wrote in message
...
On 25 Oct, 00:14, "Capt. JG" wrote:
wrote in message

...



On 24 Oct, 22:22, OzOne wrote:
On Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:00:47 -0700 (PDT), Bart

wrote:
In addition to all my other licenses and certifications,
I now hold the Yachtmaster Ocean. And I must say the
Brits are to be commended on putting together an
outstanding program. I was nothing but impressed
by all the many UK sailors I've met. The Solent is
The reason there are so many good sailors over
here.

I strongly recommend, to anyone who loves
sailing--make a point about sailing over for a week
or two. I sailed into nearly every harbor and like
them all. Newtown creek, and the Beaulieu river
were particularly beautiful.

Thereis lot of traffic. I have some cool photos I'll
post when I get a chance.

Regards

I have indeed sailed the Solent....when it was slightly less crowded,
and agree wholeheartedly with all points.
If only they could do something about the food and the weather :-)

That's why some of us are so keen on sailing to France.

The weather is a bit better. The food is undescribable.

Regards

Donal
--

Can you get freedom fries? Otherwise, I'm not interested!
Freedom Fries are widely available "free of charge" in France.


To get them, you only have to agree that GWB is not a
complete moron.

Although this very special offer has been available for 11
months, it seems that nobody has yet claimed their
free portion of Freedom Fries.

Donal
--

Damn... can't do that, so I guess I'll have to pay. If I claim he's a
high-functioning moron, will that do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xjbs...eature=related

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Oct 24, 8:15*pm, "Capt. JG" wrote:
"Bart" wrote in message

...



In addition to all my other licenses and certifications,
I now hold the Yachtmaster Ocean. And I must say the
Brits are to be commended on putting together an
outstanding program. *I was nothing but impressed
by all the many UK sailors I've met. The Solent is
The reason there are so many good sailors over
here.

*I strongly recommend, to anyone who loves
sailing--make a point about sailing over for a week
or two. *I sailed into nearly every harbor and like
them all. *Newtown creek, and the Beaulieu river
were particularly beautiful.

Thereis lot of traffic. *I have some cool photos I'll
post when I get a chance.

Regards

I think it's an outstanding achievement. I know someone else who attained
this cert, and he's quite an impressive sailor. I know it's fairly
expensive, but I've been considering it. There's actually a local company,
Modern Sailing, that is certified for this instruction. They're a top-notch
school in my opinion.

Perhaps you can give us some of the details of the requirements? Would love
to see pics also!

--
"j" ganz

There are two levels. Yachtmaster Offshore
and Yachtmaster Ocean.

I don't recall all the requirements for the offshore
--which is basically a coastal certificate. You do need
A certain number of coastal passages and you better
Have lots of nighttime experience. There is a Theory
or classroom portion. It is divided up into a Navigation
component and used make-believe charts and tidal
information. Unlike the US where you can do tides in
your head. There is an interesting way to calculate
tide using a tidal curve and a slanted line to give very
precise tide estimate--it works of course only where
you have the data for it. I found that working from the
tidal lows was the only way to make calculations for
Harbors that, due to their geography, had double
highs.

There is also a weather component and one other component
--I forgot what it was called. I didn't have to take it.

They have a Yachtmaster Prep-- which is five days
and this is typically followed by an Exam. The
Examiner is independent of the school offering
the course. I would not recommmend doing the
Exam without the Prep week--if only to get familiar
with the Solent.

Some thing covered were Blind Navigation
which was the only thing my instructor screwed
up. What you want is set and drift type cross
current estimates--mine had me take us up a
river in simulated fog--fairly trivial as I had feed
back from ok deck.

I enjoyed finding buoys in the dark and using
contour lines--all that sort of thing is fairly easy
if you know the importance of a back bearing
and cross-bearings. It is important to pick out
bright nav aids for this. Most of the cardinal
buoys were fairly bright, but not all.

Navigating at night had twists thrown
in like buoys off station--be sure to
check what is happening on the radio!
And out of date charts with missing
lights--in my case a channel light and
an entrance sector light! here I thought
I had an easy river entrance and the
sector light was out. One fellow had to
Navigate through a narrow channel near
The Brambles which was a simulated
minefield--you flunk if the depth goes
below so many meters. Of course you
flunk if you run aground in any case.

For the Ocean part--there is a Theory
portion. I could not find a class so I hired
a private tutor. I'd studied this material in
2001 and forgotten some of it. If you don't
Take the theory--which includes passage
planning and weather, you must take an exam.
Also required are sights. You must do a
minimum of a Sun run Sun. And you must
document a passage over 96 hours and it
must include a leg of 48 hours or 200 miles
that is at least 50 miles offshore. I did not
have any records of this, but it was a simple
matter to do a passage, and I needed the
ocean sights. One more thing needed is a
Compass Check. I used a sunset and True
Angles tables from Reeds to estimate my
deviation. I was fortunate in that I was
offered a passage as a mate on a friends
boat for only the cost of food. And I was
even more fortunate to knock off two of my
goals--seeing Gibraltar and Malta.

After completing your sights, there is
an Oral Exam. Apparently some people
try to fake it. I had plenty of supporting
documentation. I might have been able
to skip the written exam based on my
previous course work, but rather than
risk not getting the certificate, I chose
to take the written exam at that time.

If you have done a number of sights
on the ocean, the sight reduction
problem in the classroom is a piece
of cake to do. If you haven't done
many sight reductions it will perhaps
be more difficult. Celestial Navigation
concepts can turn your brain mush at
foray, but if you do the every day on a
passage and think about Zn, declination,
and how they related to all the different
possibilities--it will become second nature
to you. I'm looking forward to doing more
complicated things in the future. I tried a
set of star sights on my last trip and found
the horizon too hard to distinguish. I want
to try that again along with a Moon sight.

The rest of the Ocean written exam consists
of a couple of questions on weather. Mine was
about hurricane formation and track--safe and
dangerous semi-circles. For Passage Planning
I was given four short ocean passages and asked
which ones had favorable currents. I've been told
common questions include how to check a sextant
for error and labeling the best times to depart
various locations around the Atlantic to avoid
bad weather--things that you would ordinarily
pick up inthe course of doing things like that.
For example, it is late October. In a few weeks
people will be leaving for the Caribbean from
Gibraltar and the Azores, and New England and
the Mid-Atlantic States.

I'd rate the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore as the
more important and challenging certification.
It is harder, contains more important material,
and of course sailing close to shore is far more
dangerous.

I also feel that the RYA certification is widely
recognized around the world and more challeging
than either the ASA or US Sailing Certifications.
For me, although I hold a USCG license, that does
not carry as much weight elsewhere in the world.
I think the combination of the two has some meat
to it.

I have to run. I'll be able to check in on a limited
basis in the next few weeks. I have some new
questions to pose that will need some diagram
and pictures to go with them. It make take me a
while to pull them together--late Nov or early
December.

On Oct 24, 9:21*pm, "Edgar" wrote:
"Bart" wrote in message

...



In addition to all my other licenses and certifications,
I now hold the Yachtmaster Ocean. And I must say the
Brits are to be commended on putting together an
outstanding program. *I was nothing but impressed
by all the many UK sailors I've met. The Solent is
The reason there are so many good sailors over
here.

*I strongly recommend, to anyone who loves
sailing--make a point about sailing over for a week
or two. *I sailed into nearly every harbor and like
them all. *Newtown creek, and the Beaulieu river
were particularly beautiful.

Thereis lot of traffic. *I have some cool photos I'll
post when I get a chance.

Regards

What about Salcombe, Newton Ferrers, Fowey, Falmouth Harbour and the Helford
river?
Lots of lovely harbours on the south coast apart from the Solent.

Why don't you fill us in on these places, post links, pictures,
Etc. I can't report on places I haven't been, I liked
Chichester harbor too and saw Tom Cunliff and even got
a wave back from him. By the way, I like his Celestial
Navigation book.

"Bart" wrote in message
...
On Oct 24, 10:22 pm, OzOne wrote:

I have indeed sailed the Solent....when it was slightly less crowded,
and agree wholeheartedly with all points.
If only they could do something about the food and the weather :-)

I was fortunate with the weather. The food
Is life threatening!

I enjoyed the "finding unlit buoys in the dark
part--I nailed that one. The key is to use back
bearings and pick easy to see ones, and have
several cross bears that are easy to pick out.
There were lots of tricky stuff in the exam like
an off-station buoy and a harbor approach with
a sector light out. I glad I had tons of night
sailing experience because that was the bulk
of the exam.

I have to go. More later.

Bart, I think you are talking about the Yachtmaster Offshore certificate
which includes all that sort of stuff, not the 'Ocean'..
Having got the 'Offshore' qualification, to qualify for 'Ocean' you then
need to pass an additional exam in astro navigation and then submit a log
showing that you have successfully completed a 500 mile nonstop ocean
passage.
Since I took the 'Ocean' astro navigation exam many years ago I have no
doubt that the syllabus has been expanded to take account of the various
electronic aids available these days.

"Bart" wrote in message
...

What about Salcombe, Newton Ferrers, Fowey, Falmouth Harbour and the
Helford
river?
Lots of lovely harbours on the south coast apart from the Solent.

Why don't you fill us in on these places, post links, pictures,
Etc. I can't report on places I haven't been, I liked
Chichester harbor too and saw Tom Cunliff and even got
a wave back from him. By the way, I like his Celestial
Navigation book.

Ok then try:-
http://www.dartmouth.org.uk
http://www.salcombeinformation.co.uk
http://www.newtonnoss.co.uk
http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/restormel/fowey.htm
http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/carrick/falmouth
helfordriver.net

It is hard to beat the Westcountry for cruising destinations in UK.

"Bart" wrote in message
...
There are two levels. Yachtmaster Offshore
and Yachtmaster Ocean.

I don't recall all the requirements for the offshore
--which is basically a coastal certificate.

Not so. The Yachtmaster Offshore is just what it says and allows you to go
anywhere.
There is a seperate certificate for Coastal Skipper.

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:06:09 +0100, "Edgar"
wrote:


"Bart" wrote in message
...

What about Salcombe, Newton Ferrers, Fowey, Falmouth Harbour and the
Helford
river?
Lots of lovely harbours on the south coast apart from the Solent.

Why don't you fill us in on these places, post links, pictures,
Etc. I can't report on places I haven't been, I liked
Chichester harbor too and saw Tom Cunliff and even got
a wave back from him. By the way, I like his Celestial
Navigation book.

Ok then try:-
http://www.dartmouth.org.uk
http://www.salcombeinformation.co.uk
http://www.newtonnoss.co.uk
http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/restormel/fowey.htm
http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/carrick/falmouth
helfordriver.net

It is hard to beat the Westcountry for cruising destinations in UK.


Any favourite 'character building' places?

"Goofball_star_dot_etal" wrote in message
...


On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:06:09 +0100, "Edgar"
wrote:


"Bart" wrote in message
...

What about Salcombe, Newton Ferrers, Fowey, Falmouth Harbour and the
Helford
river?
Lots of lovely harbours on the south coast apart from the Solent.

Why don't you fill us in on these places, post links, pictures,
Etc. I can't report on places I haven't been, I liked
Chichester harbor too and saw Tom Cunliff and even got
a wave back from him. By the way, I like his Celestial
Navigation book.

Ok then try:-
http://www.dartmouth.org.uk
http://www.salcombeinformation.co.uk
http://www.newtonnoss.co.uk
http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/restormel/fowey.htm
http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/carrick/falmouth
helfordriver.net

It is hard to beat the Westcountry for cruising destinations in UK.


Any favourite 'character building' places?

Dartmouth, Fowey, Helford and Falmouth present no particular problems for
anyone who can navigate a bit.
Newton Ferrers has a more complicated entrance but Ok if you know where to
look for the leading marks.
Salcombe is my birthplace and I know it very well, and in a strong southerly
wind, especially near low tide the bar can be a mass of breakers and however
much you may want to go into harbour you would be well advised in such
conditions to make for Dartmouth or Plymouth if in any doubt at all.
Nowadays with GPS it is easy to find in fog, but many years ago I was
sailing from the Solent towards Salcombe and was caught in thick fog in the
middle of Lyme Bay. There were no external navigation aids then available
then except the fog signal from Start Point lighthouse and my own
interpretation of tidal streams and some distant radio beacons across in
France. No beacon in Salcombe itself, I did not have radar or decca, and
Salcombe harbour entrance is marked by cliffs hundreds of feet high with
rocky shores. It had become dark as well but it was quite calm so I turned
towards the shore when I deemed myself to be opposite the harbour and from
the charts determined that if I kept in at least 20' of water I would be
clear of all rocks. Went in to 20' depth and could hear breakers but still
saw no land. Knew I was out of all shipping lanes at that depth so anchored
till morning and found myself right by the harbour entrance. That was
interesting.