Training & Safety

KEBC 2024 winter workshops

Once again, KEBC is pleased to offer winter workshops and courses to our members. They are well proven, run by the Devon School of Navigation for KEBC and club members benefit from preferential rates. Non club members are welcome but we ask that you either join our club (£15 per year) or pay an additional £10 per half day session.
Here’s a chance to improve or refresh your VHF radio and local navigation skills while meeting other club members.
Booking deadline – we need to know numbers no later than January 31st 2024 to be able to confirm the room bookings. At this stage just contact Andy Thomson (he is also KEBC secretary) andy@thethomsons.info or 01548 581288 to reserve your place(s) and make a provisional booking. He’ll answer any queries you have.

Background

Andy has been running courses and workshops for KEBC members for many years. They receive good feedback from his students. He runs the Devon School of Navigation and teaches RYA shorebased courses (Day Skipper, Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore and Yachtmaster Ocean). He runs VHF Short Range Certificate (SRC) theory courses and is an RYA SRC examiner.

Contact Andy if any of these courses are of interest to you. There’s also a ‘response form’ on page 3 for you to use.

VHF Short Range Certificate (SRC)

Someone on your boat must hold an SRC to use marine VHF radio legally. To gain your SRC you have to learn the necessary theory and pass a short practical exam. The cost for the theory (if you enrol via Andy on the Royal Yachting Association’s online course) is £65. The practical exam takes about an hour and a half and the RYA currently charge £70 per person. This includes their payment to your examiner so there’s no other charge. Andy would be pleased to enrol you on the theory and run your practical exam. Contact him to discuss your needs and how best to address them.

KEBC Workshops

These are NOT RYA courses and don’t have exams or certificates. Their aim is to help you learn more about some of the key topics that affect our boating whilst in a reasonably relaxed and ‘fun’ environment and working with other club members.
They are classroom based and run as ‘half day’ modules (roughly three hours teaching plus time for a tea / coffee break and a chat). Most people prefer morning sessions and the schedule overleaf reflects this. Afternoon or early evening sessions can be arranged. We limit class sizes to a maximum of six people. The prices below include handouts, refreshments and room hire.

“Practical VHF”

If you rarely use your boat’s radio then this workshop is for you.

Mobile phones are better than nothing but, at sea, VHF radio is, by far, the better way to handle a problem or emergency. This workshop addresses a widespread problem – most people don’t use their marine radios enough or even at all and they become de-skilled.
Come to this workshop and regain your VHF skills. Feedback from attendees can be summarised as “great fun and very useful”
It builds your PRACTICAL skills by using real marine VHF radios with realistic scenarios. It is ideal for ‘rusty’ SRC holders and is suitable for both beginners and more advanced users Sign up to Join in the best way to practice your radio skills and it’s just before the boating season starts.

  1. Duration: One half day
  2. Cost per person:£35
  3. Provisional date 13thMarch 2024. 09:30 to 13:00.

“Know your waters”

We always seem to follow the same route and it can get very crowded.
There’s nothing like knowing the waters where you do your boating. Salcombe can get very crowded but if you know what you are doing then you may be able to find peaceful areas. This workshop teaches you about navigating in our local waters so you can enjoy your boating more, both inside and outside Salcombe Harbour. You’ll work with real local charts and tidal information and end up by planning a passage to Dartmouth and back. The date is just before the season starts.

The price includes the loan of charts and navigating instruments. This workshop is suitable for both beginners and people with some navigation experience. We’ll talk about electronics but not use them as part of the course.

  1. Duration: Two half days
  2. Cost per person:£65
  3. Provisional Dates:6th and 7th March 2024. 09:30 to 13:00 both days.

Notes

  1. Teaching location. We use the John Wesley Room at Stokenham Parish Hall. It is ideal for our purposes and has ample free parking nearby and at the hall. The cost of using this facility is built into the prices shown above.
    1. We have to take Covid precautions and comply with all legal and RYA training requirements in force at the time of the course or workshop.
    2. To attend any KEBC or Devon School of Navigation classroom training you must be fully vaccinated with all recommended supplementary jabs.

Prices are correct at December 2023.We may have to pass on any external price increases imposed on us and the cost of the room is why we’ve had to slightly increase the price this year over last.

Minimum attendance on a course or workshop is two people.It is perfectly possible to run them for one person but the charge will be as though there are two people.

Dates are provisional at this stage.If you have a strong preference for other dates let Andy know.We’ll confirm arrangements, numbers etc. early February 2024.

Bookings and refunds. We will acknowledge all bookings we receive. Approximately one month before a course or workshop is due to run we will send you an invoice. Payment (by card, cash, cheque or bank transfer) is then due. YOU can cancel your attendance and receive a full refund of any money you have paid until two weeks before the scheduled date. After that, sorry, but the course fee is due in full. If Andy has to cancel a course for any reason then we will refund all the money you have paid. That is the full extent of his liability to you.

KEBC’s 2024 Winter courses and workshops

To: Andy Thomson

My details

Name, address, contact phone or email number

Please sign me / us up
For the Practical VHF / Know your waters  (delete as appropriate) on the scheduled date and time.
You’ll receive an acknowledgement from Andy once he receives this form.

Names:

1.

2.

3.

Please contact me:

I am interested in an SRC course / KEBC workshop / RYA shorebased course and would like to speak to Andy to get more information about the workshop / course or discuss options and dates

Your name and date:

Final step
If you printed this page and manually completed it then send it to: Mr. A Thomson, Hedges, Kiln Lane, Stokenham, Devon TQ7 2SQ.
If you electronically completed it just email this page or the whole document to andy@thethomsons.info