Kingsley and I have wanted to learn how to sail for a long time and especially wanted to receive some kind of formal sailing certification in the process.  The Royal Yacht Association is one of the most well known and respected international sailing accreditations. Of course the US has their own certification process so we will likely need to re-certify back in the States.  But while we are still in Asia with our RYA Day skipper license we are now fully qualified to charter boats. 

We spent two weeks in the Philippines going from virtual novices to receiving our Day Skipper certification. 

Some of the skills we were required to master were:

- Sail Handeling

- Ropework

- Man overboard 

- Passage Planning

- Navigation

- Helmsmanship 

I was a little nervous to see how Kingsley and I would handle sailing as a team but we ended up having very different areas of strength.  We now know in any future boating adventures Kingsley will be the anchorman, sail hoister, wind watcher, knot specialist (clove hitch, bowline, reef knot), dinghy operator and chief worrier.  I will be the passage planner, navigator, helms(wo)man, expert look-out and hopefully a calming presence on the boat. 

A perfect little team!!