RYA Basic Navigation and Safety

This course introduces you to the very basics of marine terminology, seamanship, safety, collision regulations, meteorology, chartwork, tides, and pilotage.

It leads to the award of the RYA ‘Basic Navigation and Safety shorebased’ completion certificate. It is for boaters who do short trips in daylight, in fair conditions and in known waters.

No prior knowledge is required

Our study material is built on that assumption although you will find it easier to relate theory to reality if you have some practical experience.

Tiller’s standard package £180

You will receive a complete course comprising:

• Tiller study material on CD from which you may print as part of your studies or use on your computer. Expect about 400 pages and many illustrations in colour.
• Tiller study guides including a course planning guide, chart symbols, nautical glossary and the RYA’s electronic chart plotter. Only course guide is printed.
• Additional material on CD lets you (optionally) delve deeper into some aspects of seamanship and navigation.
• Interactive modules on CD help you to visualise and understand key topics in the course.
• Selected RYA and MCA booklets.
• RYA student pack (charts, exercises and practice tables and electronic plotter).
• A 2B pencil for chartwork.
• Marking and support including one year access to ‘tiller-online’ – our easy to use web system that allows you to download course modules, check for updates and see FAQs and hints and tips.
• Exams and issue of certificate.
• Courier delivery to most UK addresses.

Popular options

• Printed Tiller study material. You can start studying ‘out of the box’ with our smart colour printed and individually bound set of study ‘lectures’.
• Navigation instruments. Plotter, high quality brass and stainless steel dividers, sharpener and eraser.
• Book Bundle. The three textbooks referred to in our study material. Not really required for this level of course but very nice to have on your bookshelf and a good ‘lead in’ to the next course level.

Lectures include

1. Safety – what we mean by safety and the key equipment and procedures that keep us safe at sea. Also included is navigation in restricted visibility and heavy weather and coping with disaster.

2. Seamanship – including parts of a boat, key jargon, nautical terms, etiquette, mooring and anchoring.

3. Tides – the fundamentals of tidal causes, heights and streams.

4. Navigation – introduces charts, their symbols and the fundamentals of position and the relationship between true north and the magnetic compass.

5. Buoyage - this lecture explains the basic navigational marks and there associated lights.

6. Pilotage - how to formulate a simple pilotage plan for exit and entry into ports and harbours.

7. Collision Regulations – the basic steering rules explained.

8. Weather – forecasts and how to understand them, together with some simple basics and local effects.

9. Passage Planning – how to prepare a simple passage plan and the use of electronic navigation.

Exams

There are no exams and progress is by continual assessment through RYA exercises.

All the lectures are on the CD together with PowerPoint shows to help visualise the various subjects. There is also a section containing MAIB reports which highlight the importance of some of the danger areas such as collision avoidance and safety including the recent Ouzo incident.