Nav skills - Advanced pilotage - weekend

Improve your pilotage skills and successfully navigate a vessel precisely in confined sailing areas.

Learn the techniques for safely navigating in difficult waters and avoid hidden obstacles. Become an efficient navigator and the methodology for making correct tactical decisions.

THE COURSE OVERVIEW

This is the course you need to master the art of effective navigation during pilotage. You will get versed in advanced navigational techniques, as well as acquainted with pilotage planning and tactical techniques for close quarter navigation. After you have participated in this course, you will be equipped with a solid understanding and knowledge of how to deal with difficult and demanding navigational areas.

This course follows the principles and learning plans of S.T.E.P. and is an exclusive and tailor-made course, not available anywhere else, and it is carefully constructed to last over weekends only (Sat-Sun). This is so that you don't have to spend your precious vacation days for training, but rather allocate them where they belong: To your sailing adventures!

This course is suitable for skippers at any level and for any reason; certifications and holidays alike. You can be a beginner or advanced sailor, and it is also suitable for aspiring skipper wanting to come well prepared to their skippering certification.

Course Content & Schedule

For this particular weekend, we are focusing heavily on pilotage skills and how to navigate the vessel precisely in confined areas. There are only so many techniques to use, but almost an infinite amount of ways to apply them. Therefore the course is designed to let you do several different exercises, specifically designed to increasingly grow your navigational skills. Time permitting, this is what you will cover:

SYLLABUS Weekend 01
  • Pilotage tools & strategies.
  • Developing a pilotage plan quickly.
  • Pilotage to lat/long.
  • Pilotage through obstacle course.
  • Pilotage in the dark.
  • Blind navigation.

  • SYLLABUS subsequent Weekends
  • To be announced

  • What to expect

    THE CORRECT METHODS
    The modern sailing world is moving more and more towards electronic navigation and using chartplotters for managing your journey on the water. As fantastic as these tools are, they require the user to have a deeper understanding of how navigational methods actually work. This is not just for the purpose of potential electronic failure, but rather for the navigator to understand the information presented, and more importantly: how to use it for efficient and safe navigation.

    This course aims to teach you fundamental techniques that are relevant regardless if you are using paper charts or an electronic chart plotter. The strategies for effective navigation stays the same and learning this will enable you not only to be confident in navigating difficult waters with limited tools, but also to use the chart plotter at its true potential.

    MADE BY A PROFESSIONAL
    Your instructor is a RYA Yachtmaster Ocean and Yacthtmaster Instructor and has over a decade of full-time teaching under his belt. In his youth, he was an avid solo-racer and spent a considerable amount of time studying race-track tactics. Also, before becoming a professional sailing instructor, he was an Air Traffic Controller, working primarily with procedural airspaces. It’s quite likely that his passion for navigation comes from these backgrounds.

    A PROPER COURSE
    These 2 days are intense and full of practical hands-on exercises. The theory is relatively basic, but the applications in practicality are complex and there will be plenty of discussion about tactics, efficient methodology and alternative solutions to each exercise. There will of course be plenty of handout material during the course, from the S.T.E.P. resources. We have also limited the amount of participants to 4 so there will be enough time for everyone to do each exercise in the course schedule.

    What's included

  • Food: ingredients for breakfast, lunches and a delicious onboard dinner. Snacks, coffee and tea also available.
  • Harbour fees.
  • Diesel.
  • Bedding, Pillows.
  • All necessary trainingmaterial.
  • Diploma (upon successful completion)
  • What's not included (and what to bring yourself)

  • Transport to/from the yacht.
  • Bring a notebook, sleeping bag, appropriate clothing.
  • Seasickness pills, special snacks.
  • Various logistical information:

    The course is limited to a maximum of 3 singles or a couple (sharing a cabin) and 2 singles. This is to allow enough time and training for each student, and also to give you the privacy of your own cabin. For the 2-cabin yachts, one person will have to sleep in the saloon due to the layout of the yacht. You are of course welcome to choose an accommodation ashore for the night if you prefer.

    The course starts at 0900 on Saturday and finishes at 1700 on Sunday. Expect to cover theory or practical exercises on Saturday evening as well!

    There are showers and toilets in the harbours, and of course also on the yacht.

    The yacht has ingredients for breakfast, lunch and a delicious dinner. However, you are welcome to visit a restaurant in the evening if you prefer.

    Unless you are notified otherwise, the course start and finish is at one of our bases in Zeeland. Currently we primarily sail out of Kats and Wemeldinge which you can reach by car (Kats - Google Location), (Wemeldinge - Google Location), or take a train to Goes and a taxi from there. If you prefer to arrive the night before, there are several hotels and B&Bs in the area.

    As a participant of the course, you are expected to clean the yacht on Sunday afternoon, before leaving.

    The course is held in English, and it is heavily advised that you are fluent enough to get the most value out of the course.

     

    S.T.E.P. Academy Courses Schedule

    In the calendar below you will find all the planned courses for the year. Please click on the course you are interested in to see more information and the course cost.

     

    Please be aware that the schedule and courses may change. Therefore, it's advisable to come back here regularly and keep yourself updated with the current schedule. Please use the form below to make an enquiry about the course you are interested in.




    Contact us for enquiries and additional information!