This weekend we made history…at least history in our own lives, as we were awarded with our RYA (that’s Royal Yachting Association, but shouldn’t be viewed as a royalist agency!) Dayskipper qualification. Dayskipper is a basic sailing qualification that we will need when sailing in some countries as we travel. It also allows us to charter boats, and gives us a really good basic grounding in sailing fundamentals.
Big thanks goes to John Patrick our skipper for the two weekends and trainer. John was extremely generous with his time, and put in a massive effort to give us as much experience as possible to help us on our way. If you’re thinking of doing some sailing training, or fancy a holiday on the water sailing around Ireland then we’d certainly advice you to look him up, you can find him at www.yachtmaster.co.uk.
Whilst the training was really important in itself, simply spending two weekends on the water gave Kel and I a huge sense of confidence that we were doing the right thing. Life on the water will happen at a different pace for us, and we both came away from the weekends feeling thoroughly rested, thrilled, and brimming with anticipation for setting sail in November.
Thanks also go to Dave Comer and Ocean Youth Trust. Keli and I spent 16 weeks last year studying Dayskipper theory, and Dave was a fantastic tutor, making some of the more complex aspects of sail theory both clear and engaging. Ocean Youth Trust are a youth work organisation that provide personal development opportunities for young people aboard their two yachts. Their encouragement and practical support has also helped us on our way.
You can view a slideshow of our weekend here: Sailing with John
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