Seavoice Training – Providing RYA Training Courses to the Northwest of England for Over a Decade

If you are looking to be trained in the art of seamanship, it is essential to be taught by a knowledgeable and experienced tutor. Even more important is to have someone who has a high level of empathy and excellent communication skills. That is a description that befits Seavoice Training, a family-run company, running a range of RYA courses for over a decade exclusively using Icom marine radio equipment.

Seavoice Training has been in business since 2006. Its founder, Paul Harrison, started the company to train boat owners on using a marine radio correctly. In 2014 Paul was joined by his son Scott Harrison as an RYA short range certificate assessor. Scott is also a member of the Southport Lifeboat service as a senior crew member and is a keen kayaker and paddleboarder.

Paul has a significant background as a Coastguard officer for 15 years at the Coastguard centre at Hall Road West, Crosby, Liverpool. He noticed many radio users were very nervous about speaking to the Coastguard and knew that he could instruct them with the correct procedures and the proper radio protocol.

Paul’s background in the marine industry is very extensive. Initially, he was involved in inshore fishing with his late father who was a local Shrimp Fisherman. Paul said, ‘he always instilled in me the safety side of going out to sea and always making someone ashore know of your intentions and when you expect to return to shore. That’s why Seavoice Trainings tag line is “Your Safety at Sea Is Always our Highest Priority”.’

Seavoice Training provides training courses across the North West of England. Over the years, Seavoice Training has trained the following to use Marine VHF Radios to RYA Standards.

• Sailors
• Inshore Fishermen
• Sea Kayakers
• Paddleboarders.
• Jet skiers
• Lifeboat crews
• Canal and river trust staff
• Powerboaters
• Divers

‘We use the most up to date Icom Marine radio training sets with both fixed and handheld DSC portable sets in the classroom. The Icom Marine VHF Radios we have work well as the user interface is so easy to use and in a very short time, the student can learn to operate the radio.

Paul added, ‘You need a Marine VHF Radio that won’t let you down. The Marine environment can be a harsh place so having a Marine Radio you can depend on is always key. Icom marine radios are always the radio we recommend.’

Since the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020 Seavoice Training has had to adapt the way they train students. Most of their Training courses are via the RYA Interactive site. They can also offer the RYA Online VHF Radio course and RYA Online Navigation courses in this way.

The company decided to invest in some new tech for our centre and purchased three new HD Webcams and subscribed to Zoom enabling face-to-face virtual learning and support to our students.

The company now run many Marine VHF Radio refresher courses for anyone who needs to refresh their knowledge on the correct procedures. Paul said, ‘This has worked well. We use the Icom IC-M323, Icom IC-M506 and the Icom handheld IC-M37E and it has been great to show students the full functions of each set via Zoom online.’

Seavoice intends to teach other courses in the future via Zoom including Basic Navigation and seamanship. If you would like to know more about the course Seavoice Training delivers, please call +44 (0) 1704 539578 for further information.

17/06/2021