both with and without an engine
• 1700 Arrive at new harbour. General discussion about etiquette when rafting
• 1900 Depart for night sail exercises which will give each candidate the chance to enter or leave a harbour or find an unlit mark
• 2230 Arrive at evening destination

THURSDAY

• 0700 Showers ashore, breakfast, clean up and get weather forecast
• 0800 Practice pile moorings in harbour
• 0930 Practice sailing on to and off pontoons
• 1115 1st “Skipper of the day” plans a short trip to lunchtime anchorage
• 1130 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 off anchor and towards the harbour practising all aspects
• 1200 Early lunch on mooring buoy
• 1300 Leave mooring buoy and practice return to the fender sailing exercise
• 1430 Arrive at the harbour
• Clean up yacht followed by debrief and preparation of application forms in readiness for examiner’s arrival
• Finish pre prepared passage plans for examiner
• 1830 Examiner arrives