Michelle Skelton
Instructor
Michelle started sailing full time in 2015, completing a Yachtmaster Development course to gain her YM Offshore. She has since become a YM Instructor, gained her YM Ocean and become a Shorebased Theory instructor. In her spare time she has completed passages across the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic.
It's easy to form a habit but very difficult to break one! Start out the way you mean to continue.
Michelle started sailing full time in 2015, completing a Yachtmaster Development course to gain her YM Offshore. She has since become a YM Instructor, gained her YM Ocean and become a Shorebased Theory instructor. In her spare time she has completed passages across the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic.
Qualifications:
- RYA YM Offshore
- RYA YM Ocean
- RYA Shorebased Instructor (Navigation, VHF SRC & Radar)
Additional Experience:
- The Shetlands, The Faroes and Iceland as one half of a 2 women crew.
- Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego as crew for 5 months
- ARC + 2023 (Gran Canaria to Grenada, via Cape Verde)
Instructor background:
Having spent lots of time in quite remote areas where it's so important to get things right, as an instructor I like to focus on safety. If you can get the basics right, such as line handling, from the beginning, things will be so much easier as you move on. Planning is everything! Think about what you're going to do, what might not work and have a back up plan. You'll save yourself a lot of stress by planning ahead, even for the simplest maneouvers.
Hobbies & Interests:
I enjoy travelling! I have done a fair bit in my time and enjoy getting to the more out of the way, or 'off the beaten track', types of places. I also see great value in both solo and group travel. Getting a taste of another culture, meeting locals from different parts of the world, and fellow travellers really helps to gain some perspective in life.
Previous Trips:
Patagonia & Tierra Del Fuego
Crewing from Uruguay to Tierra Del Fuego and back via the Falkland Islands. An experience of a lifetime, and valuable learning experience of sailing in remote environments.
Shetlands, The Faroes & Iceland
Sailing with a friend to Iceland via the Faroe Islands and back to Stornoway in Scotland. A memorable sail across the North Atlantic, probably one of the best multi day sails I've experienced – 4 days of broad reaching averaging 7 – 8 knots!
ARC + & The Caribbean
My first trans Atlantic crossing with ARC+, leaving Gran Canaria, stopping at Cape Verde for a week and then straight to Grenada. It was also my first experience sailing a catamaran, a Lagoon 47.
