Navigating Your First Yacht: What to Expect on Day One of Competent Crew

If you’ve signed up for an RYA Competent Crew course and it’s your first time on a yacht, congratulations — you’re about to step into a completely new world. Day One can feel like a blur of new faces, nautical terms, and boat bits you’ve never seen before, but the aim of this post is to walk you through what that first day looks like, from the moment you step aboard to your first night in your bunk, so you can arrive confident, prepared, and ready to enjoy it.

Arrival and First Impressions

When you walk down the pontoon towards your training yacht, the first thing you’ll notice is that she’s a lot bigger (and possibly more solid) than the little boats you may have seen in pictures. If you’re training with us, that will be our Hallberg-Rassy 37 — deep blue sheer stripe, solid windscreen, and a centre cockpit that feels like a safe nest. The skipper — your instructor — will be waiting to greet you, and the first formality is swapping names, shaking hands, and helping you aboard. You’ll be shown how to step on safely (grabbing the guardrail stanchion, not the shrouds) and where to stow your kit.

Pro tip: Keep your bag soft-sided and avoid hard wheels — they don’t store well on a yacht.

Meeting the Crew

Competent Crew is a shared experience. You’ll be sailing with between three and five other students, often a mix of complete beginners and those with a bit of dinghy or holiday sailing under their belts. We usually start with a relaxed crew chat in the cockpit. Then, with a tea or coffee, we’ll introduce ourselves and share why we’re here — anything from “I’ve never been on a boat before” to “I want to crew for friends in the Med.” It’s a great ice-breaker and helps you realise you’re not alone in feeling a little nervous.

The Grand Tour — Above and Below

Before we cast off, we take a walk around the yacht. This is your first introduction to sea terms and parts of a boat — part of the Competent Crew syllabus. On deck, you’ll be shown:

• The bow (front) and stern (back)
• Shrouds (wires holding the mast up)
• Winches (drums used to haul in lines)
• Sheets (ropes controlling sails) vs halyards (ropes that hoist them)
• Cleats (where you secure lines)
• Jackstays (where you clip for moving around the deck)

Below decks, you’ll learn the layout: navigation (nav) station, saloon, galley, heads (toilet), and your berth (bed). You’ll also get a safety briefing on the companionway steps — always three points of contact, especially at sea.

Making Your Bunk

Yacht bunks aren’t like home beds — they’re narrower, often with lee cloths to stop you rolling out. You’ll be shown how to make it with a sleeping bag and pillow, and where to stash your gear so it doesn’t become a tripping hazard. The HR37’s aft cabin is genuinely comfortable, but space is still shared — so tidiness is part of seamanship.

Safety Briefing

Before we move the boat, you’ll have a full safety rundown. This includes:

• Where the lifejackets are and how to fit one
• How and where to clip onto when moving around the boat
• Location of fire extinguishers and first aid kit
• How to use the VHF radio in an emergency
• Man overboard procedure (you won’t be expected to remember it all, just the basics for now)

This briefing is serious — but it’s also reassuring. You’ll see there’s a clear plan for anything that might happen.

Lines, Winches, and First Jobs

Early on, you’ll get hands-on with basic ropework. That might mean coiling a line neatly, passing a mooring line to shore, or learning how to “socket in” a winch handle.

You’ll hear a lot of new terms — “ease the sheet,” “make fast,” “take a turn” — but you won’t be expected to master them immediately. The repetition over the week will make them second nature. On the HR37, the cockpit winches are within easy reach of the helm, which means you can try trimming sails without leaving your comfort zone.

Under Way — Your First Sail

Depending on tide and weather, we may slip lines and head straight out, or spend an hour practising in the marina. Either way, you’ll be introduced to the rhythm of working as a crew:

• One person helms
• One trims the mainsail
• One trims the headsail
• One is on lookout

Your instructor will rotate you through jobs so everyone gets a turn. This is when you start to feel the boat come alive under sail — the heel, the sound of water rushing along the hull, the tug of the sheet in your hands.

Lunch and Galley Life

At some point, you’ll head below to help with lunch. The galley is compact but functional, and you’ll quickly learn the art of making sandwiches without everything sliding off the counter. Galley duty is part of Competent Crew life — you’ll share cooking, washing up, and stowing provisions. It’s also where you pick up little tricks: bracing a hip against the counter, passing items hand-to-hand, keeping mugs in fiddled racks.

Afternoon Drills and Mooring Practice

After lunch, we might anchor for a while to practise raising and lowering, or do a few circuits of the harbour practising coming alongside. These early drills teach you line handling, fender positioning, and how to move quickly but safely when the skipper calls for a line. You’ll get used to the “fore and aft” language and the idea that the boat keeps moving even when you stop.

End of Day One

By the time we moor up for the night, you’ll have learned:

• The names of the key parts of the yacht
• How to move safely on deck
• Basic rope handling
• How to make your bunk and stow your gear
• The rhythm of working as a crew

After a hot drink in the saloon and maybe a walk ashore, most people are ready for an early night. The gentle creak of the lines and the lap of water on the hull will be your lullaby.

Final Word

Day One of Competent Crew isn’t about proving yourself — it’s about settling in, learning the language, and starting to feel at home aboard. You’ll make mistakes, you’ll get some terms muddled, and you’ll probably bang your head on the boom once. But by the end of the week, you’ll move around the yacht without thinking, coil a line neatly in your sleep, and be part of a crew that feels like family.

Have a great day, and above all enjoy it,

Isla