Now the real learning begins.

I started studying for the Yacht Master 3 years ago in Marseille after finding the Yacht Master Shore Based Notes book in a Marine Bookstore. It was the only instructional book written in English and it quite changed my life. At the time I was super hungry to learn everything and anything possible if it would make me a more knowledgable sailer. I also went thru the process of trying to figure out which is the best and toughest training program. There are many to choose from including ASA, Nautical Ed and now Sail Canada has their version of a Yacht Master.

I choose to pursue the RYA schema as at the time (and I believe now as well) it was the most difficult and most recognized certificate of competency available.

As someone recently new to sailing, I had no idea about anything so this seemed to be a great format to programmatically guide me thru the knowledge acquisition of all the basics of sailing and seamanship. I chose the NavAtHome Theory course, online, to get me through the fundamentals. The Certificate of Competency (CoC) requires an understanding of theory but includes the element of being examined by an approved RYA Yacht Master examiner. So you basically need to know all the theory AND apply it in a real world experience onboard.

The theory is heavy duty and includes advanced knowledge of Weather, Radar, Passage Planning, Navigation (Paper and Electronic), Boat Maintenance, Sailing Maneuvers, Safety and the overall ability to skipper any recreational sailing vessel.

As checkpoints along the way over the past 3 years I completed all kinds of Sail Canada courses including Survival at Sea, Celestial and traditional navigation as well as basic, advanced and offshore sailing courses. I was also required to have sailed over 2500 miles with long and overnight passages as skipper. See my sailing resume for more details on various cool courses I have taken and that I am happy to discuss. ( Link here: My Sailing Resume )

After a postponement from my original exam date in May, I committed to take my exam in Kingston with TopMast who provide a week of exam prep before the RYA examiner flies in for the practical on water exam. I completely forgot that I was also required to have an updated First Aid Certificate which I managed to do the day before the exam week began. Also last minute, there was a change from the RYA that they would only acknowledge the RYA approved VHF radio course which the folks at TopMast provided.

Here And There

The Exam

So, Friday afternoon and as the TopMast folks recommended, we took some time off to chill, nap and let the concentration of polished nautical information steep as were were not going to learn anything new by now. I should have written this right after the test but it’s actually the beginning of December now and I wanted to get everything from 2024 down and out of my mind to free up space for some cool stuff to come in 2025.

Taking a short step back. The whole idea of the YM practical, or Certificate of Competency, for me, was to prove to myself that I have merit and confidence in the ways of sailing and seamanship AND enough experience to show for it. It is a constant acknowledgement with me that while knowing all this stuff is important, in sailing, nothing compares to experience. This is why you also need to have 2500 miles of seatime with at least 5 overnight passages as skipper. (or something like that.) I also thought the YM program would force me to understand the minimum theory to not only be safe at sea, but to start to grasp the great extent of it all. Which is why I come back to the fact the the YM for me, simply unlocks level 2 of an infinite amount of sailing levels. (Of which the taxonomy is not linear but an endless extending web of knowledge that needs to be matched with experience.)

So, back to the exam. Friday, late afternoon, Dave is being picked up from the airport and will be welcomed with a rotisserie chicken on board. He also likes fresh coffee. Good thing we had a french press handy. Dave is awesome, I think it was his last exam adventure as I think he was in his early 80’s. That’s a lot of knowledge crammed into one man. I wish I took a picture of him and his worn cap with some distinguish Canadian Sailor crests. Dave gathered us on board to join him while he munched on his chicken and shared some clever jokes with us. The theme was that he was not here to fail us and that we are already Yacht Masters. His job was to ensure we were competent and capable. “Let’s get out to sea boys”, he said. “It’s going to be a long night.”

My boat mates for the past week and fellow Yacht Master’s to be were Thorston, a Scandinavian from the Buffalo area and Andre, a sturdy Ukrainian fellow from Oakville who had made an Atlantic crossing.

Thorston was up first and navigated us out of the harbour as the sun set and the matrix of lights came on from the island wind farms as day turned into night. We got right into MOB drills and I muffed mine supremely. He was patient as we took turns still getting the hang of the boat which even after a week of training was still new to all of us. After getting that sorted out we got into navigation without GPS using just depth contours and to leading lights to find “X”s on the chart. We are all aces! Feeling good, time to head in under the moon light.

The three of us resumed our sleeping positions in our bunks and we played name that day shape or sound pattern in low visibility situations as we drifted off to sleep. Gongs, whistles and bells…

At day break we were assembled again under the watchful eye of Dave as we headed out to test out docking and maneuvering in tight quarters skills. More aces!! Andre did more advanced anchoring maneuvers as Thorston and I adjusted to the fact that we were going for the Yacht Master Coastal vs. the Offshore version. My MOB skills were not fast enough and warranted a bit more work.

During the practical exam we were constantly quizzed on theory that included chart work, tests of our ability to recognize lights and shapes as well as anything and everything to do with COLREGS. Luckily I had been studying this for three years and had that pretty down pact.

We wrapped up the day with test of our ability to understand radar and synoptic charts along with some passage planning exercises.

Pre Departure Check
W – water
O – oil
B – belts
B – bilge(s)
L – levels
E – exhaust

Leaving the Dock
E – elements
T – traffic
S – separation

Dave took each of us down below once we were back on terra firma and handed out the results. He commented that he liked the fact that we were helping each other out, shook our 🙌🏻 and announced our new dispositions as Yacht Masters!! Woot!