Thank you for booking your RYA Personal Watercraft  Instructor course at Marine Education. The following information should answer most pre-course enquiries, but if you require further advice, please contact info@marine-education.co.uk

**PLEASE read ALL of the information on this page thoroughly**

Pre-Course Planning:

It is important that you prepare for the course as fully as possible; to help you, please work through the following tasks:

1) Assess your own knowledge in the following areas:

• Types of PWC on the market

• Security, Theft prevention & Trailer laws

• Basic Care & Maintenance of a PWC

• Tides & tidal streams

• Weather

• IRPCS (International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea)

• Knots

• Charts, buoyage & basic navigation

USEFUL DOWNLOADS CAN BE SEEN AT THIS LINK

Ask yourself the question:

"If I were asked about any of the above, would I be able to answer confidently and accurately?"

 If the answer is no, or you are not sure, please do some revision prior to the course.

**Remember that your students may ask questions far advanced of the RYA PWC syllabus !

2) Prepare a 5-10 ten minute classroom based interactive session on each of the subjects below:

• Introduction to charts & symbols

• Tides & tidal streams, interpreting a tide table 

• Weather - Interpreting an inshore forecast 

• Launching & Recovery

• Measuring distance & bearings 

• Creating a route plan (planning & considerations) 

You will be asked to deliver a minimum of one of these lessons during your course.

The aim of the session is to assess your ability to deliver a ten minute talk to a group in a classroom environment. Remember, talks should follow the guidelines below:

- The session must have an introduction, a middle and a summary

- The session should last 10 minutes

- The session must be technically accurate

- The group must be able to hear you, see any visual aids and be as involved as possible.

- The session must be interesting and relevant

- You should check for understanding from your students during or at the end of your session.

For further advice - see the relevant RYA books available below, you can purchase the e-books by clicking the links below or buy the hardcopies by popping into School office. The resources section on the RYA website and the 'teaching techniques' section of this www.instructortoolkit.co.uk are also of use.

You will have the following equipment available for your use during the presentation:-

• Whiteboard & markers

• Charts, Dividers, Portland plotter 

• Tide table

3) Read and understand the RYA Introduction to PWC handbook (G35) 

Pre-course checklist:

Please make sure that you have the following when you arrive for your instructor course:

a) First Aid certificate, as approved by the RYA

b) RYA PWC  Proficiency Certificate

c) Passport photo with your name printed on the reverse

d) RYA membership number

To join the RYA or renew your membership click on the link below:-

e) Prepared 10 minute sessions

f) Pen and paper and the RYA Personal Watercraft handbook (You will also find a waterproof / wet notes book useful)

g) Personal clothing & protective equipment (i.e. wetsuit/drysuit, buoyancy aid - CE kite mark minimum 50N, gloves, footwear, waterproofs etc) - please note that the centre cannot take responsibility for any loss or damage. We have wetsuits, buoyancy aids and booties available for your to borrow if required. 

h) Other useful items: Spare warm clothing and a warm hat might be useful, sunglasses, sun cream, sun hat etc.

i) Lunch / Drinks: Please bring drinks & a packed lunch along with you each day

With a combination of enthusiastic and effective teaching, suitable and up-to-date equipment and a number of appropriate locations close to the centre, we are sure that you will have an enjoyable and productive course.

We look forward to meeting you. 

Your Health: 

You will be required to sign a Health Declaration before commencing your instructor course - please check the example wording below and if you have any concerns please contact me on info@marine-education.co.uk as we will just need you to fill out an extra form if so. 

"I declare that I am not suffering from any physical or mental impairment which has an adverse effect on my ability to properly discharge my duty of care as an instructor. I undertake to inform the RYA if this changes and agree to submit to a medical examination if requested by the RYA."