Once you’ve decided that you would like to sign up for a course, tap on ‘Express

The Sea Cadets guide to... FINDING YOUR NEXT COURSE

The new Sea Cadets Portal has loads of features – from reading the latest news to tracking your progress. You can also use it to browse all the courses Sea Cadets offers, from sailing to catering and everything in-between. There are a few ways to search on the Portal – use this guide to find a new course that suits you

1Once you’ve logged in, use the navigation bar at the bottom to tap on the ‘Activities’ icon. 2 Tap on ‘Menu’ to open the navigation panel. Then tap on ‘Courses’. 3 Start filtering your options by tapping on one of the sub-options. You can filter by date, location (district, area or national), level (basic, immediate and advanced) and age requirements. Then tap ‘Find courses’. Make sure you’re registered – just go to portal.sea-cadets.org to sign up! Before you start

You can also use the Portal to find out what’s going on at our four National Training Centres and six Boat Stations! 6 Once you’ve decided that you would like to sign up for a course, tap on ‘Express your interest’ and send a message that you are interested. This will automatically send an email to your unit training team.

4Your matching results will appear below. Tap ‘Discover more’ on whichever courses interest you to find out more about them.

7Wait to hear from your unit. Once your notification has been received and they know that you’re interested in a course, they will look to book you onto it. 5 To see if it’s right for you, look at the course requirements – like what other courses you might need to have done first.

Illustration: Carys Tait (Carys-ink.com)

Focus on: RYA DAY SKIPPER THEORY COURSE

If you want a career at sea, to gain more knowledge of navigation or to become a more competent instructor on the water, this is for you

What can I expect to do on this course? It covers a lot of ground to make you an effective skipper. From the basics of seamanship, chart work, the essentials of coastal navigation and pilotage, positioning and plotting a course, to tides, meteorology, parts and equipment, and emergency and safety procedures, you’ll learn loads.

What does this qualification enable me to do? By the end of the course, cadets will have all the knowledge they need to navigate around familiar waters by day. You’ll also use the specially developed training chart plotter to give you a realistic insight into electronic navigation.

Who can sign up for the course? The course is open to all enrolled cadets. It is recommended that you have already completed a Basic or Intermediate course, and that you have a good level of mathematical knowledge (numeracy and basic trigonometry). BZ is a naval term that means ‘well done’. It comes from the Bravo and Zulu nautical signal flags being flown together. Once I’ve completed the course, what can I do next? Once they’ve successfully completed this course, cadets can look forward to progressing towards the RYA Day Skipper Practical training and assessment, which takes place on board one of the two Sea Cadets offshore yachts. There, you will get the opportunity not only to apply what you have already learned, but also put to use the leadership, problem-solving and teamwork skills developed throughout your Sea Cadets experience.

How do I sign up? Find out more about this course and register your interest for it using the Sea Cadets Portal, or talk to your unit’s Training Officer.

Plotting a course

Gain the skills to be an effective skipper

Don’t take our word for it! Here’s what a volunteeer and course instructor says:

“After taking the RYA Day Skipper course, several cadets and volunteers have pursued careers in the merchant navy, on super yachts or in the leisure industry. Others wanted to become more knowledgeable dinghy/power boat instructors, or watch leaders on our offshore vessels. This course is a must for cadets who want to have a broader knowledge of navigation and seamanship or are hoping to have a career at sea.” Lt Cdr (SCC) Ray Mitchell RNR RYA cruising and shore based instructor

The Captain’s first #VirtualSeaCadets meeting.

Virtual congratulations go to all recipients of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award! London: Thomas B, Francis d. S H, Amber-Rose H, Jessica E. South West: Dakota L, Blake L, Oliver D, Thomas G, Emily G, James G, Oliver G, Holly G. Eastern: Lewis K, Chelsea B, Jack V, Isobel B, Lydia C, Thomas B. North West: James P, James B R.

Ahmet gains a Learn@Sea certificate at home: Junior Cadet First Class Ahmet completed Marine Society’s Writing@ Sea Course! Ask your unit about Learn@Sea courses. They’re free!

BZ to Sea Cadets volunteers also volunteering for their local community: Volunteers from Birmingham Vernon Sea Cadets helped provide meals and prepare food parcels for those in need during Volunteers’ Week in June.