ASA 106 – Advanced Coastal Cruising
Learn Advanced Coastal Cruising in Six Days
You’ve captained a sailboat a few times. You c an handle yourself in coastal and inland waters. But you want more. Maybe you want to sail at night or travel the ocean so far that you can’t see any land around you. You know your stuff, but you want to take your sailing skills to the next level, so you can really push yourself to be the best sailor you can be and enjoy the full experience that coastal cruising has to offer. Take that next step with Norton Yachts’ 6-day ASA106 Advanced Coastal Cruising course!
What You’ll Learn in ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising
When you take Norton Yachts’ ASA 106 course, you’ll learn advanced skills in captaining a 30-50 foot sailing vessel over the course of 6 days. With an ASA-certified instructor and a team of fellow classmates to be your crew, you’ll have the opportunity to learn hands-on in coastal and inland waters. The course covers advanced sailing theory, seamanship, advanced navigation techniques, coastal navigation, night sailing, how to predict weather conditions, anchoring techniques, and proper boat maintenance. While much of the course teaches practical skills through hands-on learning, course materials do include the Advanced Cruising & Seamanship textbook so that you can master sailing theory. Upon completion, you’ll earn coastal navigation certification from the ASA.
Prerequisites for ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising
Before you can begin the ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising course, you must hold ASA certification in the following courses:
- ASA 101 Basic Keelboat Sailing
- ASA 103 Basic Coastal Cruising
- ASA 104 Bareboat Cruising
- ASA 105 Coastal Navigation
ASA 106 builds upon skills learned in ASA 105 to prepare students for coastal passage-making and night sailing.
ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising Knowledge
The first portion of the course is textbook-based. Before you can sail on the open waters and enjoy the refreshing breeze, you’ll need to be able to:
- Describe true and apparent wind
- Describe sailing forces using diagrams and graphically find the center of effort and center of resistance of sails and keel, respectively
- Using diagrams, describe the causes of lee and weather helm and methods of correcting them, including reasons for preference of slight weather helm, sail selection, mast position, and mast rake
- Describe sail shapes and sail interactions for different wind strengths and points of sail
Weather
Part of advanced coastal cruising is heavy-weather sailing. Learn what heavy weather precautions are needed and more, including:
- Describe how to use a barometer and a thermometer independently and concurrently to assist in predicting weather
- Describe cirrus, cirrostratus, altocumulus, stratocumulus, cumulonimbus, and cumulus clouds and the weather expected to be associated with each
- Describe local weather in relation to thermal winds and prevailing winds
- Describe three sources of weather information available in the United States
Seamanship
It’s essential for a skipper and their crew to demonstrate correct methods and procedures, including emergency procedures, to sail safely. These include:
- Describe the proper selection of sails on a given boat for any weather condition and why
- Describe appropriate heavy weather precautions and how they’re carried out, such as sail changes, special equipment, and why two people must be on deck at all times
- Describe the steps for “heaving to” and “lying a-hull” by a skipper and crew
- Describe methods for rafting at anchor and the possible risks with day and night rafting
- Describe how to prevent the dinghy/tender from riding up and bumping the vessel’s hull while anchored at night
- Describe procedures for securing a boat overnight with one anchor and stern made fast to a dock or shoreline
- Describe two methods of using a second anchor to reduce swinging
- Describe four different methods of recovering an anchor that is fouled on the bottom
- Describe when and how to use a trip line and an anchor buoy
- Describe when and how to set an anchor watch and the responsibilities of the watch crew
- List at least 8 out of 16 International Distress Signals found in Rule 37 of the USCG Navigation Rules and Regulations Handbook
- Describe how the boat should be handled and what actions should be taken when the boat is dismasted or runs aground on a lee shore
- Describe how the boat should be handled and what actions should be taken when the engine cooling water fails to flow, the engine fails in a crowded anchorage, or the engine fails in a busy channel
- State the fuel tank capacity and range of a typical 40-foot cruising sailboat and the factors that could affect its range
- State the water tank capacity of a typical 40-foot cruising sailboat and the minimum water requirement per person
- Describe the skipper’s responsibilities and actions for common courtesies and customs, such as permission to board, keep clear of boats racing, and the duty to provide assistance at sea
- List the documents required and the procedures followed for entering and exiting U.S.-territorial waters
Engineering
Boat maintenance is essential, especially out at sea with no visible land close by. Learn engine maintenance, including:
- Describe appropriate measures for common engine problems
- Describe when and how to perform an oil change
- Describe the minimum pre-season inspection and maintenance for the hull, spars and rigging, sails, and safety
- Describe recommended permanent and temporary installation methods of grounding for lightning
- List factors to be considered before allowing anyone to go swimming while the boat is at anchor
- Describe the danger of overhead power lines
- Describe the uses, capabilities, and limitations of a portable radar reflector
ASA 106 Coastal Cruising Skills
For the skills portion, you’ll perform the duties of skipper and crew on a liveaboard coastal cruise of at least 48 hours, where you’ll demonstrate correct procedures, including emergency procedures, and proper techniques. This includes:
- As a helmsman, demonstrate the proper techniques of beating, reaching, running, tacking, jibing, heading up, bearing away, and luffing in approximately 20 knots of wind.
- Work to weather to best advantage accounting for wind shifts, tides, current and local geography.
- Sail a compass course within +/- 10 degrees with sails trimmed.
- Demonstrate correct methods of towing a dinghy.
- Demonstrate a person in water (Man Overboard or MOB) recovery maneuver while sailing at night.
- Anchor, weigh anchor, pick up and cast off moorings while acting as helmsman and/or crew.
- Demonstrate how to take a sounding using two different methods.
- Stand a navigation watch during a passage of at least 20 miles by night and 20 miles by day and demonstrate all of the skills elements in ASA 105 Coastal Navigation.
Contact Norton Yachts to Sign Up Now
If coastal navigation certification is your goal, contact Norton Yachts to secure a spot in ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising. The course is offered at limited times, depending on the number of students interested, so don’t hesitate. Ask Norton’s for further details.