We are looking at the opportunities that can arise from the unpredictable nature of boating. It's all the mindset, a huge part of the attraction of boating should ideally be the opportunity to never stop learning and to keep your mind and skills sharp in an unpredictable environment that rewards you for being well set up and prepared. Whether your boating is short day trips or ocean voyaging, the mindset of spinning problems into opportunities should help keep you safe and having more fun whenever you're out there.

In this episode, Neil takes you through the essential items he will always pack into a boating kit bag. Depending on the season, activity and location you are boating in, you will want to adjust what you carry, but this list will help to get you thinking about what you already take and see if there are any tweaks to your list that you can make.  Learn more about this topic with our Safety & Sea Survival eLearning Course aabboating.com/sssc

When you plan a passage, it's crucial to ensure you set up your plan to be dynamic so you can easily adjust for updated departure and arrival times. This episode takes you through how to manage avoidable slippage with your departure timing and the considerations for your ETA changing while you are on a passage. Online Skipper Course - Strategies for successful passage planning and implementation RYA Essential Navigation and Seamanship - Navigation and meteorology for local adventurers RYA Day Skipper Shorebased - Navigation and meteorology for coastal explorers RYA Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster Theory - Navigation and meteorology for blue water skippers

When you are out at sea, many scenarios can arise where you may need to know and transmit your position. You may also need to be able to receive, record and navigate a position to assist. This podcast examines your options for getting a quick and accurate position. We also provide some ideas to help upskill people who are boating with you to assist with this to keep you free to manage the boat and any other situations that need your attention at that time. what3words > Learn more about our course here.

Without leaving your comfort zone, you can't develop your skills. This podcast has five ideas that you can implement to help to leave your boating comfort zone and keep developing your skippering skills. You can use the links below to learn about our courses, logbook and ABB TV. > Courses > Logbook > ABB TV  

This episode of Boating Insights will help you to prepare for the voyage of a lifetime. John Hembrow joins Neil to share some of his extensive knowledge. John has been full-time cruising since 2009, created the Down Under Rally in 2014, and has led a range of yacht rallies in the SW Pacific and Australia since then.  Learn more about the Down Under Rallies and membership Learn more about the Blue Water Skipper Course Package

Changing some of the habits you have onboard can significantly impact the skill development of all involved. This episode takes you through some of the options you have for implementing changes through a typical day on the water that can help you explore more destinations, average more days on the water and avoid the issues that can come with skill fade and perishable knowledge. The training courses we mentioned in the episode are all on this link aabboating.com/learn

For all coastal boating adventures, you will likely need an understanding of the tide. This Boating Insights video podcast episode takes you through some essential considerations to help make tide your friend. The episode begins by looking at the potential impact of the tide on a passage plan. The tidal situation can impact the flow and depths, or both. There are other localised impacts, such as on/offshore winds, heavy rain and flooding. You must know how to check and interpret how the range of the tide/tides compares with the mean spring range in your location. It is also essential to confirm the quality of information on apps and whether it relates to verified information from official sources. Finally, in case of grounding, always know if the tide is flooding or ebbing. We teach tides from an introductory to an advanced level with our internationally recognised RYA training courses. Each course builds on the knowledge gained in the previous course. 1) RYA Essential Navigation & Seamanship Course: aabboating.com/navigation 2) RYA Day Skipper Shorebased Course: aabboating.com/day-skipper 3) RYA Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster Course: aabboating.com/yachtmaster

When boarding a boat from the land, a dinghy or the water, there are many details you can adjust to make it easier and safer for all involved. As part of this episode, we look at some ideas if you accidentally find yourself in the water whilst boarding to help make sure you can get back on board or onto the dock again.

In this episode, we catch up with David Hows, the founder of Ocean Sailing Expeditions and the Ocean Sailing Podcast. David's a self-confessed sailing addict who loves introducing new people to his love of all things - sailing. David shares fantastic information about the options for gaining offshore sailing experience, training crews for emergency procedures at sea, buying boats overseas and some of his favourite destinations, which you can only reach by boat. The Sea, Safety and Survival Course David recommends for all participants joining them for offshore passages is on this link. Learn more about Ocean Sailing Expeditions and the Ocean Sailing Podcast - Click Here

This episode looks at some of the key need-to-know features of your marine electrical system. We go through the options of how you generate and store power on board, understanding the amount of power being used at all times, and how to avoid accidentally wasting power or avoiding being caught out by the batteries being run flat and not available when you need them.

For many boats, toys are a key part of the activity. This episode takes you through some of Neil's favourite boating toys, for swimming, fishing, towing, snorkelling, and paddle boarding, with tips on how to avoid your boat becoming overrun with toys and keeping everyone safe whilst you're using them.

Finding ways to make your boat safer and easier to use should always have a positive impact on how often and safely you can use your boat. This episode takes you through some of the options you could use to help keep the boat running smoothly and simplify your job of skippering and maintaining a boat. 

The covers on a boat are usually there to protect the boat, crew or both. Having covers set up correctly and making them simple to use will save money on maintenance and simplify the setup and pack up time whilst providing excellent protection. This episode takes you through the steps you can take to look after existing covers, adapt them to make them easier to use, and consider critical areas when purchasing new or replacement covers for your boat.

Emergency Position Indication Radio Beacons which are usually referred to as EPIRBs play a huge role in the safety of a modern vessel. This episode looks at if you need to carry one, the differences between GPS and non GPS enabled models, considerations for your registration and why it's important, what the differences and similarities between a Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) and an EPIRB are, stowage and the adaptations for your boat set up if you are single or short-handed.

Boating Holidays can be some of the most fantastic opportunities to enjoy being out on the water. This episode looks at the destinations, the different options available including bareboat charters, skippered charters, flotilla holidays, live-aboard boating courses and the options available for having a sail guide or skipper join you onboard. The course we mention in this episode is the Online Skipper Course: aabboating.com/online

How can you factor in taking a break for your passage as a local adventurer, coastal explorer or blue water skipper? This episode looks at some of the ideas you can build into your passages now so that if you need to help manage fatigue, seasickness or a maintenance issue at sea you have some transferable skills to draw on.

When you are looking at qualifications and training for young people in the marine environment, the list can quickly become quite extensive and confusing. In this episode, we help you understand how to evaluate what courses may be applicable and useful for a teenager and young adult, that will be enjoyable to study, useful, achievable, internationally recognised and explain which qualifications will not expire.

When you head out on a coastal passage there will need to be a junction point built into your passage plan, where the boat and crew adjust into the pilotage mode to prepare to enter the harbour, river or anchorage you are heading to. This episode looks at some of the factors to consider for selecting a junction point, what the actions you would need to take in the lead up to arriving there, as you arrive and what your plan is if things don't unfold as you are expecting as you arrive at the junction. This episode is ideal for local adventurers, coastal explorers and blue water skippers. We have packages for training all of these levels, click here to learn more.

Getting a good sleep at sea can make a huge difference to how enjoyable and safe a multi-day passage will be. In this episode, we look at the bigger picture for your sea berths including setting them up. This includes the standing orders for when to wake up the skipper and how to convert your boat from a liveaboard cruising configuration to being in an on passage configuration with sea berths set up properly.