Men Only 6 Day Experience

Sunday 1700 to Friday 1500

Price: £725 Includes:all tuition, boat costs, breakfast, lunch, four evening meals and a copy of Men Only.

Onboard Frangi

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Frangi is an RYA/MCA yacht, coded to carry up to 8 passengers. She is a 50ft Hallberg Rassey sloop and has visited the Mediterranean, Caribbean and circumnavigated Britain & Ireland during the past four years.

Day 1

We meet Sunday afternoon between 1700 & 1800 (nautical time) for a full boat briefing, course outline and sharing of aims and objectives. Supper is prepared onboard (all clients share in the cooking rota) and then time for our first exercise of the course which usually involves a walk over the world's most famous bridge, Tower Bridge.

Day 2

Leaders & followers, masters and slaves, Yin and Yang.

Many sailing adventures and business projects are all about “take off and landing'.  Casting off and mooring a 19 tonne 42ft yacht requires a high degree of leadership and organisation, especially when the wind and tide contrive to hinder your every move.

We all have a different style of leadership and we all respond in different ways to being given instructions. You will both lead and follow. We do not jump off a boat to moor, we simply step ashore when the skipper has brought her perfectly alongside.

Boats in St Katharine Docks enter the Thames through a lock and times need to fit around High Water. Our lock time could vary between 0600 and 1200. Prior to leaving, we need to complete safety checks and organise a rota. Breakfast may be early!

Most of the day will be heading east towards the mouth of the river, passing through the City, the Thames Barrier and Tilbury Docks.

You will be taught sailing skills throughout the course. At least one of the crew will be a RYA (Royal Yachting Association) Yachtmaster Instructor who will introduce much of the RYA Competent Crew and Day Skipper Syllabae during the six days.

The evening may be spent at anchor or, depending upon tides,in Ramsgate.

Day 3

Navigation is the theme of the day. Not only guiding the boat through the notorious 'Goodwin Sands' (which only a couple of years ago had a tanker full of BMW cars sitting on the mud) but also looking at how we as men navigate our way through childhood, adolescence, fatherhood and the rest.

Man overboard practice is a way of looking at stressful situations in life and how we cope when under pressure. Especially when a cross channel ferry (that resembles a block of flats) wants to join in your fun!

The day may end in Dover or Calais.

Day 4

Weather is the theme of the day. We teach how weather patterns evolve, how to read those fancy maps in the paper and what to do when the shit hits the fan. Storms are often where we learn most about ourselves; be it in the North Sea (on our return from Rotterdam in July 2008 we had a force 9 and were forced as far north as Lowestoff to maintain full control), or in our stormy relationships at home.

All disturbances to our equilibrium are stressful. We discuss our experiences over dinner and consider techniques for handling stormy weather.

Day 5

Homeward, and lighting is the theme of the day. This may involve an early start or even a late finish. Sailing at night is (even if colour blind) a dazzling array of colours and flashing lights. Is it a supertanker unable to change course or a cruise ship with more lights than Wembley stadium? We need to understand the 'Rules of the Road'.

In life, we often get confused by the rules. All rules are learned. We are bombarded by rules from the moment you're born to the day you die. We are conditioned from an early age to follow rules "Big boys don't cry" and if you're naughty you won't go to heaven, are two simple examples.

Tonight we hit town (if not still sailing) and with our new found skills look at the lights and sights through different eyes.

Day 6

Today's theme is cleaning. The boat will by now be in a blokish mess in a safe sort of way.

A summary of skills learned, both sailing and life skills. A final group sharing over lunch on clearing out unwanted mess in our life before clearing out the mess of 6 days onboard.

The course ends by 1500 hours on Friday.

Check Calendar for dates and availability.

To book and for further information