Welcome to the course
Most new deckhands arrive with their STCW and little else. The first weeks aboard are where people get trusted, or quietly written off. This course is the practical base a captain wishes every new deckhand had before day one.
Start here
Watch this first. It explains what the course covers, what it does not and how to get the most from it.
Video coming soon
Welcome to the course
A working captain on why this course exists and how to use it.
The point
Turn up ready to learn
A certificate gets you into the crew list. It does not show you how the boat runs, how to handle a line or how to finish a washdown to the standard a yacht expects. This course covers those practical basics, so you arrive able to learn the boat's own way quickly.
The lesson
What you are starting
- 01
What this course covers
How the boat runs, lines and knots, washdowns and maintenance, tenders and toys, working around guests and your place on the bridge.
- 02
What it is not
It is not a certificate and it does not make you competent on its own. It does not replace the boat's own procedures. Every boat has its way, and you learn that aboard.
- 03
How to use it
Watch the demonstrations, work through the checks and take the habits aboard. Where a lesson says it depends on the vessel, ask how your boat does it.
- 04
Where it starts
Chapter 1 begins with the people: who to ask, how to behave around guests, living in a small space, the boat's language and working as one crew.
Remember: The vessel's procedures, equipment manuals and senior crew always come first. This course gets you there ready to learn them.