RYA Specialist Short Courses
A programme of one day support courses enabling you to expand your knowledge and skills in specialist areas. These are not only great stand alone courses but also complement courses in the various RYA practical training schemes. Indeed, some courses, such as Marine Radio Short Range Certificate, are a pre-requisite for higher qualifications such as Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence.
Diesel Engines
A beginners' course to help you prevent and solve diesel engine
failure
Mechanical failure is the main cause of rescue call-outs to cruisers
but most engine problems can be avoided by taking simple
precautions. A detailed mechanical knowledge is not required.
This course teaches you how your engine works, how to keep it
healthy by using basic checks and maintenance procedures and how to
get it started again in the event of a breakdown.
Course Content: Principles of diesel engine operation, systems
and parts of the engine, fault finding, rectification of common
problems, bleeding the fuel system, changing the impeller, routine
maintenance, winter lay up procedures
Marine Radio Short Range Certificate
A radio is an important piece of safety equipment and it is vital
to understand the correct procedures. This course is therefore
for anyone who owns a fixed or hand-held marine VHF radio.
This is the qualification required by law if you operate a VHF radio
fitted with Digital Selective Calling (DSC) on any British vessel
voluntarily fitted with a radio. All new VHF sets are either
fitted, or can be interfaced, with DSC allowing calls to specific
vessels. If you hold the 'old' VHF licence (pre-1999) you need
to upgrade your qualification if you purchase new equipment.
The course will be taught using radio simulators and will be
examined by a short written test.
Course Content: basics of radio operation, the correct frequencies
(channels) to be used, distress, emergency and medical assistance
procedures, making ship to shore telephone calls, Digital Selective
Calling (DSC) using simulators, Global Maritime Distress and Safety
System (GMDSS), Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB),
Search and Rescue (SART)
Radar
A short course giving you an understanding of radar as an aid to
navigation and collision avoidance
The International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at
Sea state that if you have radar on board your vessel you must know
how to use it.
Radar is probably the most versatile of all electronic navigation
aids but the best results are only obtained when you know how to use
all the functions correctly. It can easily mislead those who
do not understand its controls, allow for its limitations or how to
interpret its picture.
Course Content: How the radar set works, how its adjustments
and features affect the way it works, target definition, radar
reflectors, types of radar display, radar plotting, the use of radar
in navigation and collision avoidance
Sea Survival
A course for anyone going to sea providing an understanding of
how to use the safety equipment on board your boat. It could
save your life!
In the event of an emergency at sea people with training are more
likely to survive. 99.9% of those afloat will never use their
liferaft. However, if you are one of the unlucky few, your
chances of survival will be greatly increased if you understand how
to use the equipment and how to help yourself.
An important part of this course is a practical session in a
swimming pool. Experience first hand the problems of entering
an uncooperative liferaft and assisting others while fully kitted
out in wet weather gear and a lifejacket.
Course Content: Liferafts and the equipment they contain,
survival techniques, the design of lifejackets, medical aspects of
sea survival, search and rescue techniques
Offshore Safety
Training for recreational and racing skippers and crews who
encounter rough weather and problems at sea
At the end of the course you will have a good knowledge of the
safety equipment carried on small boats and the seamanship
techniques needed to survive at sea in heavy weather
The certificate awarded conforms with the eligibility requirements
of section 6.01 of the ISAF Special Regulations for category 0,1 and
some category 2 offshore races. These regulations require a
percentage of the crew to have taken personal training. Full
details can be found on the
ISAF website.
Course Content: One day sea survival course plus a half day
training in seamanship and emergencies including heavy weather
seamanship, weather forecasting, fire fighting and man overboard
recovery
First Aid
A course aimed at anyone who goes afloat, whether on inland
waters or the open sea, covering all the usual first aid subjects
but from a boating perspective
In a medical emergency a little first aid knowledge and immediate
action can save lives, especially in remote locations
This course is designed to provide a working knowledge of first aid
for people using small craft and to support skippers. It
fulfils the requirements for professional skippers of small craft
working within 60 miles of a safe haven, including Boatmasters, and
the Senior First Aid Certificate needed by offshore racers subject
to ISAF regulations on first aid training. The course is
recommended by the MCA and HSE.
Course Content: Includes subjects specific to boating such as
the recovery position in a confined space, CPR including the
drowning protocol, cold shock and hypothermia from immersion and/or
exposure, seasickness and dehydration, medical assistance or advice
by VHF, helicopter rescue
