Sailing in Spain will make your visit to Spanish soil that little bit more interesting. Spain is renowned to be one of the best sailing hot spots holiday makers can visit whether they are beginners, master sailors or never even been in a boat before. Around Spain there are over 200 harbours that cater for sailing and boating activates all along the coastline of Spain. When you are searching for a location you should be aware that some harbours will be in the Mediterranean ocean and other will be in the Atlantic Ocean. If you are interested in anything from sailing, to motor boats then you will find what you are looking for along the Spanish coasts.

If you are interested in charted Sailing in Spain then there are many groups out there that organise such events for you. The costing of a charted sail can vary due to many variables such as yacht size, crew size, and the length of time you wish to be on the open waters. Such options allow novices who have limited to no sailing experience take to the open waters in complete safety. They will be able to participate with skilled crew members and have a good trip out while on holiday in Spain. If you regard yourself as professional or somewhat experienced then some of these groups will allow you to take the yacht with out the crew onboard so you can sail with your own group of people. Many companies that offer such services will require additional details for proof of such experience and may even take a large sum of money for holding for any possible damage that might occur.

It is possible to get sailing lessons when Sailing in Spain from qualified instructors. You can usually find more information down at the harbour, normally run by the local sailing club. If you are a rookie then this is the best course of action as you learn how to be integrated as part of a crew and learning how to complete all the tasks required to successfully sailing a boat as a team. If you can find a local sailing club or better still a sailing school then usually the courses available to you come packaged as part of a course. Learning to sail is by no means a quick task and will time and dedication. With this in mind you must make sure your stay in Spain is offer a lengthy duration to cater for such a commitment. Some courses can take up to and even over 35 hours to complete before you can get on the open waters a sail a yacht alone or even part of a team.

There are a number of other options related to sailing a yacht that include the hiring of motor boats, rowing boats and even single man sailing boats. Always keep any eye out the local harbour for such equipment to be hired out too holiday makers and locals alike. Make you Sailing in Spain time special.

The Offshore Sailing School was founded by former Olympic competitor and America’s Cup sailor, Steve Colgate. Colgate’s wife, Doris Colgate, opened the Florida sailing schools women-only courses. Today, the school has 11 Florida sailing schools which include some women-only and coed. Students of the course are housed at the Pink Shell Beach Resort on San Carlos Bay. The sailing classes use a training boat that was designed by Colgate, which is nearly unsinkable. The hull’s foam filled compartments help keep the boat afloat. By the second day of the sailing classes, you already become way more familiar with lingo and acronyms used by professionals.

During the physical sailing practice, don’t be surprised to spot green sea turtles or bottlenose dolphins playing in front of your boat. Students take turns steering and overseeing the boat. Instructors show students the basics as well as important tips such as how to read the boat and wind, what to do if you find yourself grounded, basic navigation and right-of-way rules and issues. Students learn how to maneuver the boat more instinctively and practice man-overboard drills. The sailing classes conclude with “free-sailing.” The “free sail” is the graduation. After a written test, students sail the boat without the instructor onboard. Find several other Florida sailing schools. Check out the different locations on the websites. Rent some affordable Florida vacation rentals in whatever area you decide to go for.

Offshore Sailing School

800-221-4326

Offshore-sailing.com

Lanier Sailing Academy

800-684-9463

laniersail.com

J World School

800-343-2255

jworldschool.com

360 Yachting

866-561-2175

360yachting.com

Rhumbline Sailing School

239-789-7510

sailrhumbline.com

Castle Harbor Sailing School

305-665-4994

castleharbor.com

Coconut Grove Sailing Club

305-444-4571

cgsc.org

Florida Keys Sailing

305-289-9519

Sailfloridakeys.com

When you decide to take sailing lessons through one of the Caribbean sailboat charters, you will have an experience captain as your instructor. These lessons are designed for the whole family so that the next time you want to enjoy Caribbean sailing charters you can take the sailboat on your own. When you use this opportunity to learn about sailing, it will take you only one week to complete the basic course. If you wish to charter a sailboat in the Caribbean for sailing lessons you have to do on a single hulled sailboat. These lessons are not available here for catamarans.

When you book one of the Caribbean sailing charters you will want to know what is and what is not included with your booking. All of the bed linens, towels and kitchen equipment is standard fare on the bareboat sailboats. You will also have a VHF, boat phone, a cruising guide of the Caribbean and all the charts you need for sailing these waters. The basic navigation equipment, such as binoculars, safety equipment and first aid kit, is also included in Caribbean sailboat charters. You will get a full tank of fuel and water and you are expected to return the sailboat with the tanks refilled.

Some of the Caribbean sailing charters include snorkelling and diving gear with the charter. Others require you to rent this equipment if you need it. You should check out the different sailboat charter companies that offer charters to the Caribbean to see which one has all the equipment that you need for your vacation. If you choose a bareboat charter, you will have to supply your own food and if you want a captain, you also have to supply the captain’s meals. On the luxury Caribbean sailboat charters, all the food and drink is included in the price as well as the cost of hiring the crew.

Caribbean sailing charters offer you the opportunity to see the Caribbean at your own pace. You set the itinerary and spend as long as you like in one place. Go ashore to shop at the markets and take in the unique culture of each of the Caribbean islands. Once you book one Caribbean sailing charter, you will be so enchanted that you will dream of the day when you can take another.

To do an ASA course all you need is to charter your own boat (from an ASA approved company) and add an ASA instructor-skipper. Historically charter and courses haven’t gone hand in hand. The RYA insist on ‘coded’ vessels (a set of boat safety standards) and charter companies have no appetite for spending money upgrading and maintaining coded yachts. So RYA training boats are few and, while there are a few yachts for private instruction, on the whole those who want certification usually need to join a sailing school boat; not great if you don’t fancy a week on a yacht full of strangers.

So the novice sailor should give the ASA serious consideration. But what are the downsides? For UK citizens there are no facilities in the UK. Most people learn ASA in the non-tidal waters of the Meditteranean in the summer and the Caribbean in the winter. In fact if you want to sail and learn in the Caribbean only ASA courses are available. Secondly, not many people in Europe know about it. You’ll have to explain yourself: “I’ve got the Bareboat Chartering Standard.” “The what?” “The ba-re-bo-at-char-ter-ing-stan-dar-d.” As a result it doesn’t have the authority of the RYA. Third of all, the novice courses thrown you straight into the action. There’s no ‘competent crew’ equivalent. You get right in behind the helm, skippering as well as sailing. But conversely for many people the business-like ASA starter course may be more attractive than a lighter-weight starter course. And besides, now there’s a legal responsibility on the helmsman as well as the skipper it makes sense to ask more from your crew.

True, it’s a more expensive option than a sailing school because you pay for the whole boat and not just the berth. But you can enjoy your holiday time with your own charter, get dedicated one-to-one tuition, do what you want to do and learn at your own pace. So in many ways it represents a better value option than the school boat system. And the downside that only a few people know ASA? Well, learning to sail is learning to sail. Charter companies are interested in sailing skill whether ASA or RYA. ‘Day Skipper’ and ‘Bareboat Chartering Standard’ both show a level of a competence and bareboat charter companies understand that as well as anyone.

First and foremost, sailing is for everybody; the able-bodied and disabled, young and old, competitive sportsmen and pensioners alike can easily learn to sail . Sailing has been around for thousands of years – the earliest representation of a ship under sail appearing on an Egyptian vase from about 3500 B.C. – so it should come as no surprise that many sailors find it to be a sport for like. Starting out as a crew member, even the youngest sailors soon progress to helming their own small vessel, allowing them to take their family out on the river or on a sailing holiday when they get older! As time progresses, the type of sailing that most appeals to you will change, but rest assured that there is always a type to suit you; from single-handed dinghies to a hulking yachts manned by a dozen people, the variety of options within sailing makes it a truly versatile sport.

What’s more, sailing really isn’t as expensive as it is made out to be. Small dinghies for river sailing and membership to sailing clubs are not hugely pricey; at around GBP100-200 for whole year of family membership, they allow unlimited access to facilities and storage, as well as boat hire (for an additional fee). The amount of equipment needed for the casual sailor is also very small and most of it can be picked up from supermarkets and budget outlets if your budget is really tight. Of course, sailing can be incredibly expensive if you let it – but so can any sport; you do not need a GBP250,000 yacht to start sailing, just like you do not need GBP500 of training clothes to be a good runner.

So we’ve established that sailing is affordable, fun and for everybody – so what’s stopping you? If you are anything like I was before I started sailing, you may be partly put off by the chore of learning to sail; everybody that I knew had been sailing from childhood and I assumed that there was a very long process involved. But this isn’t true at all! Although the fine art of sailing is something that will take your entire lifetime to master, the basics to sailing can be learnt in about a week of lessons that will have you competently tacking up and down the water with ease! How many other sports can boast that anybody can learn them in a week, whilst also offering a lifetime of challenges and experiences? On top of that, the opportunities to meet many new people are vast and, as we have established above, it really won’t cost you that much either!

There are loads of sailing courses available for you to start leaning to sail today! Summer is just round the corner; if you learn now you’ll be well at ease on the water by the time the holidays roll around!

Alright so maybe three years isn’t quite long enough to reach Olympic-standard at anything, but I am definitely feeling inspired to get myself into some kind of sport before the Games come around to make me feel even more guilty for being a couched potato.  The thing is, most the sports that you see in the Olympics – let’s be honest here – are aching boring! Running?  Whether it’s for long or short periods of time, running is essentially just fancy walking that is done very quickly indeed.  So quickly is running done, in fact, that there’s no time to even take the scenery – which is the only point to walking in the first place!  Other Olympic events involve swimming, which is like running but harder; throwing things, for which you have to be exceptionally large; and jumping – the popularity of which defies explanation.

What is also uninspiring about these events is that we, Britain, rarely do very well at any of them!  Americans can run fast, Kenyans can run far, Australians can swim and Eastern Europeans can throw – what is left for us that doesn’t involve two wheels and legs that defy every shape of jeans?  For the answer to this question, I turn to history; what, may I ask, do we declare to rule?  I think you all know the answer; it may not be the track, the pool or even the balance bar, it’s a long cry from the shooting range and it certainly doesn’t involve tossing anything over distance!  No my friends, what this isolated island is good at should come as no surprise at all – Britannia rules the waves!

The art of Olympic Sailing has been around since 1900 and we have been the best at it in 2000, 2004 and 2008!  The general idea is to use technique and strength to guide your boat around a special Olympic course in as short a time as possible, making it immediately more interesting than running in a straight line for ten seconds!  What’s more, the huge variety of different sized craft you can learn to sail means that there will be ten different classes of sailing in the 2012 Games!  You can’t need much more incentive to get involved, but I haven’t even told you the best bit yet!  Although the true art of sailing takes a lifetime to learn, the basics can be picked up in a couple of weeks!  Take a few lessons in tacking, learn your port from your starboard and you’re away on your path of Olympic glory!  If ever there was a sport to get stuck into at the next Games, or even just for fun and recreation, it has to be sailing – it takes strength, skill and determination in quantities that jumping-people can only dream about!  What’s more, if you learn to sail you are making available a host of potential stories – far more than anything offered by all the other popular Olympic events put together!  They can wear all the shiny lycra in the world but, at the end of the day, throwing is throwing, jumping is jumping and running is stylish fast-walking – sailing is a whole world of new and exciting experiences, as well as being a constant mental and physical challenge!  How much thought can really go into a 100m sprint?  If Britain is going to bring anything to the 2012 Olympic Games, it will be an element of class – that is what sailing offers and that is why we are the very best at it!

The International Recreational Crew Certificate is divided into 6 modules, module 2 gets us under way and you will be learn about safety on board a boat and the use of the life raft and first aid kit, fire extinguishers, flares, life jackets and safety harnesses. What clothing and footwear is suitable for the varying conditions met while sailing. Seasickness and it’s symptoms, cause and prevention. How various equipment works including: battery selector switch, bilge pumps, cabin lights, cooker & butane/propane gas, heads and water pumps together with general housekeeping rules. You will learn a very basic theory of how a diesel engine works and maintenance procedures such as checking the level of the oil, changing the oil, changing filters, ensuring the flow of cooling water to the engine and how to change impellors. You will be taught how to keep a good and effective lookout, which should be maintained at all times, while under way. You will take a look at basic navigation, course plotting, nautical charts, safe passage conditions, tides and currents and weather forecasts.

On the practical side, module 3, you will learn how to coil a line and secure it to a cleat, tie a number of knots and use the winches. You will learn how to secure the boat for sea and then how to leave a berth, once under way you will undertake the duties of a lookout, learn how to hoist and set the sails and while helming the boat go through tack and gybe routines. You will anchor the boat and go through man overboard recovery drill.

Module 4 is theoretical and you will look at the International Regulations for Collision Avoidance or the “rules of the road”. Specifically looking at lights, shapes, and sound signals. You will look at some more sail handling techniques, there is more work with charts and compass and to conclude you will take a look at marine customs, etiquette and manners.

The next practical module includes safety checks and look at the through hull fittings, engine warning lights and alarms and the emergency fuel cut off. You will learn deck seamanship with more docking and mooring routines. More sail work, bending on, hoisting, lowering, reefing mainsails, handling sheets, lines, halyards, outhauls and sail trim. You will learn more skills at the helm, tacking, gybing, sailing a triangular course, sailing a compass course and heaving to.

Module 6 looks at both theory and practise of Dinghy/Tender handling. You will learn the different types of tenders, engines, spares and maintenance and safety equipment. On the practical side you will learn to row, how to move under power, launch and recover and transfer to and from the dinghy to the boat or dock.

This section concludes with an assessment of theoretical knowledge and practical skills gained. At the of this course you will be a useful crew member on any small yacht.

The Radio Operator/Communications Certificate is a stand alone module. You will learn how to operate a radio including emergency calls, calling ship to ship, ship to shore, the types of marine radios available and the regulations governing it’s use. An examination concludes the course.

The next 5 modules are the International Watchkeeper/Flotilla Skipper Certificate

Number 8 is theoretical and looks at the responsibilities of a watchkeeper, charts and chartwork, the compass, magnetism and concludes with a look at buoys and marks.

The next practical module concentrates on safety including a briefing that should be given to crew members when they join the vessel and looks at the galley area which if not used correctly can be a danger to all those on board. The rest of the section is devoted to boat handling and develops on the skills learnt in the International Recreational Crew Certificate course.

Back to theory in the next module with a look at basic first aid. More work is done with the International Regulations for Collision Avoidance. Finally you will take a further look at marine customs, manners and today’s ever increasing legal requirements.

In module 11, the next practical stage you will prepare a passage plan, and while undertaking a short passage work still further on boat handling skills.

This section concludes with an assessment of theoretical knowledge and practical skills gained.

You have now reached a level that entitles you to the International Certificate of Competence or ICC. It is suggested that the skippers of vessels are required to hold this by some European countries. I have never been asked for mine by the authorities and I know of no one who has. It is also suggested that some companies require it prior to allowing charter of a boat. Again I have not come across this in practise.

The next three modules make up the International Bareboat Skipper Certificate and the first looks at taking over a vessel and the necessary checks on hull and rig, machinery and systems, instruments, safety equipment, spares, tools, fuel, water and provisions. It looks at tides and currents and what causes them. You will learn how to use tide tables and gain an understanding primary and secondary ports. There is some more chartwork that includes position fixing and plotting a course to steer to counteract a current. The section concludes with a look at the responsibilities of the Skipper, their communication with and delegation to the crew.

On the practical side you will develop sailing skills with more general deck work, ropes, knots, splices, the care and use of lines. There is more vessel handling work including anchoring, berthing, mooring, handling in confined areas and handling with currents.

This section concludes with module 16 and includes a look at the weather and sources of weather information, personal observations, weather patterns, land and sea breezes, the different cloud formations, rain and fog. You will learn pilotage. There is an in depth look at passage planning including pilot books, almanacs, considerations for passage planning, coastal passages, passage strategy, port regulations, pilotage plans. Finally you will take a further look at the International Regulations for Collision Avoidance.

This section concludes with an assessment of theoretical knowledge and practical skills gained

The Basic Small Boat Sailing Standard requires no previous experience or qualifications. It is the first course in the Small Boat Sailing Program. Students must demonstrate a theoretical knowledge of the names and functions of various parts of a boat together with common sailing terms, the sail and its ancillary components, the International Rules for Collision Prevention both at sea and on inland waters and hey should demonstrate a basic knowledge of safety procedures. On the practical side they must show they can tread water for 5 minutes and swim 100 metres, rig, launch and retrieve the boat, set and trim the sails, sail both upwind and downwind, tack and gybe, correctly apply the rules of the road, recover a man overboard, recover from a capsize, accept and pass a towline, tie four specified Knots within a given time. Upon completion he or she will be able to sail a centerboard or multihull sailboat in light to moderate winds and sea conditions in familiar waters.

The first course in the Keelboat Sailing Certification Program is known as Basic Keelboat. No experience or qualifications are necessary. To complete the course students will be required to demonstrate that they can put a name to and describe the workings of various parts of a boat including the hull, keel, deck bow and stern. The components of both the running and standing rigging. The different sails including the names of part of a sail – foot, leech, luff, head, tack and clew. The various spars, mast and boom. They will be familiar with sailing terminology used to describe various manoeuvres such as gybing and coming about. Students will understand the points of sail be it close hauled, reaching or running. They will understand the basics of collision avoidance including rules of the road. They will demonstrate they are familiar with regulations covering registration and identification, proper waste disposal, who to notify in the event of an accident and what safety equipment is requires by law to be carried on a vessel and how it is used. They will be able to demonstrate a knowledge of buoyage Participants will know how to anchor a boat and describe the choice of anchors and their attributes and failings. On the practical side they must demonstrate sail handling skills, they will display competence at the helm including mooring, sailing both upwind and downwind together with a successful tack and gybe. They will complete a successful man overboard recovery. They will show they know how to tie 6 different knots and understand their various uses. Upon completion of the course students should be able to sail a boat of some 20 feet in length in moderate winds in familiar waters.

The second stage is called Basic Coastal Cruising and students must hold the Basic Keelboat Sailing Certificate prior to undertaking this course. The course looks at safety on board including equipment and procedures. An understanding of fire prevention and fighting is required. Students will be required to demonstrate a knowledge of first aid and the treatment of hypothermia. Basic meteorology is considered and students must demonstrate an understanding of shipping forecasts. An understanding of the relationship between the skipper and crew and the respective duties of each is required. Students must be able to undertake basic chartwork including depths; types of bottom, hazards, bouys, beacons and lights. The practical side of this course looks at boat handling under power and sail, man overboard recovery, the various points of sail, reefing and heaving to, docking and mooring and some knot work. When completed the sailor should be able to cruise safely in regional waters on a sailboat of up to 30 feet in length, in moderate winds and sea conditions.

Trailerable Multihull Standard, this course is the second in the Small Boat Sailing Program. It may be taught as part of or following the Basic Coastal Cruising course. Completion of the Basic Keelboat is a prerequisite prior to taking this course. On the theory side students must be able to identify and name the various parts of a multihull that are not found on a monohull including the different wing decks, hulls, cross arms, three point rig, bridle line, safety nets, seagull and dolphin strikers. They will be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of multihulls including, performance, comfort safety and the danger of capsize. On the practical side the sailor will demonstrate: how to cast of and leave the quay with at least two different wind directions relative to the bow and then return and berth alongside, pick up a mooring buoy, manoeuvre in a restricted space, reverse, recover a man overboard, the different points of sail, tacking and gybing, sail a compass course within 10 degrees. They will anchor in the following ways, bow anchor and bridle and single bow with a stern line to the shore. When completed sailors are able to cruise safely in local and regional waters as both skipper and crew on an auxiliary multihull sailboat of up to 30 feet in length, in moderate wind and sea conditions.

Bareboat Chartering is the next stage. Participants are expected to hold the Basic Coastal Cruising Certificate before doing this course. The theory side covers the preparation of both crew and boat for a one week cruise including the preparation of a passage plan. Meteorology is considered including a look at fog and onshore and offshore winds. Seamanship is looked at and students should know what action is required if the engine fails, they should know how to anchor the boat bow or stern to. On the practical side the student will be able to undertake daily and weekly maintenance tasks, manoeuvre the boat under power in a restricted space, pick up a mooring buoy, use the VHF radio. The following navigational skills are required, plotting a course and establishing the compass heading and calculating an estimated time of arrival. Establishing a fix using visual bearing. Use a chart to pilot the boat into an unfamiliar harbour. Students must obtain and interpret a shipping forecast. When completed the individual can act as skipper of a boat up to 50 feet in length sailing by day in coastal waters.

The next stage is known as Coastal Navigation. This is a theory only course and no prior experience or knowledge is required. Students will be required to demonstrate knowledge of various State and Federal regulations pertaining to sailing. They must understand how the use navigational instruments including both steering and hand bearing compasses, binoculars, depth sounder, log, parallel rule and dividers. Participants must display an understanding of tide tables and their use when dealing with secondary ports. They should be able to convert bearings and compass courses between, compass, magnetic and true, plot a dead reckoning position, understand the effect of current and leeway when estimating a position and plot a position by two or more bearings, a running fix and a bearing and distance. Finally they will need to demonstrate a knowledge of buoyage and lights.

The Cruising Catamaran course deals exclusively with multihull sailing and concentrates on the differences a sailor finds as opposed to monohull sailing. Participants should have completed the Bareboat Chartering stage. On the theory side students must be able to identify and name the various parts of a multihull that are not found on a monohull including the different wing decks, hulls, cross arms, three point rig, bridle line, safety nets, seagull and dolphin strikers. They will be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of multihulls including, performance, comfort safety and the danger of capsize. On the practical side the sailor will demonstrate: how to cast of and leave the quay with at least two different wind directions relative to the bow and then return and berth alongside, pick up a mooring buoy, manoeuvre in a restricted space, reverse, recover a man overboard, the different points of sail, tacking and gybing, sail a compass course within 10 degrees. They will anchor in the following ways, two anchors of the bow or stern, bow anchor and bridle, single bow with a stern line to the shore and bow to fixed mooring. Upon completion the person can skipper a multihull sailboat of up to 50 foot in length by day in coastal waters.

Advanced Coastal Cruising follows and participants should have completed both the Bareboat Chartering and Coastal Navigation stages. Students will be required to demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the theory of sailing, an understanding of meteorology including the various cloud formations and the weather that can be expected with each. They will understand the needs of heavy weather sailing, the necessary sail changes and the use of the correct safety equipment and procedures. They will be able to describe: how set a second anchor to reduce swinging, how to recover a fouled anchor, how to use a trip line and an anchor buoy and when and how to set an anchor watch. They will describe how to tow or be towed. They will have a knowledge of distress signals. Students will correctly describe the actions required in the following emergency situations: a dismasting, running aground on a lee shore and engine failure. Students will be able to carry out maintenance and repairs on the engine. On the water students must: sail on all points of the wind and tack and gybe in a wind of at least 15 knots, sail a compass course to within 10 degrees, carry out a man overboard recovery in darkness. They will demonstrate their ability to set, sail with including a gybe, douse and pack a spinnaker. And finally they will stand a navigation watch of 20 miles both at day and night. When completed a person can skipper a sailing vessel of up to 50 feet in length both during day and night in coastal waters regardless of weather and sea conditions.

The next stage is called Celestial Navigation. The course is theory based and requires no experience or prior qualifications. The student must be able to demonstrate the Celestial Navigation required to navigate a sailboat on an offshore passage. The successful student will have demonstrated their ability to: Convert longitude into time and standard time and zone time to GMT. They will be able to calculate: the zone time given longitude, the chronometer error given a previous error and the daily rate, the time of meridian passage of the sun and calculate the boat’s latitude from the observed meridian altitude of the sun, the times of sunrise, sunset and twilight, plot celestial lines of position on a Mercator projection or on a universal plotting sheet and the true bearing of a low altitude celestial body in order to determine the error and deviation of the compass. The student will be able to apply the corrections for index error, dip of the horizon, and total correction to convert sextant altitudes of the sun, stars, planets, and moon to true altitudes, determine the latitude at twilight by means of the Pole Star and the approximate azimuths and altitudes of the navigational stars and planets at twilight. In addition they will be capable of solving the navigational triangle using a navigation table and advance the LOP obtained from a sun sight to another LOP obtained from the sun at a later time and find the boat’s position using a running fix (sun-run-sun).

This celestial theory can be put into practice during the Offshore Passage Making course. Entrants should be certified to the Advanced Coastal Cruising level. The student will plan a passage across either the Pacific or North Atlantic using Great Circle Plotting Charts and Climatic Charts. They must show an understanding of the essential factors to be considered when selecting a vessel for an offshore ocean passage of at least 1000 miles including hull construction and shape, keel, rig, and rudder type, fuel and water capacity. They must provide a list of tools and spares required for such a voyage. They must victual the boat for four people on passage for seven days. They must list the items to be carried in the first aid kit and describe basic treatments for injuries and illnesses that may occur together with identifying a source of mare advanced medical information while on passage. They will prepare a watch keeping system and define the duties of crew members both on and off watch. They will design a maintenance plan to cover: Bilges, electronic equipment, fuel system, hatches, galley equipment, rigging, safety equipment sea cocks, steering and the water system. They will describe the procedures to be undertaken in the following emergency situations: abandon ship, dismasting, fire onboard, lightning strike, man overboard. A comprehensive knowledge of the International Regulation for Preventing Collision at Sea must be demonstrated. When the course is completed is the sailor cans skipper a sailing vessel on offshore passages in any weather.