VHF Exam day! (we passed it!)

Today is exam day. 

We crammed the night before, but since this isn't a tough exam, I'm not as stressed as I was for the maritime code one. 

The only challenge is that we're taking the exam in Toulouse, which is nearly a two-hour drive from our location.

This meant an early start, a beautiful morning with the moon still out, and a snowy drive to Toulouse.

We arrived at the ANFR 30 minutes early, greeted by the sight of heavy-duty telecom equipment. 

The 10 AM session was packed, with dozens of people.
We arrived just as they were leaving, all with smiles on their faces. I assume everyone passed their exam.

Since we were early, I thought I might do some last-minute cramming before our session.

However, unlike the maritime code exam where everything starts strictly on time, there was flexibility here.

We were the only two candidates for this session, so the instructor suggested we start right away.

He then demonstrated how to use the answer remote, which seemed straightforward — use the green button to validate an answer, and the red button to correct it.

But just three questions in, I had to pause the session because of a mistake.

I answered question 4 when the screen was still showing question 3.

The instructor noticed my panic, as I clearly wanted to correct my answer for question 3 but had randomly answered question 4 instead.

He reassured me that up to that point, all my answers had been correct, which eased my tension.

It turned out I had actually answered question 3 correctly (and fortunately hadn't changed it), but my answer for question 4 was incorrect due to my random selection.

In the end, the instructor subtly hinted that we had both passed, although he's not supposed to provide that information before results are officially out. We should receive our official results in 10 days.

I'm all good to go now!

How Much did it cost?

You have to pay 78 Euros per pax for this exam. 

We didn't take any extra classes to take this exam.
We just used the online resources from the Paris-Nautique website (Prepacode) but you would need access code for this, whereas the  Loisirs-Nautics.fr website is for free. 

Next Step?

It's only missing one last exam for Nico, which is the Offshore boat license. 
This one is a difficult one, you need a special ruler, a map to do real life situation calculations the day of the exam. 
Not easy. 

If we were only sailing in France, we wouldn't need any of those licenses. As sailboats are license-free.

But it's better for our safety, for the insurance, and we go abroad, to have all those licenses. 


Any Tips for the offshore license exam registration?

We were eager to register for the Offshore exam as soon as possible. However, we discovered that you must have your physical boat license to sign up for this exam. They do not accept the 'certificate' which states that we passed the Coastal Boat license. Since we only got our licenses on January 11, the earliest available exam slot was at a center in Toulouse on February 5.