MONDAY
- 0900 Arrive at Hamble and check in at the school reception building.
- Receive wet weather gear and pillows if required. Meet the instructor, collect food and move onto the yacht.
- Stowe away all provisioning and personal kit
- Instructor's safety briefing and yacht familiarisation talk
- 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 Hamble 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 in the Solent 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 in the Solent 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 Chichester to Poole 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 and learn how to secure to a town wall. 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 to the Solent from Poole
- 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 Hamble practising all aspects
- 1200 Early lunch on mooring buoy
- 1500 Arrive back at Hamble
- Clean up yacht, return wet weather gear followed by debrief and issue of certificates
- 1600 Depart Hamble
Please note: All course itineraries are examples and do not form any part of the contract
