Where did that month go??

[Jackdaw]

About a month ago I mentioned that I was going to take the Royal Yacht Association (RYA) Skipper/ICC eval. Its two parts; a theoretical classwork/test then an on-the-water practical exam. Well I signed up over a month ago, but waited until pretty much the last possible moment to do the theoretical part. Blame it on work, but I've been up every night for the last week until 2AM+ to get 'er done. Just finished. I need two run drinks to get all those freekin tide tables and current atlases out of my brain. Until this weekend. A day of racing on Saturday on the FarEast 28r, then the practical exam. Good times!

Anyone else planning on doing an ICC? Where??

like this stuff. Course+current-feeway!

 

[Scott T-Bird]

That's a tricky location on Long Island Sound. Strong current, underwater ledges, reefs. I think a lot of boat repair work in that area!

 

[LakeShark]

I feel your pain. I will never forget the nights of studying charts on the east coast and rivers for my Masters Licence. Its always hard to plot courses on bodies of water you have never seen before let alone sailed on. But keep it up you'll make it and it will make you a better sailor. Just make sure you have your compass, parallel rule, and sextant on hand for those fast changes on the fly during the next race! Oh and I took my courses with the Maritime Institute in San Diego.

 

[Jackdaw]

I feel your pain. I will never forget the nights of studying charts on the east coast and rivers for my Masters Licence. Its always hard to plot courses on bodies of water you have never seen before let alone sailed on.

Interesting point. The Royal Yachting Association goes all-in on this concept... along with the UK National Hydrography Office they have made-up a 40,000+ square mile fictitious area of the world that is chock-full of everything you would ever see at sea. Tides, currents, drying areas, sub pens, ship yards, wrecks, reefs, traffic separate schemes, and every type of buoyage imaginable. All of this with two charts (1:30,000 and 1:100,000) with an accompanying piloting guide and almanac. One of the commonly used fake places is Port Fraser; I feel like I've been there!

 

[Michael Davis]

I did mine in Comox B.C. 2 years ago. It's pretty much a "must have" to charter in a lot of places these days.

 

[LakeShark]

the USCG does not use made up charts but they use charts that are primarily on the east coast and the Mississippi. It forces you to calculate current, wind, drift, etc.. I went for the 100 Ton Licence with both Sailing and Towing endorsements. I can tell you that doing the math to push a barge up river was a real pain. It was 7 years of sea time and 8 hours of "official" testing time after weeks of classroom instruction to get it all done. While nowadays I have really no use for my licence It is nice to know the rules and how things work. It really makes you respect those that you see pushing cargo up river on lake pepin. Its not just point and go like most people think. Judging by your knowledge in racing and COLREGS you'll do just fine. Besides like Captain Ron said " just keep her pointed due north and don't bump into anything" and always remember "If we get lost well just pull in somewhere and ask directions".

 

[Stu Jackson]

Jack,

If you liked that, you'll enjoy this, and this

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f121/cts-vs-following-rhumb-line-diluted-thread-115361.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...eaching-cts-quest-for-a-new-method-96579.html

Dockhead's participation is very informative. He may also have started a few of his own on the CTS subject, going across the English Channel (i.e., La Mere) is excellent, that I haven't bookmarked, or are within these two links.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Well, the chart on the Connecticut coastline looked familiar. I've been there with my ski boat, if not by sailboat, yet.
What's the deal with ASA. Website says you can't obtain ICC via ASA because US has not signed Resolution 40 (???). ASA offers their own version IPC (int'l Proficiency cert) ???

 

[Jackdaw]

I looked into this quite a bit before starting. the USA is not signatory to UN resolution 40. Only counties that are can issue an ICC.

http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2011/sc3wp3/ECE-TRANS-SC3-147-Rev1e.pdf

So what ASA offers is a 'faux' ICC, they can't even call it that. And they have to come to individual agreements with charter operators to accept it.

Notice it says 'Med charters'. It's because the ASA 104 program is non-tidal, which is a big part of the ICC mandate.

Clever bit - counties that have signed can issue ICC to nationals of counties that have NOT. Like us.

Thats why I went with a RYC/UK program. They are the gold standard of structured sailing certification. Could you image ASA getting NOAA to create and print a series of bespoke testing charts? Hell the USCG can't get that to happen! And I wanted to stress my knowlege of tidal navigation. I can knock a boat around the BVIs just fine, didn't want to pay for certification of something that I can already do.

 

[Jackdaw]

Great weekend! First a big win on the FarEast 28r.

Then a hot spin reach down the lake, just for fun.

Then the big Sunday with the RYA instructor doing the ICC test up at Lake Travis. Was a lot of work and a bit of a mental grind, doing all the tidal plotting and course generation. And lots of Euro-style boat handling, med mooring, stern to, springing off, etc. But after 7 hours, got the final sign-off!

If anyone is interested in doing the ICC via the RYC, drop me a note. I'll give you the full scoop.

 

[cb32863]

Nicely done.

 

[Jackdaw]

Nicely done.

I'm glad that's over.. I started WAY too late studying for the test. The two other guys in my group took the practice tests THREE times in the week running up to the practical exam, that's the entire time I spent prepping. Never took the practice test. No time left!

 

[Dennis Kitchen]

Congrats.....er..Good show ole chap, now keep a stiff upper lip......

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Nice going! So the boat you used for the practical exam was 47 feet? Is the practical exam ever tailored to the boat the applicant is most comfortable sailing/handling or is it assumed that to be proficient, the exam must be taken on a boat with a longish length? I suppose that if the purpose of having the certification is to demonstrate proficiency for chartering, the length of typical/popular charter boats has grown substantially over the years, so it might make sense that a 40+ length is required during the practical exam.

 

[Jackdaw]

Interesting question.

The ICC can be issued for sail+power, or power only. Only the power endorsement has a length limit, which is based on the boat tested and on the the testee's capability. If you apply for a sail cert, the power endorsement come along (a sailboat IS a powerboat as well) at a max of 50 feet. The tester can 'set' the size of the boat to that if they feel the testee is capable. In theory, there is no limit to the sail length size. That's between you and the charter company! My power endorsement was set to 14.3n (50 feet); I'm thinking that practice is common.

The boat we tested on was a Beneteau 41. While in the UK the RYC offers both the theory and practical sections of the Skipper/ICC program as a week-long classes, here US the practical part is a one-day TEST. So we got on the boat and when straight into all types of mooring and maneuvering, no instruction, and its a pass/fail thing. So you had to be real comfortable jumping on a new big boat and throwing it around. Sounds harsh, but that's what you're going to do when you jump on a boat in Athens.

You can see the two endorsements in the image in the post below:

 

[Jackdaw]

Well it arrived in the mail (er.. post) yesterday. I'm official.

Love the Nationality: 'merican.

 

[SFS]

Did it actually omit the certificate number? Or did you photoshop it out?

 

[Jackdaw]

Did it actually omit the certificate number? Or did you photoshop it out?

yea I PS'ed it out. I figure I do enough damage to my reputation without someone else piling on! ^-)

 

[shemandr]

Love the Nationality: 'merican.

Pronounced Mer-can. Congratulations. It sounds like a bit of an ordeal. Where will the practical section be done?

 

[SFS]

In a lot of places, it's pronounced 'Mur 'kin.

He already did the boat part of the test. See posts #10 and #15.