Here is a youtube post by one of our talented students who gets a perfect score playing our Catamaran Maneuvering game. I’m guesssing a few hours were involved here but I’m pretty sure that given this amount of maneuvering experience in real life, Andrew would be an expert at maneuvering a catamaran around in a marina.
Here Andrew expertly maneuvers the catamaran through out the marina without one bonk or scratch. The game can be found online and is free to play when you log into NauticEd. The game is as realistic as possible and is controlled using the two throttles as would be found on a real catamaran. Play this game and you’re a long way to gaining some valuable experience for when you really get on a Catarmaran on your next sailing vacation.
Here is the latest list of courses associated with the NauticEd Captain’s License. Keep in mind that you must log a minimum of 50 days on the water – 25 of which at minimum must be as master of the vessel and 25 of which must be on a sailboat greater than 28 feet.
There is no other eLearning Captain’s sailing license that is as extensive in knowledge. The total investment in all of these certificate courses is just $us307 – an incredible value.
This license as with the NauticEd Bareboat Charter Master Certificate is recognized by yacht charter companies worldwide as having attained enough knowledge and experience to charter a yacht. Is it not a commercial sailing license. If you plan on commercially operating a vessel you must gain a country specific license for general operations of a vessel. In that case the country specific license will not require such extensive knowledge of sailing vessel operations. Thus if you’re looking for a home to gain proper education regarding operating a sailing vessel and recognition, it does not get any better than the NauticEd Captain’s License.
Posted by admin on April 21, 2013 under Skipper | Comments are off for this article
Master of the Vessel?
Here is a great question from a student regarding gaining Master of the vessel time for our logbook purposes.
QUESTION:
How can a student log sailing experience as ‘master’ of the vessel as outlined in your sailing certification requirements in regards to the following technicality - By definition “the master” is in legal charge of the vessel and must be certified with an accredited licence to undertake such responsibility.
Specifically, here in South African waters, heavy penalties are imposed by the authorities upon anyone caught venturing out to sea without the proscribed qualifications. One gets the qualification here by passing extensive examinations and by having a registered instructor onboard the vessel
How, therefore, can a ‘student’ be expected to claim ‘master’ authority in terms of his past sailing experience on your website ? It’s catch 22 I need the master time but can’t get master time with out a license.
Surely the best he can ever log, until such time as he gets his skipper’s ticket, is previous hours/days/nautical miles etc as crew
These days you don’t get far without a ticket and that is why I signed up for your course in order to aid the study process with my sailing academy here in Cape Town.
But for the purposes of completing my profile of sailing experience, post 1999 as per your historical logging requirements, it seems the best that I can honourably claim are ‘crew’ hours.
Am I correct ?
Kind regards.
Michael D
South Africa
ANSWER:
Michael – Say hi to Robbie at Ocean Sailing Academy for me.
For NauticEd, you can treat “Master” like when you are getting your drivers license. You are driving the car and sort of in charge but you have your mum sitting next to you. In this case you’re the designated Master of the car. If your mum was driving and showing you how to drive then you’re crew. On a boat it’s not meant to mean helm time however – it’s responsibility.
I understand that South Africa has strict license laws in place so you will have to honestly answer for us in terms of did you “feel” like you were the one in charge and responsible for operations of the boat – even if there were others on board the vessel perhaps being the overseeing “Admiral”. IE your mum was admiral of the car – yet you were responsible. When you have an instructor on board during the test out phases – you could claim that as master -as long as the instructor gave you responsibility and acted as the overseer. IE the Instructor is Admiral. If you are new to boating then your first days out with an instructor would need to be as crew.
Overall – you can see what we are striving for here. If someone was crew all the time and never had the responsibilities of the boat then why should the and how could the Yacht Charter Company justify chartering a boat to that person. They’ve never been responsible for the operations of the boat.
Yacht Charter Companies like to see fairly extensive knowledge of practical boat operations and even it’s possible that they would not automatically give someone with the extensive South African license automatic acceptance. They want extensive operational responsibility (Master) of a yacht close to the size that you will be chartering. For example they would not give a boat to some one automatically who has a United States Coast Guard 6 Pax Commercial Captain’s license – that captain would still need to have documented large sailboat experience as Master of the sailboat to be able to charter.
Most parts of the world do not have a boating license requirement – some states in the USA do but it is more of a test of knowing how many PFD’s are required on the boat – ie the tests are weak and don’t cover sailing at all and certainly again don’t qualify for charter.
NauticEd has built it’s Sailing Certification around pure logic of the ocean. IE General and specific sailing and boating theory knowledge with documentation of practical experience on sailboats with a minimum required amount of Master time plus optional verified practical test out by a registered instrutor.
This certification gives the perfect snapshot of someone’s abilities to handle themselves on the ocean.
Finally and specifically – for South Africa – you will need to get your South African boat operators license through Ocean Sailing Academy. You can log your time on NauticEd as you honestly deem your responsibility on the boats for any boating experience from 1999 and onwards. Once your time qualifies you as Bareboat Charter Master Rank with NauticEd then almost every yacht charter company in the world will accept you. There may be a few strange exceptions to that with regards to other countries like South Africa who demand a specific local boating license. However even many of those countries still accept certifications from other countries – for example Croatia require a certification that is equivalent to US Sailing or RYA day skipper – that’s where the NauticEd certification fits right in as long as the Verified Proficiency stamp is attached.
Posted by admin on under Skipper | Comments are off for this article
Day Skipper
When we put the Skipper Sailing Course and the Maneuvering Under Power course together we get the Day Skipper Bundle of courses. Combine that with some sailing experience and you can achieve the NauticEd Sailing Certification of Day Skipper Rank.
The Skipper Course is our most comprehensive course. It should take the average person about 20 hours to get through this course including the time to take the test. The Skipper course (with out the test) is also available on the iTunes iBook store. Just search for NauticEd or go to the Skipper iBook here
We think that the Maneuvering Under Power Course is the world’s best course on how to maneuver and dock a sailboat. The theory course will take about three hours to get through including the test. We give you 27 different maneuvering exercises to do on your own boat. We totally recommend you grab a few sandwiches, some drinks and a mate or two and head out to the boat on a windy day and go through these simple yet very revealing exercises. You’ll end the day having had a great time and laugh with some friends and be so incredibly confident about your future maneuvering ability. By the end – you’ll be confident in maneuvering your boat every which way in any wind condition. The Maneuvering Course material (with out the test) is also available on the iTunes iBook store. Just search for NauticEd on iTunes or go to the Maneuvering and docking a sailboat iBook here.
On the iPad, if you want to take the tests just down load out free testing app. If you already have the online courses then the tests will show up automatically for free. If you haven’t invested in the courses online yet you can buy via in-app purchase on the iPad testing app or go to the sailing courses page on NauticEd and purchase there.
Getting the Day Skipper rank also requires logging time in your free NauticEd online Logbook. See the experience tab when you login. For information on how the experience vs levels work visit our Sailing Certifications page.
Posted by admin on April 20, 2013 under Skipper | Comments are off for this article
So here is a post I did on a recent linkedin forum for sailing instructors.
>>>>>>
Check this out – my 13 year old nephew recently refused to think about a home work problem and demanded that he look the answer up on the internet.
I agree with using tools at hand but understanding the fundamentals should always be a focus for us teachers.
Regarding using a chart plotter – I still think that you need to understand the fundamentals of navigation to make the best and safest use of a chart plotter. Almost gone is the excuse of what if the chart plotter craps out. On a recent bareboat charter we counted up 9 GPS units on the boat which counted all the iphones and ipads on board.
NauticEd’s Bareboat Charter Master Rank requires that the student pass both our paper charting fundamentals course Coastal Navigation AND our Electronic Navigation course. It’s our way of dealing with the changing world – teaching the use of tools but also requiring an understanding of fundamentals.
This week we uploaded our updated Coastal Navigation course to Apple for publishing on iTunes as an interactive eLeanring App. We’re very excited about this update because of the HTML 5 animations we’ve used to explain some of the concepts. At the bottom of this post, we show you how to essentially get this App for free.
Specifically in regards to this post, no where on the web have we seen a decent explanation of how to do a very simple and elegant position fix using only one land position. The concept is called a running fix. In fact all we found was very poor, long, complicated and sometimes wrong explanations of how it works. Certainly we found no animated interactive explanations. So as usual, at NauticEd we have broken down the seemingly complicated to the very simple.
Play this animation below then read the explanation and solution below – then watch the animation again.
The Example Problem is:
You are sailing along on heading 57° psc (61° Mag) (47° T) your knot meter reads 5 knots. You are passing Horton Point Light to your starboard. At 1548, a hand held bearing shows that the bearing to Horton Point Light is 119°Mag (105°T). You decide to do a running fix. At 1615, the bearing to Horton Point Light is 160°M(146°T). Determine your running fix position.
Solution:
The time elapsed is
1615 -1548
or
1575 -1548 = 27 minutes (/60) = .45 hours
@ 5 knots you will travel 5 x 0.45 = 2.25 NM
You draw the true bearing line of 105° T to Horton Point Light. You then draw a vector 2.25 NM long in a direction of your heading 47° T starting anywhere on the 105° line. You then draw another line parallel to the first 105° T bearing that intersects the end point of the 2.25 NM vector. Finally, you draw in your second bearing line of 146° T. Where the 146° T line intersects the parallel 105° T line – you mark as your running fix position.
The theory behind this is simple but not usually explained. Initially you must lie on the 105 degree line somewhere but you don’t know where. You know that over the time elapsed you will travel the 2.25 NM from some where off the initial 105 deg line but you don’t know from where – yet. The parallel 105 deg line projected forward means that you will also lie somewhere on that projected line, again – somewhere. By doing the second bearing, off any object, the intersection of that bearing with the projected line means you must be at that point (given that your speed and heading were accurate).
Answer
LAT 41° 07.55’ N and LONG 72° 28.8’W
You can then draw your running vector from the fix position back to the original sighting line if you like to find your original position. This will also be your track.
Pretty slick ah? You’ll never be confused about a running fix again – and I bet you’re now wanting to get out on the water and practice next time out. Imagine trying to explain this using text and a paper book – yuk. Ahhhh no wonder people don’t like slogging through books anymore. In what?, less than a minute you grasped this concept fully.
eLearning is where it is all at.
Show off to your friends next time you’re out about your new found knowledge.
>>>> How to get this App for FREE <<<<
This above is the kind of stuff NauticEd is all about, but we not only break this stuff down to the simple using incredible multimedia eLearning techniques, but we back this up with an internationally recognized sailing certificate accepted by yacht charter companies world wide.
So here’s the deal that we will keep up for a few days in celebration of this App launch – invest the NauticEd Coastal Navigation online class using this promocode - 15degreeswest – and we’ll give you $15 off the regular online course price. This gives you access to the Online Coastal Navigation course and the associated test and certificate recognition.
If you have an iPad … When the App comes out in the next few days, the price of that is going to be $14.99. This means you’ll be getting the App essentially for free. The App does not include the test – it is solely the course content. As always with our iBooks or Book Apps – you need to invest in and pass the test to gain certificate recognition.
Scratching your head? What we mean is buy the online Coastal Navigation course now using the promocode and then apply the 15 bucks you save towards the App – we’ll let you know when that’s available. Then complete the test and – bang – it gets attached to your sailing certificate.
Or – if you’re really ready to get going properly why not invest in the BareboatCharter Master bundle of courses. The Coastal Navigation Course is included and you get a bonus of the Electronic Navigation course for free AND you save a ton of $ over the A La Carte Prices AND if you use this promocode – 15degreeswestbbcm – over the next few days you’ll still save the $15 above. That’s the best deal ever!!! (NOTE: this code will also work for the Captain’s Bundle of courses)
Posted by admin on April 10, 2013 under About NauticEd, Skipper | Comments are off for this article
This article is meant to be read after your first week or so with NauticEd familiarization. By now you’ll know quite a bit about NauticEd and that NauticEd International Sailing School is soooooooo much more than online sailing courses. So here, I thought I’d make a short list of some of the most important things to do to ensure you’re getting the best experience from us and growing your sailing lifestyle. Most of them are FREE.
On the START tab of NauticEd when you login, make sure you’ve watched all the daily training videos and read the attached articles. This is the best way to learn about everything we do.
Take our recommended sailing lessons personal survey so that you can see which are the best sailing lessons for you personally.
Fill out your experience logbook including your past experience under your EXPERIENCE tab. This helps you rise in Levels.
Complete the free Basic Sail Trim Course and the Free Navigation Rules course in your CURRICULUM.
Complete your profile under the PROFILE tab. Click on the question mark next to the slider bar showing your profile progress in your START tab, it will tell you what you are missing.
Tell us if you are interested in Bareboat Chartering under your PROFILE tab.
Add your own personal promocode under the REFERRALS tab and send this promocode out to sailing friends and post on facebook.
Take advantage of our badge and status program – this helps you learn the right activities to become a big time sailor and beyond. Go to the BADGES tab. Learn about sailing badges and status here.
When you’re ready to go chartering, we can help you discover a desired sailing destination and make the reservations/bookings for you for no fee. Visit our sailing vacations page.
Kinda like Bubba talking about the ways to do shrimp in the movie Forest Gump, that’s about all I can think of for now. Do the above and you’re well on your way to having an awesome and knowledgeable sailing lifestyle.
As the saying goes: How do you eat an elephant? – One bite at a time. Or more appropriately the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Get started properly and engage fully with NauticEd. I guarantee you’ll be a better sailor for it.
Sincerely
Grant Headifen
Director of Education
NauticEd International Sailing School
Posted by admin on March 27, 2013 under Skipper | Comments are off for this article
This is the final day of getting to know NauticEd International Sailing School. Today we are letting out the secret on how you can save serious money with NauticEd classes. PLUS we get so many questions about how to gain sailing experience that we’re answering that too.
Watch the video and/or read the text below.
We created a really cool sharing system so that you and your sailing friends can save big-time $ on the NauticEd sailing classes and even get some for FREE.Log back in to your NauticEd account now at http://www.nauticed.org/myNauticEd. Then click on the referrals tab.
You’ll see our 1-2-3 easy system. It works as simple as this:
How the NauticEd Self Promocode Works
Throughout our NauticEd site, you’ll see opportunities to share your sailing education achievements via facebook and Twitter. Each time you do this, it gives you another opportunity to save your friends money, get friend kudos and get $10 credit (cumulative) towards your next courses.
We’re encouraging you to share the NauticEd sailing courses and certification with as many others as possible. We believe that safety on the water is paramount and just a few clicks by everyone can save thousands of injuries and lives. Imagine saving a friend’s life just because you sent them a link to a safety sailing course. So please tweet and share where you see these icons through out the NauticEd pages.
If you’re buying or selling a boat, boat related stuff, want to share a boat, want to vacation swap a boat, etc go to http://boatsforsale.nauticed.org and post a free classified listing. It’s another cool free service for our students.
Did you check out our free Sailing Badges? If you want to be a proper sailor with proper sailing and boating behavior, our badge system leads you in the right directions. To learn more and start earning badges instantly, go to http://www.nauticed.org/sailing-blog/sailing-badges
Fair winds,
Grant Headifen
Director of Education
NauticEd International Sailing School
THE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED SAILING EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION
Posted by admin on March 16, 2013 under Skipper | Comments are off for this article
Here’s a question from one of our students about leaving a slip in a sailboat in a cross wind.
Question:
We had a real mess on a charter in the BVI, but I’m not sure where we went wrong. We were docked bow to in a slip, taking a stiff wind over the port beam. We attempted to back out then upwind. But initially we didn’t have enough steerage to pull the stern upwind, so it was blown downwind. When we got steerage, we were able to pull the stern upwind, but the bow was blown downwind before we cleared the neighboring boat. What should we have done?
Answer:
The trick is to hold the bow upwind with a dock line to the end of the dock. Make sure when you engage reverse you “engage reverse” I.E give it plenty of power to get the boat moving so that the stern does not have time to get blown downwind. In the maneuvering Under Power course we discuss and show how to not be timid about using power.
Watch the animation here to view the whole process.
We highly recommend taking the NauticEd Maneuvering and Docking a Sailboat Under Power course. Getting into embarrassing situations is not good for your own ego. It may humor others on the dock but thats not the goal. For $39 you can alleviate all that and give the charter company confidence that you won’t ding their boat. Or you can access the Maneuvering Under Power iBook in iTunes for $12.99. Note that this does NOT add the course to your sailing certificate however.
Note if you invest in the iBook you can gain access to the test and the certification by making up the difference in cost by buying the test (and content) via our NauticEd Testing App for iPad
Posted by admin on March 10, 2013 under Maneuvering Under Power | Comments are off for this article
Here’s a fun suggestion – grab a sandwich, a few drinks and a mate (with a boat if you don’t have one) on a sunny windy day and get out to the boat with your new found maneuvering under power skills from our Maneuvering Under Power Course. Gingerly take the boat away from the marina and then both of you start working through and mastering the exercises one by one. If you’ve both got boats – try the exercises on each other boats. It’ll make a FUN day out and improve your friendship. Good idea? Of course it is – we thought of it!
This month we’re focusing on our Maneuvering Under Power Course. If you’ve already taken this course, you’ll know the confidence it gives you in the marina and thanks btw for all your positive reviews. Also then, please tell your friends about this course via the referrals discussion below.
If you’ve not taken this course whether you own a boat or not, it’s something that we think is A MUST. In the marina is where you are being watched the most and where you can do the most damage – especially if there is an unfavorable wind direction and strength. It’s not the place to be practicing or hoping.
We’ve had students take this course where they were originally very timid in maneuvering around the marina to a point where they are now CONFIDENT with a 40 knot cross wind. The course is THAT POWERFUL. HOW can that be? You say, especially because it’s an online course? Here is what we do in this course. We give you all the theory about what is happening especially in cases of prop walk etc., we tell you what will happen to the boat in different wind conditions so that when you’re out there nothing is going to be a surprise. You’ll know that if you poke your nose in that dock lane under X wind conditions then Y IS going to happen to your boat etc. We cover all the scenarios in detail – THEN we give you 27 different exercises and have you do them yourself on the water in your boat or a mates boat – BUT not in the marina - NO – you do them around a floating buoy out where you can’t do any damage. The key is .. to do all these exercises. They cover just about every scenario you’ll come across.
By the end of the course, you’ll feel CONFIDENT to back a boat into a slip in a 40 knot cross wind. Yes indeed!
docking a sailboat ibook
If you don’t own a boat – you DEFINITELY need this course as well. Why? Because one day you’re going to need this skill and it’s going to be under the most pressure of situations. For example, the Captain has broken his arm or has become incapacitated. The last thing you want to do is bugger his boat up too and have to tell him when he wakes up in hospital.
Become an expert at docking - take the $39 Maneuvering Under Power course. Compare $39 to the cost of one gel coat scratch and you’ll see the value. Or compare $39 to dock side snickering from by-standers.
You can also get the Maneuvering Under Power iBook for $12.99. The test is not included and you’ll need to pass the test to add this course to your Sailing Certification accepted by Yacht Charter companies worldwide.
So take us up on the fun suggestion – call a mate and get out on your boat
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