ABOUT US

01 286 3362

David Jerrard started Sea~Craft in 1991 as an ISA and RYA recognised teaching establishment. In that first first year we ran a Day Skipper and a Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore shorebased course during the winter months and practical sea based sail and motor courses during the summer. The next year we added a VHF radio course and then a Yachtmaster Ocean shorebased course. In just a few years Sea~Craft became widely regarded as the foremost navigation course provider on the east coast. Our name quickly spread by word of mouth as the respect we were earning for the professionalism and enthusiasm with which we presented our courses became known. We have had just about every walk of boating life on our courses including leisure sailors, motor boat enthusiasts, airline pilots, RNLI crews, sea anglers, divers, superyacht captains, port and dock authorities, a Volvo Ocean Challenge skipper, oceanographic survey teams, charter boat operators and trans-Atlantic rowers amongst others. We work as hard today to be the very best as we did when we first started. Our success is based upon a genuine passion for all types of boating, sail and motor. Our ultimate aim is to pass this enthusiasm on to you so that you can experience for yourself the satisfaction of having used your skill to complete a passage and know the excitement of arriving safely
in a new harbour or anchorage. Navigation at sea has changed enormously in the last few years. 20 years ago an offshore yacht's position would probably have been found by the navigator working up an Estimated Position or by a taking a series of sextant sights, either of which would very often result in a position accuracy at best in terms of miles. But now we expect and rely on worldwide navigational accuracy in terms of a just a few metres from the GPS military satellites. So is there really still a need for leisure sailors to to do a ‘navigation course’? YES! Perhaps even more so now than in the past. The Yachtmaster courses cover much more than just navigation. A thorough knowledge of all the information presented on a chart is fundamental to the safety and enjoyment of any passage as is an understanding of the tides, weather, sea conditions, collision avoidance rules, pilotage and passage planning. And they should be fun. You could learn the hard way by your mistakes (if you survive) or from an experienced Yachtmaster instructor.

"... I have spent a professional lifetime over the last 20 years either being instructed, instructing, or supervising instructors and put up against them I would tell you that you are absolutely first rate. ..."

".... spoken of as one of the best and I have to agree."

".... very impressed with David's ability to keep it interesting..."

"Rumour has it that you run the best courses - I agree."

"...Having engaged in a huge amount of education and courses must say this was really excellent."

"Dave, I heard about you from every guy on the water...."

"... but there could have been no substitute for skipper David Jerrard ..,whose navigation (both in planning and operation) was impeccable... In a great team effort, his contribution was the outstanding key to success."

Cdr. Gerald Forsberg OBE

"...an excellent course which was cheerfully but expertly taught in fact most of the time it didn't feel like we were being taught - it was fun."