Riviera Sea School

By: Riviera Sea School, Your Sea School in the South of France (contact)

Calling all new deckies!

As I am sure most of you are aware, it takes an enthusiastic spirit, a hard working attitude and a bit of good luck to land yourself that dream job on the perfect boat. You will however, also have noticed that these good qualities are sometimes not always enough to seal the deal. A certain set of qualifications are now becoming an absolute must for hiring Captains and their yachts. The STCW95 Basic Safety Training is of course a new crew members first priority. Secondly though, and especially for deckies, is the good old ‘Tender License’. Now, you may have heard several different names for this license making not only figuring out what it is and what you can do with it a hardship but also finding out where you can do it, and finding the best Yacht Training Center for you a bit of a mission.

So, we are going to try and makes things a little simpler for you so you can get on with far more important things i.e. all the fun things like dock walking, fine tuning your CV and the ever popular sport of ‘networking’. When applying for positions, talking to crew agents and/or Captains they will ask you if you have what may seem like a thousand things but in actual fact they are asking you for the same license. For example, and just to name a few, have you been asked for your Powerboat License, or even your Powerboat Level II, a Tender License, the National Powerboat License, or simply a Boat License?

Confused?

Don’t be, all you will need to obtain in order to cover all of the above is the RYA Powerboat Level II Certificate.This qualification will satisfy all the needs of a Captain looking for a new deckie and will give you the piece of mind that you have carried out the appropriate training that will allow you to take charge of the boats tenders with confidence and ease. In a nut shell, the RYA Powerboat Level II is a two day course which will teach you various aspects of powerboating including preparation of the boat, boat handling and maneuvering, theory and background information. It is important however that you find the right training facility for your specific needs. Here are some points to consider when looking out for somewhere to to do your course.

Price - Here at Riviera Sea School we always encourage any prospective RYA students out there to shop around and compare prices as course fees can vary from school to school. As a new crew member struggling to make ends meet all you need is unfair course fees making the process of job hunting harder than it already is.

The teaching ratio – This point is very important. The more one to one attention you receive from your instructor the better. The RYA strictly specify a teaching ratio of 3:1. Make sure you question the course teaching ratio before booking onto any course to ensure you are getting the most out of your instructor.

Time on the water – The Powerboat Level II Certificate is intended to teach you how to ‘drive’ a powerboat therefore you should expect to spend the best part of your course on the water. Here at Riviera Sea School we insist that 80% of tuition is carried out on the water allowing the student to practice their skills as they learn them. It is worth questioning the school about this prior to booking as sitting in the classroom is not going to give you the practical skills you need when driving your guests ashore.

Course calendar - Check to see if your school specializes in the course you intend to take. This will not only ensure a great course but will generally mean the school will have a course date that suits you as these courses will be the core of their business opposed to a small part of a wide range of courses that they run.

Experience – Always enquire about your instructors experience and qualifications. In order to instruct the RYA Powerboat Level II your instructor must be a qualified powerboat instructor, don’t be shy to ask to see their credentials.

Riviera Sea School pride themselves in having a good understanding of the life of a new crew member trying to crack this fastpaced, ever changing industry we call yachting. Just a stones throw from Antibes in the beautiful Port de Golfe-Juan we run from two to three Powerboat Level II courses every week throughout the summer giving you a greater opportunity to get your courses done in time for the Season.

For further information on getting your tender license, course dates and availability contact us now!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 11:30 am and is filed under Boating in France, Crew Zone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.