Sailing Courses and cruises start at 2000 on the first day of the course.

We start with a welcome meeting in our office at Conwy Marina followed by a “below decks” safety briefing on the yachts. We do not provide a meal on the joining evening. Subsequent evenings will be spent in harbours, marinas or anchorages. We aim to return to Conwy and finish by 1700 on the last day of your course/cruise.

Level 1, Level 2 and Intermediate powerboat courses usually run between 9am and 5pm each day. Advanced powerboat courses times may vary depending upon the tides.

Shorebased classroom course start times vary but generally, 5 day courses start at 1000 on the first day and 0900 on subsequent days.
One day courses usually start at 0915.

If you are leaving a car during your course, you should park in the ‘bertholder’ section on the car park at Conwy Marina. The entrance is second on the left at you arrive at the marina.

Conwy School of Yachting carries the mandatory insurance cover relating to third parties and public liability.

Late cancellation of a booked course will incur loss of all or part of your payment. We strongly recommend that you arrange cover against cancellation, accident, injury or loss of personal possessions. Check your personal or home insurance as you may find that you are already covered.

As long as it is safe to sail we will carry on. Conwy Quays Marina provides an excellent base for heavy weather training as we have the estuary to play in and can duck back into the marina if conditions worsen.
If Conwy School of Yachting decides that the forecast will prevent the course from running, especially for weekend courses, we will telephone you to cancel and offer you an alternative date.

Accommodation is provided onboard the yachts. Our sail training vessels are equipped to provide the best training opportunities and keep you comfortable and warm on board. They have a heater, fridge and hot water. You will need to bring a sleeping bag and pillow with you as bedding is not provided. We have some sleeping bags and liners for hire - please order these in advance.

Bring warm clothes such as fleece tops, jerseys, tracksuit bottoms or corduroys. Jeans are fine for wearing in the evening, but not practical for sailing as they attract damp and provide no warmth. It is wise to bring a hat, scarf and gloves and if you are coming in the warmer months please remember sun glasses and sun screen as it is easy to burn without noticing out on the water. We will provide waterproofs and seaboots but do bring along light soled trainers or deckshoes. Other items to bring are towel, toiletries, notepad and any regular medication you take. As storage space is limited onboard please use a soft holdall or unframed rucksack as suitcases are extremely difficult to handle and store.

Our yachts have separate heads (toilet) compartments with hot and cold running water where you can wash in privacy. Conwy Marina and most of our local ports of call have shower facilities ashore which are usually free of charge.

We aim to provide good quality food and ingredients that are easy to prepare. Most practical courses require students to take turns with food preparation. We will do our best to cater for special diets as long as we receive advance notice of your requirements. Food is provided from breakfast on day one to lunch on the final day and there will be plenty of biscuits, crisps for snacking.

You can have a cooked breakfast most days with cereals, toast and fruit juice.
We generally have a sandwich lunch with fruit and cake as this is easy to prepare on the move.
Evening meals are prepared with fresh meat from our local butcher wherever possible, below is an example of the types of meals on offer:

• Beef in red wine sauce served with new potatoes and broccoli
• Pork chops, potatoes and mange tout served with apple sauce and gravy
• Locally made steak pie with potatoes and carrots
• Chicken fillets in prepared sauces
• Bolognese pasta served with garlic bread
• Lamb & mint sausages served with mashed potato and onion gravy
• Soups and desserts
• Vegetarian meals on request

Customers on day sails will be provided with hot and cold drinks, snacks and a light lunch unless a special arrangement has been made.

Our booking forms ask you to declare any food allergies or preferences - please make sure we have this information

We recommend that you bring your own tablets in case you get a bit queasy whilst sailing. The most popular tablets amongst our crews are Dramamine and Stugeron – please check with your doctor if you are at all concerned about taking these.
Another popular prevention is to wear travel bands – which work on acupressure points and have proved very effective in the prevention of motion sickness.

Students may like to bring along wine or beer to accompany the evening meal and this is fine. However, you must not drink alcohol whilst sailing as this may endanger you and the other crew members. We support the RYA ‘Don’t drink and drown’ campaign.
Most evenings we will be moored alongside at a harbour or marina and the opportunity is there to stretch your legs and visit the local pub.

At the end of the course, the final couple of hours will be spent clearing and cleaning the boat. Personal luggage is removed and unused food returned to CSY together with any rubbish, used towels, oilskins and seaboots. The boat is thoroughly cleaned inside and out, with each crew member being allocated a task. Water tanks are filled, decks and cockpit washed, sails are folded and stowed, and the vessel is ready for the next crew to join the boat.

If you are attending a course for the first time, you will be given a personal RYA Log Book. Make sure you bring it with you whenever you attend subsequent training courses so that the instructor can fill in the appropriate sections and issue a certificate on a course completion.