Going on holiday with your boat? Here are some tips before you leave!

Sailing away with a bunch of friends on your own boat is a dream come true for many of us. It is a comfortable way of travelling, having your own belongings with you without being too restricted with luggage space (hello more shopping please!)

However there are quite a few things to think about before setting sail, and here are a few of our tips given by Robert, our chief instructor at Prosailing Malta

If possible, try and combine your trip with a friend – this always works well and is peace of mind should anything happen half way through your crossing

Check and double check the weather before leaving – when planning a trip like this, it is important to have slightly flexible dates! Planning to leave Monday and returning on Saturday might not work, and although weather forecasts are now quite reliable, the forecast can change even when abroad, so the return date might have to shift by a few days.

Make sure to have the essentials on board – (and know what to do with them!!), having a spare primary fuel filter, fine fuel filter, oil filter, spare oil, spare coolant, spare belt and a spare impellor as a minimum together with a well put together tool kit – a set of screwdrivers, spanners, socket set, pliers, side cutters, allen keys, vice grip, cable ties, filter wrench, hack saw and possibly a cordless drill and grinder

Depending on your destination, ensure you have the correct charts, nautical publications such as pilot books, and chart plotters which are well updated.

Plan your itinerary, a few good places to have a bite to eat, and most of all ENJOY!

Want to improve or refresh your boating skills before the summer season hits?

Want to improve or refresh your skills before the summer season hits?

If you are a resident in Malta or Gozo, you will require a local qualification to drive any type of vessel up to 24m, in territorial waters; the Transport Malta Basic Seamanship and Boathandling licence, also known as the local Transport Malta Nautical Licence.

If you wish to go a step further and work on your practical skills, we also offer RYA courses which are more course specific, meaning you will either focus on sail or motor. What better way to improve your skills than spending 4 or 5 full days on the boat?

For motor, we offer the RYA Day Skipper Practical, which is 4 days long, and tuition is offered on our Rodman 900 HT, which has two 200HP Volvo Penta Engines. We take a maximum of 4 students to enquire maximum individual attention and plenty of turns each!

 

During this course, you will be focusing on a number of practical elements, such as:

  • turning in a confined space,
  • anchoring at a pre-determined position,  
  • berthing alongside,
  • leaving an alongside berth,
  • picking up a mooring buoy

We will also be going through some Navigation and Pilotage exercises, in which we will be using some local charts, mainly Chart 2538 (all Malta on one chart), 177 (detailed pilotage chart of Marsamxett and Grand Harbour) and 211 (detailed chart of the Northern parts of Malta, incl Comino and South Gozo ) to plot our course.

This will definitely help you, especially if you plan on going to Sicily by boat this summer. Remember the African proverb which says that ‘Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors’, so it is always wiser to be well prepared! We will also be going through how to deal with the unfortunate event of an emergency situation, what to do, which flares to use, how to give out a distress call on the VHF radio and explain more about a Life Raft.

Fixing a Postion on a Chart

Of course, we will also treat you to some delicious meals which are prepared lovingly by a family member! And our chief instructor Robert will be sure to share his knowledge and some tricks of the trade with our students!

Interested? Next RYA Day Skipper Practical for Motor will be taking place from Monday 13th to Thursday 16th June. Give us a call on +356 9988 4477 or email us on [email protected] to book your place!