I recently did the rya pb 1 & 2 then the advanced, in the past Ive also done the raggy day skip and Yachtmaster offshore.

my experience tells me that the PB1&2 give you a good appreciation of powerboat handling with a basic level of chartwork and passage planning. I did the day skip course 20 odd years ago and it seems to me that the course content was more involved and went into things more deeply htan when I did my YM a few years ago, obviously sat nav was non existent then. In 1980 the day skip course I did even had an intro into celestial nav, that doesnt even get a mention on the YM these days.

My advice would be to book a residential RYA pb1&2 course, its busy but its fun and I learned a lot even after 30yrs of messing about in boats. Dont forget to do your VHF cert as well, all money well spent. then join the RYA and get the ICC cert that will allow you to hire boats abroad.

A good point hs been made regarding insurance, you are a better (cheaper) risk if you have shown a desire to educate yourself.

good luck and enjoy your boating