Syllabus for Shore Based Courses

Essential Navigation & Seamanship

  • Charts & publications
  • Safety
  • Engine checks
  • Buoyage
  • Tidal awareness
  • Visual and electronic navigation
  • Pilotage
  • Rules of the road (Collision Regulations)
  • Anchoring
  • Weather forecasts
  • Passage planning


Day Skipper

  • Nautical terms
  • Rope work
  • Anchor work
  • Safety
  • International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (IRPCS)
  • Definition of course, position and speed
  • Navigational charts and publications
  • Navigational drawing instruments
  • Compass
  • Chart work
  • Tides and Tidal Streams
  • Visual aids to navigation
  • Meteorology
  • Passage planning
  • Navigation in restricted visibility
  • Pilotage
  • Marine environment


Coastal Skipper & Yachtmaster Offshore

  • Position determination
  • The Magnetic Compass
  • Tides and Tidal Streams
  • Buoyage; Lights; Pilotage
  • GPS and Chart Plotters
  • Echo Sounders
  • Logs (speed and distance measurement)
  • Deck log
  • Meteorology
  • Rules of the Road       
  • Safety at Sea
  • Navigation in Restricted Visibility
  • Passage Planning
  • Marine Environment

Yachtmaster Ocean

  • The Earth and the Celestial Sphere
  • The PZX triangle
  • The Sextant
  • Measurement of Time
  • Meridian altitudes
  • Sun, Star and other sights
  • Compass checking
  • Satellite Navigation Systems
  • Great circle sailing
  • Meteorology
  • Passage Planning
  • Passage making
  • Communications


SRC (VHF)

  • The basics of radio operation
  • The correct frequencies to be used
  • Distress, emergency & medical assistance procedures
  • Making ship to shore telephone calls
  • Digital Selective Calling (DSC) using simulators
  • Global Maritime Distress & safety System (GMDSS)
  • Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB)
  • Search and Rescue (SART)


First Aid

  • 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