Juan Ochogavía:

With just over a month to go before summer officially begins, it's time for many people to consider getting a sailing license so that they can skipper a boat this summer and enjoy our beautiful turquoise waters away from the hustle and bustle of the beaches.

Every year, around 600 people obtain the Patrón de Embarcación de Embarcación de Recreo (PER) in the Balearic Islands, one of the most sought-after qualifications with which you can skipper boats up to 15 meters in length, up to 12 miles from the coast. The manager of Tempestalia, Juan Ochogavía, has visited the Passion for the Sea studios to explain the boom in this type of qualifications and all the options we have to skipper a boat this summer. 

"Many alternatives have opened up, where you can consider owning a boat or not" explains Ochogavía, who adds that "in the past, two or three people would buy a boat to enjoy it together, and this multi-ownership is now being offered by companies that are specifically dedicated to this area", the so-called sailing clubs. 

But in order to join a sailing club, the first thing to do is to have a sailing license. The first of these is the sailing license, which is known as the titulín, which can be obtained from the age of 16, with a six-hour training course and allows you to take boats of up to six meters in length and jet skis. Then there is the Patrón de Navegación Base (PNB), which allows you to sail up to five miles from the coast with boats of up to eight meters in length. "Here you have to do a theory test, navigation and radio practice, just like in the PER," explains Ochogavía. 

During these 16 hours of practice, the students learn how to get in and out of port, how to dock, how to leave the petrol station... "When our students take the boat, we line it with fenders, not only to defend our own boat, but also to defend our neighbours', as on some occasions we have leaned on a fender", confesses Ochogavía, who adds that "we like the students themselves to take the helm, because that is how they really learn".

But the truth is that, even if you are an experienced sailor, the circumstances at sea change, "the more prepared you are and the more hours you have sailed, the safer you will be when sailing", he assures. For this reason, Tempestalia has a Skipper's Club where they organize outings both during the day and at night "so that both our students and sailors can gain more experience".