Other Courses
Engine Maintenance
Every skipper needs to understand the fundamentals of gas and diesel engines to perform basic maintenance and diagnose problems underway. Learn about different engines, transmissions, propellers, and steering. Get the knowledge you need to keep your boat in tiptop shape.
What’s included?
- Basics of engine configuration and operation for gasoline inboards, outboards, and diesels
- Mechanical systems such as drive systems (propellers), steering systems, and engine controls
- Repairs that do-it-yourselfers can perform
- Diagnose problems that might be beyond your ability to fix
- How to share information with your mechanic so the right repairs get performed
Engine Maintenance can be taught in ten two-hour sessions including time for review and the multiple-choice closed book exam.
Marine Electrical Systems
Don’t get short circuited; learn how boat electrical systems work, how to diagnose problems, and how to do simple repairs and upgrades.
Boat electrical systems are increasingly under load with power demands for electronic navigation, radar, powered windlasses and winches, interior and exterior lighting, personal electronic devices, and more. Most boats have both DC and AC power. Learn about voltage drops, current demands, wiring, and so on. This course covers the topics you need and want to know.
What’s included?
- Boat electrical wiring practices
- Direct current (DC) power
- Alternating current (AC) power
- Galvanic and stray current corrosion
- Lightning protection
- How to use a multi-meter
- How to solder and crimp
- How to read electrical wiring diagrams
This course is usually completed in nine two-hour sessions, followed by an exam.
Marine Communication Systems
Learn about the various kinds of digital communication systems for different applications. Learn about VHF radios, Single Side Band for longer distance communication, and satellite systems. Understand voice communications and the use of digital selective calling (DSC), and get the skills you need for a day sail or long distance offshore adventures.
What’s included?
- Radio history, frequencies, and VHF communications
- Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS)
- FCC rules and radio licenses
- Radiotelephone operating procedures
- Long-range radio communications
- Radio maintenance
- Other marine communication systems
This course is usually completed in seven two-hour sessions, followed by an exam.
Electronic Navigation
Overwhelmed by all those functions on your GPS or chart plotter? Want to use your tablet or smartphone to help you navigate on your boat? Interested in using a desktop computer program to plan your cruise and then copy that information to your GPS? This course covers the topics you need and want to know.
What’s included?
- Navigating by establishing waypoints and routes
- Running the planned courses
- Electronic charting software for the desktop computer
- Tablet and smartphone apps that provide the electronic navigation function at the helm
- Hands-on exercises on a PC that simulates chartplotter function
- Using charting software and a chart plotter emulator
- Overview of the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
Radar For Boaters
RADAR is an essential tool for navigation and collision avoidance. The course covers the different types of radar equipment, their capabilities and limitations, as well as their features and how they apply to boaters’ needs.
Students attending this course should have completed Marine Navigation and have boating experience. Radar for Boaters is a required course for BOC-Offshore Navigation certification.
Contact your local club for more details.
Weather
Don’t let bad weather ruin your day! Understand the specifics of a forecast and anticipate how the weather will impact you. Learn about meteorological systems, how weather is created, and signs of impending poor or dangerous weather.
Our newly revised weather course covers the profound changes in the ways weather forecasts are produced and disseminated including how supercomputers make forecasts more accurate and how boaters have many choices in getting them while onboard via internet, satellite communications, and smart phones.
What’s included?
- What causes weather
- Why winds blow, fog forms and precipitation falls
- How storms form, behave and move
- What clouds can tell us
- How modern weather forecasts are produced
- How to get them using computers, smart phones, radios and satellite communications
For the best in boating education, you can take this course either online at your own pace or with qualified experienced instructors in a classroom environment (virtual or physical).
Cruising and Cruise Planning
Ever dream of cruising to exotic destinations, chartering in foreign waters, or gunk holing in quiet backwaters? Learn what you need to confidently plan your boat trip and go cruising. Gain the self-reliance and practical skills needed to explore ports and coves for a weekend or weeks at a time. Take Cruising and Cruise Planning and join your fellow boaters for raft-ups and rendezvous up the river, down the bay, and along the coast.
What’s included?
- Cruise preparation and planning
- Cruising boats and equipment
- Engines and electrical systems
- Safety gear and equipment
- Crew selection, training, and comfort
- Provisioning and meal planning
- Communications
- Navigation
- Anchoring and mooring
- Weather information sources and uses
- Storm watches, warnings, and advisories
- Chartering
- Cruising outside the United States
- Emergencies
Sail
Learn about basic sailboat designs and nomenclature, rigging, and safety from experienced USPS sailors. Then tackle the physical aspects of sailing forces, techniques, sail applications, marlinespike, helmsmanship, and handling of difficult sailing conditions. This course will benefit non-sailors as well as novice and experienced sailors.
What’s included?
- Types of sailboat rigs and hull shapes, including sail configurations and standing rigging
- Wind and water forces affecting sailboat stability and balance
- Sail shape and tuning the standing rig
- Steering and helmsmanship
- Sailing upwind, downwind and spinnaker handling
Course completion is usually accomplished in nine two-hour sessions, followed by a closed book exam.
Weather
Don’t let bad weather ruin your day! Understand the specifics of a forecast and anticipate how the weather will impact you. Learn about meteorological systems, how weather is created, and signs of impending poor or dangerous weather.
Our newly revised weather course covers the profound changes in the ways weather forecasts are produced and disseminated including how supercomputers make forecasts more accurate and how boaters have many choices in getting them while onboard via internet, satellite communications, and smart phones.
What’s included?
- What causes weather
- Why winds blow, fog forms and precipitation falls
- How storms form, behave and move
- What clouds can tell us
- How modern weather forecasts are produced
- How to get them using computers, smart phones, radios and satellite communications
For the best in boating education, you can take this course either online at your own pace or with qualified experienced instructors in a classroom environment (virtual or physical).
