This
is an introductory level learn to sail course that is
suitable for beginners or slightly experienced sailors.
We can teach you to sail
even if you have never set foot on a boat as long as
you can:-
a) feel the wind and,
b) don't try to push a rope up hill.
During this course you
will become comfortable controlling a 20 to 30 foot
keelboat under motor and sail. You will learn to act
in the capacity of skipper and also a member of the
crew. On completion you will be confident in making
safe, local, daytime, cruises in moderate wind and sea
conditions.
Safe Practices are stressed
Take a look at the Performance
Standard to discover
the details of what you will learn.
We believe that sailing is best learned on the water
and therefore we spend as much course time as possible
on the boat.
Clients are encouraged to learn the theory at their own
pace assisted by coaching from our qualified and experienced
instructors. You will receive your course material as
soon you sign up for the course. The more you read ahead
of time the faster you go up the learning curve and get
to take the boat out unsupervised.
The ability to tie
knots that are secure, easy to tie, and easy to undo,
is an essential part of being a sailor. There are only
7 essential knots and we will show you how to tie them
all. In the meantime here is a link to an excellent on-line
knot tying site.
Animated Knots. Be warned there
are more knots there than you need but it is an entertaining
site with interesting content and links. Click here for
the list of knots used
in Basic Cruising.
All Ynot Sailing courses are offered
in a non smoking environment
Classroom
time is minimal and to succeed you will be required to read
the course text book outside of course time. We ship the
course material to you as soon as you pay your deposit so
that you have the maximum opportunity to prepare yourself
for your on the water experience. Students who have read
the book before the course, even though some of it did not
make sense to them at the time, always progress rapidly
and have an enhanced on the water experience. The faster
you climb the confidence curve the sooner you are allowed
autonomous use of our practice boat.
Course Text Book
On successful completion
of the course you will be awarded a Canadian Yachting
Association (CYA) Certificate and logbook which can be
used as proof of competency.
By 2009 everyone operating
a boat with an engine will be required by law to have
a Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC). The material is
covered in this course but there is a separate exam and
registration
fee. If you do not have a PCOC
you would be well advised to do it now. The additional
fee we charge to cover the cost of the exam and is quite
small and a lot less than taking it as a separate course
later.
