A summary of (almost) everything you need to know about sailing offshore

Offshore sailing means sailing 12 Nm outside the coastline of countries, or simply put, that you do not see the coast but have a 360-degree horizon of water.
If you want to sail with Offshoresailacademy, you will gain a lot of knowledge that you can use when you go on an adventure with your own boat.
I choose to focus on the most important things you need to know in order to safely go out and sail long distances.
One thing that training companies in Sweden often do not inform their students about is that Swedish certificates are only valid on boats with a Swedish flag. This information is important if you want to rent a boat that does not have a Swedish flag. The British and American certificates, on the other hand, are approved by most countries. The Swedish certificates are not approved by other countries and you may wonder why.
The answer is probably linked to the registration of boats, tax issues and thus a question for our politicians who do not take the issue at all or give it a low priority since it does not affect so many voters. Regardless of the reason, it is important if you want to sail on a boat that does not fly the Swedish flag.
The certificates that are approved by most countries are RYA and IYT. RYA is basically British and IYT is American. Both organizations issue certificates that give the right to operate a vessel that is stipulated at the certificate/level that the certificate states. In general, the training at these organizations is similar and has a lot of focus on practice. Swedish certificates have no or few rules linked to practice, but since many companies are serious, they have some practice set aside in their course offerings even though Swedish authorities do not require it.
What is important at sea is practice and experience. You definitely do not get that in a classroom and need to acquire it on your own. This applies to both sailing and diving and much else. The easiest way is probably to follow along on other people's boats and gradually learn different elements. On the open sea, completely different things apply compared to archipelago sailing and in countries outside Sweden you need to take into account the rules and regulations of these countries.
In the Swedish archipelago there are a lot of rocks, shoals and conditions that require constant attention. When you leave a port in France, Great Britain, Spain or Portugal to name a few, there is practically no ground outside the port's breakwater.
As soon as you are outside, you can set a course towards your destination and let the autopilot steer. The important thing is to keep an eye on your surroundings, other boats and buoys intended for navigation. You can let go of the worry about shoals as the echo sounder shows a depth of over 20m in the area where you plan to sail.
There are other things that you need to keep an eye on as the area is often subject to tides.
Tides are much easier to control than shoals. Generally, you don't need to calculate like you do on courses for certification, but simple mental calculations are enough. Once you have found out the tidal range in the area you are in, you know the most important thing. If the tide has a range from low tide to high tide of 6m, then at half time (3 hours) it is half, i.e. 3m both before and after Hw and Lw. Information about the area where you are can be found as usual in the nautical chart you are using. There is a method called the rule of twelve that broadly describes the curve of the tide. More than that is not needed to sail safely in areas with tides, simply put.
Tides give rise to currents that move your boat in different directions, which you can immediately see on the plotter, and with a known position (Lat/Long) can also be entered on paper charts. You can read more about tides if you are interested. With a little experience, everything falls into place quite quickly.
A paragraph describing tides is included later in a text I have compiled and can be studied more carefully for those who want to.
This is the case with all areas you need to be able to handle on board a boat and the easiest way is to do it together with the rest of the crew. We learn from each other and become progressively better.
I will address each area separately and you can then tie everything together into a whole.
Areas that are important to practice:
Compass

Position

Distance

Nautical charts Paper/digital/scale

Tides

Signals/symbols

Passage Plan

Pilot Plan

Mob Plan

Radio communication

GPS/AIS/Plotter/Radar

Weather forecasts/Grib files

​