Low pressure systems can be bad news for sailors, bringing storms, squalls and general unpleasantness. Thankfully, they can usually be predicted – and you’ll need to know how if you are planning to take your RYA Yachtmaster exam, or indeed if you intend to have a long and relatively comfortable sailing career. Depressions are low …
The weather can be a sailor’s best friend, or worst enemy. Learning how to predict what kind of mood it is in is a vital skill, and you will need to know about this not just for safe and pleasant sailing, but also if you intend to take a Yachtmaster exam. This article is the …
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Skippers who can spin their boat on a sixpence, moor alongside under sail in the teeth of an offshore gale and fix their position without instruments in fog so thick they can’t see their own bow might still fear one aspect of a Yachtmaster exam: the interrogation about their knowledge of the International Regulations for …
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When Vice-admiral Horatio Nelson sent the rallying cry “England expects that every man will do his duty” from HMS Victory ahead of the Battle of Trafalgar, he signalled his message using flags. In these days of electronic communication it might seem that such signalling methods are old hat – but flags, the phonetic alphabet and …
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If you’re working towards your RYA Yachtmaster exam, you will need to know the meaning of different sound signals. Even if you’re not, understanding what other vessels want to tell you is vital to staying safe at sea – and you are legally required to know about these signals if you find yourself in command …
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We’ve developed a free tide height calculator to help you work out key depths and clearances. It’s easy to use, and works for HW to LW and LW to HW. You can download your copy, and the related documentation, below. The calculator works best with Excel, on a desktop, laptop or mobile device. As the …
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