Joining Instructions & Directions

Joining Instructions & Directions

Directions to Commodore Yachting:

Our address is:

Commodore Yachting

C/O Premier Marinas

Mumby Road

Gosport

Hampshire

PO12 1AH

 If you use the Search and Rescue App “What3Words”

Do a search for “Water. Ruler. Amuse” and you’ll find exactly where we are!

By Road:

Leave the M27 at junction 11 and take the A32 into Gosport town centre. Follow the signs for Gosport town centre, (you will notice signs at Fareham that also say town centre, but you should follow the signs to Gosport).

Keep following the road into Gosport town centre. You’ll see some of the landmarks along the way, such McDonalds, Aldi, Kwik Fit Garage on your left, Crown Bingo on your right and St. Vincent College on the left-hand side.

Go through a set of traffic lights about half a mile past the college and continue straight on all the way into Gosport.

As you pass ALDI on your left you’ll see the marina entrance on your left hand side throught the brick wall’d entrance, this is about 100m after ALDI, and just before the Castle Tavern on your left side of the road.

Car Parking : Enter the marina and drive past You-Boat chandlers which is on your right. Turn left into the main marina car park at the mini roundabout and park up, you will need to take a ticket as you enter through the barrier. This can be discounted when you arrive by popping into the marina reception and asking the marina staff to discount your car parking stay. The carpark is pay on Exit.

Once you are parked up, then walk towards the marina reception office (around the corner from the Clipper Marine office in between the two sand stone yellow brick flats), you’ll see a small white gate and ramp leading down to the marina pontoons. We are at the foot of the ramp with our floating office around the corner. The marina staff will open the gate for you if you ask them in the reception.

By Rail:

Catch a train to Portsmouth Harbour railway station (not Portsmouth & Southsea) – from London these regularly go from London Waterloo Station, with some of the faster trains taking just under 90 minutes. There is also a train from London Victoria as well. From Portsmouth Harbour station follow the signs for the Gosport ferry (not the Isle of Wight ferry!). The trip across Portsmouth harbour takes about three minutes.

Further information about the Gosport Ferry can be found on their website.

On leaving the ferry, you can walk to the marina in about 3 minutes. Walk up from the ferry pontoon to the road and turn right, you will pass the Castle Tavern on your right hand side, with the marina entrance 20 metres past the pub on the left hand side. Walk past You-Boat Chandlers and the small ‘compass’ roundabout and towards the marina reception (this is in between the two yellow sand stone brick flats) where they will open the gate for you to walk down the gangway onto the pontoon to where we are situated.

Parking:

There is plenty of secure paid parking at the marina, please use the main marina car park through the barriers. You will see the entrance on your left as you enter the marina at the mini roundabout. Just turn left at the ‘compass’ roundabout past You-Boat Chandlers. The marina charges up to £6.00 per day for parking.  To get a discount on paring when you arrive please ask the marina reception team to discount the parking or ask the team at out office, the carpark is pay on exit. Please be aware if you don’t pay for your parking, you’ll get a charge issued by letter from the parking company, and it’s £100. Please also note that we have no influence or sway on the parking company and cannot get charges cancelled, so please don’t ask us to interject on your behalf. Thank you for your understanding.

 

Joining Instructions For Your Course or Charter

Practical Sailing Courses:

Please ensure you arrive on the first day so the course can start at 9:00am we do understand people can be delayed due to circumstances beyond there control so if you are please call us to let us know you are running late. Unfortunately we are now unable to offer overnight accommodation the night before your course.
If you are undertaking either an RYA Day Skipper/Coastal Skipper/ RYA Yachtmaster /Powerboat Level 2 practical course, please remember to bring along a Passport Sized photograph of yourself for your certification card – Please bring some form of Photo ID with your self for courses that have an exam due to new Regulations from the MCA and RYA.
During the course you will have to pay for berthing so please being with you either cash, or card so you can split the berthing cost at mariners / bouys / pontoons. Some Marinas do allow us to stay for free so please ask the marina for a discount on berthing as we are training and also ask if the berthing is free for the school. Premier Marina berthing is sometimes included in the berthing fee the school pays each year but this is seasonal and also event changeable due to the Sailing Callander.

Practical Powerboat Courses:

Please ensure you arrive on the first day so the course can start at 9:00am. Unfortunately we are unable to offer overnight accommodation for your course however there are plenty of hotels in the local area to suit all budgets. If you are undertaking an RYA practical Powerboat course, please remember to bring along a photograph of yourself for your cert card – UK passport standard sized photographs only please. Please bring comfortable clothing for wearing under the wet weather kit. Sailing boots are preferred as this course can get wet! Please bring with you a passport sized photo graph of your self for the course. During the course you will need to bring food with you or you can get food locally.

Theory or Classroom Based Sailing Courses (Including Sea Survival courses):

Please ensure you arrive promptly on the first day so the course can start at 9:00am. Unfortunately we are unable to offer overnight accommodation for your course however there are plenty of hotels in the local area to suit all budgets. If you are undertaking an RYA SRC/VHFcourse, please remember to bring along a photograph of yourself for your certification card – UK passport standard sized photographs only please, please also make sure you have paid for your exam via the RYA website RYA Marine Radio SRC Exam Payments if you cannot print this off please call us to email it and we will print it off for you for your course. You will need to being food with you for the course, or their are lots of food establishments around here.

Online Courses:

Following your purchase of an online course, within 48 hours you will receive a set of log-on details for your online course. A course pack including manual will be posted to you by DHL / Royal Mail / Ebook (depending on online course) and usually arrives within 2-5 days of course purchase (Depending on time and day of the week you bought your online course). At which point you can log-on and start your online course.

9-Day  Day Skipper combination course:

Courses start at 9am on the first day. Accommodation is available on a Yacht for the whole 9 days course duration (Subject to boat availability and is booked prior). You will receive a theory pack and have free use of our navigation equipment as needed. We do however recommend you buy a decent set of Plotters and Dividers for the course, which will be essential for your future navigation practice (These can be bought from us upon arrival at £35/set). During the theory course if accommodation is booked there is a fridge on the boat you are welcome to use this. Sorry we do not allow cooking on the boat unless the instructor is onboard due to fire risks.

Milebuilding Weekends:

These start at around 7.00pm on Friday evening, usually with an overnight sail. Please arrive from 6.00pm and certainly no later than 7.00pm, if you are running late please do call us to keep us informed. This is subject to weather, tides, and restrictions within Portsmouth Harbour by KHM/Royal Navy.

Longer Milebuilding Courses (i.e. our five day cruises) usually start on Saturday morning or Monday morning unless stated otherwise. Please refer to individual instructions which will be emailed to you for any longer Milebuilding Course, or mentioned on the booking confirmation you will receive.

We would advise you to have a valid Passport on you, should the course itinerary have to change due to unforseen circumstances, which may mean a sail over to Northern France or the Channel Islands.

We provide breakfasts, lunches and one evening meal for Saturday night during Milebuilding Weekends. We would advise you arrive on Friday night having eaten beforehand as we do not cater for the Friday night evening meal. On longer mile builders we provide evening meals for most evenings, normally one or two to be taken ashore when we are in ports to take a break from cooking.

Solent Sailing Weekends:

These start at 9.00am sharp on Saturday morning. Please arrive at least half an hour prior to the start time, so we can sort out any foul weather kit you may need and for everyone to have a relaxing start, load kit onto the yacht etc. The start time is subject to weather, tides, and restrictions within Portsmouth Harbour by KHM/Royal Navy.

The weekend is confined to the waters of the Solent, and will visit various marinas in the Solent area. A passport will not be needed.

Beyond The Solent Weekends/Weeks/Holidays:

These start at 9.00am sharp on Saturday morning (or Monday if scheduled as such – Please check your ticket confirmation start date). Please arrive at least half an hour prior to the start time, so we can sort out any foul weather kit you may need and for everyone to have a relaxing start, load kit onto the yacht etc. The start time is subject to weather, tides, and restrictions within Portsmouth Harbour by KHM/Royal Navy.

We would advise you to have a valid Passport on you, should the course itinerary have to change due to unforseen circumstances, which may mean a sail over to Northern France or the channel islands.

Sail around Britain:

These start at 9.00am sharp on Saturday morning (Or whatever the first scheduled day is – Please check your ticket confirmation start date). Please arrive at least half an hour prior to the start time, so we can sort out any foul weather kit you may need and for everyone to have a relaxing start, load kit onto the yacht etc. The start time is subject to weather, tides, and restrictions within Portsmouth Harbour by KHM/Royal Navy.

We would advise you to have a valid Passport on you, should the course itinerary have to change due to unforseen circumstances, which may mean a sail over to destinations not on the itinerary.

Round The Island Race:

Training weekend starts at 9.00am sharp on Saturday morning and goes through to around 5-6pm the next day. Please arrive an hour before for the skippers briefing on the first day. On race-day the starting time will be dependant on the class start time, tides etc. Please ensure you arrive by 6.00pm on the Friday evening. We will provide notification and written instructions well before the race – at least two weeks prior. Please be aware some race classes start VERY early in the morning! We may need to anchor at Osborne Bay the night before in order to get to the start-line on time.

Lonely Rock Race / RORC Fastnet Race:

A separate set of instructions and a detailed itinerary will be issued with all the information needed, course dates, practice weekends, qualifying races etc.

Food Safety & Dietary Requirements:

We provide breakfast, lunches, snacks, and some evening meals (normally 3 evening meals for a 5-day course). We can usually cater for most simple dietary needs (For example – Vegetarian, Vegan, Lactose intolerant etc) but anything likely to cause an allergic reaction or something which is potentially life-threatening will require the student to cater for themselves. If this is the case we will provide a nominal discount to the course cost for any student catering for themselves. We will need full details of any food allergies and medical conditions to be made at the time of booking. This will be disclosed to your instructor.

Kit and items to bring

The practical courses are all at sea or are yacht or powerboat orientated. You will need appropriate clothing for the time of year and the usual “UK weather” factor which changes daily! There is a high chance that there will be a night sail or two if out on a yachting course, please remember that is does get colder at night and one the water compared to land.

What to bring kit list Sailing courses:

Sleeping bag and Pillow (if booked as a couple or booked the single supplement you can bring a bed sheet and duvet if you prefer.
Wash items – Towel, toiletries
Foot wear – Sensible foot wear for the weather, in good weather this can be trainers or non marking soul based shoes (Black soles do mark the boats), if you are thinking about purchasing some please look at different options, for low cost please investigate Decathlon and there sailing boot and shoe section, for more luxury foot wear please look at orca bay boots and shoes.
Hats and gloves – Always useful in both summer and winter both style of hats baseball and woolly, as well as gloves both water proof and also ones for sailing these are great to protect your hands when pulling lines. Rooster and Decathlon offer a good selection of low cost gloves for you to purchase. In winter do consider water proof gloves from places like Sealskinz which will keep your hands warm and dry in the winter weather conditions.
Clothing – bring clothes you would wear when going camping or hiking. Layers really help also in the cooler period. In the summer shorts are very good and loose breathable clothing. When its warm we do go swimming so please look at expected weather of the course and bring appropriate layers and clothes
Bags – Please bring soft shape bags due to lockers not being square shaped. Companies like over board, and decathlon have loads of options or a general holdall will work.
Extras – Suncream, a red and white heat torch, note book and pens/penils help massively. A Reusable drinks bottle is good water is drinkable from the tanks, in the colder months please think about bringing thermos mug for hot drinks on deck. Sunglasses are always needed due to glare off the water.
Chargers / electrical – when on shore power there is power available, when sailing there is 12V via USB sockets for charging small devices such as mobiles. Please consider bringing a power pack if you use a lot of power. There is NO 240V when the boat is sailing or at anchor only when in the mariners once the boat is connected to the power supply from the shore.
Passport / ID card is always useful, this really is for mile builders but please remember all exams candidates need to have photo ID with them. With berthing costs being split amongst students marinas accept card or cash payments budget about £5-10 per night.

What to bring with you Powerboating :

Footwear  – Sensible shoes for boating this included getting wet feet, please consider wellies as a low cost possibility for the course
Layers of warm clothes help keep you warm on the water
Hats / gloves – very needed when powerboating it can get wet and wind chill can cool your hands down. And of course sun glasses for glare.
There are shower facilities in the marina you are welcome to use so please consider a change of clothes and towel to have a shower at the end of the days if you wish.

For the Sea Survival course you will need to bring along a swimming costume, towel etc as you’ll be in the swimming pool.

Please also remember that for RYA VHF, RYA Day Skipper practical/combination, RYA Coastal Skipper and RYA Powerboat Level 2 courses you will need to bring along a photograph of yourself. A standard photograph you’d use for a UK passport application is perfect. And dont forget berthing is not included in the cost. Please make sure you have told the team in advance of your course if you have any dietary intolerances due to medical conditions.

For longer courses there are usually pay-to-use washing machines and tumble driers at various marinas you’ll visit. Please make sure that if you use the marina facilities for clothes washing and drying that you don’t delay yacht departure!!! Speak to the skipper about departure times and planning your clothes washing in good time.

 

Course Requirements:

For some of our courses there is an assumed level knowledge that the student must have achieved. Please make sure you have this or to the level of that assumed knowledge. If there are any gaps in this pre-course knowledge, please contact us ASAP as we may be able to help or provide additional training/help prior to your course commencing.

RYA Start Yachting – No prior experience/knowledge needed

RYA Competent Crew – No prior experience/knowledge needed

RYA Day Skipper theory – Sailing experience to the level of RYA Competent Crew, with some sailing time preferred

RYA Day Skipper practical – Theory knowledge to the level of RYA Day Skipper, with practical skills to RYA Competent Crew standard (We recommend that you have been sailing regularly within the previous 4-6 months prior to your RYA Day Skipper Practical Course starting)

RYA Yachtmaster / Coastal Skipper theory – Theory knowledge & practical sailing skills to RYA Day Skipper level

RYA Coastal Skipper Practical – Approximately 15 days / 300 miles of sailing, with at least two days as Skipper of the vessel. Theory knowledge to the level of RYA Yachtmaster/Coastal Skipper, with practical sailing skills to the level of RYA Day Skipper with time as skipper (To make the most out of this course we recommend you have done a marina skills/power handling day and have refreshed your RYA Day Skipper practical sailing skills)

RYA Yachtmaster offshore – As per below

RYA Yachtmaster Coastal – Exam Details RYA Yachtmaster Offshore – Exam Details

Please make sure you are up to the minimum levels of skills and prerequisites for the course. If you are not able to meet the minimum required standards you may not reach your goal. We will work hard with you to help as much as we can but there is no guarantee of passing if you do not come well equipped for the course. Please bring with you the printed exam application form and your log book with your logged miles, passport Photo and some form of ID (photo graphic).