Advanced Course
Once you know how to sail, it’s time to learn how to think like a skipper. This course deepens your skills and mindset, guiding you from capable crew to competent commander. You’ll refine sail balance, advanced trim, and boat handling under varied conditions. You’ll learn to interpret weather, tides, and navigation challenges — the real language of the sea. Through intensive hands-on training, you’ll practice docking in wind, anchoring with precision, and coordinating a crew with quiet confidence. By the end, you won’t just sail — you’ll lead.
Advanced Coastal Navigation & Chartwork
· Advanced chart reading
· Coastal passage planning
· Compass bearings, transits & visual fixes
· Variation & deviation correction
· COG, SOG, heading, course to steer
· Laylines & upwind strategy
· Paper chart + electronic chart cross-checking
· System limitations & GPS error awareness
· Dead reckoning & logbook discipline
Onboard Resource & Crew Management
· Skipper roles and responsibilities
· Crew briefings & communication protocols
· Watchkeeping systems & fatigue management
· Emergency leadership and stress control
· Provisions, water and fuel planning
· Managing energy, batteries, and consumption
Marine Diesel Engine Operation & Maintenance
·Principles of small marine diesels
· Pre-departure checks
· Raw-water and closed-loop cooling systems
· Fuel system bleeding (air removal)
· Replacing filters and impellers
· Belt inspection & replacement
· Saildrive / shaft seal basics
· Troubleshooting common engine failures
Advanced Docking & Anchoring
· Entry/exit strategy for crowded marinas
· Handling wind, current & tight spaces
· Spring lines and mooring line techniques
· Crew communication & hand signals
· Anchor selection and seabed assessment
· Rode calculations (chain/warp scope)
· Recovering the anchor in heavy weather
· Secondary anchor use & kedge techniques
· Mooring to quay, pontoon, buoy
Advanced Sail Trim & Rig Control
· Mast tuning & rig tension
· Cunningham, vang, traveler, backstay control
· Twist, draft, fullness & sail shape theory
· Performance trim in waves & strong wind
· Gennaker / spinnaker basics
· Preventing accidental gybes
· Progressive reefing strategy
Heaving-To
· Heaving-to in various conditions
· Genoa/jib trim for stable position
· Use in heavy weather & emergencies
· Regaining steerage and sail balance
Man Overboard Drills (Advanced)
· Under sail & power
· Heavy-weather MOB
· Leeward/windward approaches ·
Lifesling & hoisting recovery methods
· Night-time and limited-visibility MOB
· Hypothermia & casualty care onboard
Meteorology
· Synoptic systems & frontal weather
· Reading forecast charts & GRIB files
· Coastal & local wind systems
· Barometric weather interpretation
· Limits and decision-making in bad weather
Spare Parts & Emergency Repairs
Essential engine spare parts
· Sail repair kit & emergency rigging lines
· Deck gear spares (shackles, soft shackles, blocks) ·Basic electrical repair equipment
· Bilge & thru-hull emergency kit
