Member Classes

Builds on inland navigation, allowing the student to take on more challenging conditions – unfamiliar waters, limited visibility, and extended cruises. GPS is again embraced as a primary navigation tool while adding radar, chart plotters, and other electronic navigation tools. Topics covered include: advanced positioning techniques, hazard avoidance techniques using electronics, collision avoidance with radar and GPS, working with tides and current, and plotting with wind and current.

Building on the basics of recreational boating presented in the public boating course, adds foundational information for continuing boater education. The course contents should facilitate knowledge development for increased safe operation of recreational boats and provide the basis for completion of USCG licensing examination. Emphasis within the course has been placed on higher level boating skills, rules of the road, and marlinspike. Course material includes One Minute Rules of the Road by Charlie Wing. Non-members cost $270.00.

 The first in the sequence of courses on navigation, covering the basics of inland navigation. This course focuses on navigation as it is done on recreational boats today and embraces GPS as a primary navigation tool while covering enough of traditional techniques so the student will be able to find his/her way even if their GPS fails. Topics covered include: charts and their interpretation, navigation aids and how they point to safe water, plotting courses and determining direction and distance, the mariner’s compass, use of GPS, pre-planning safe courses and entering them into the GPS, monitoring progress and determining position by both GPS and traditional techniques, and the Seaman’s Eye – simple skills for checking that one is on course. Course material includedWeekend Navigator by Bob Sweet and MapTech Digital Chart software.

You are now twenty plus miles off shore and familiar navigation aids are no longer available. You will learn how to use celestial objects such as the sun as a reference point. This course will cover offshore navigation electronic tools and software, special charts and plotting sheets for offshore navigation, precise time determination, use of the Nautical Almanac, taking sextant sights of the sun, reducing sights to establish lines of position, and off shore navigational routines for recreational craft. Squadron will supple sextants for students use.

This final course on navigation prepares you for the challenge of ocean travel from planning the voyage, creating waypoints and optimizing your route, creating and maintaining a Navigator’s Notebook, sights on the moon, stars and planets, and monitoring your position to insure your electronics are working properly. Course material includes the software programs Visual Passage Planner 2 (VPP2) and MapTech Cap’n including all electronic charts published by NOAA.

Designed for members who plan to cruise for just a day or for a year – in either a sail or powerboat – this course covers the following topics: cruise preparation and planning, boat and equipment, anchors and anchoring, security, chartering, cruising outside the United States, crew and provisioning, voyage management, communications, navigation, weather, and emergencies. Includes a twelve-month cruise planning timeline.

Stresses the diagnosis of modern systems, while also teaching the basics of engine layout and operation. Gasoline inboards, outboards, and diesel engines are taught in a way that reinforces the common aspects of how engines work. Modern engines offer high reliability and good performance through the use of computerized systems for fuel delivery and engine timing. Most of these systems are ‘black boxes’ that can on longer be services by weekend mechanics with ordinary tools. The course covers those repairs that do-it-yourselfers can still perform, teaches how to diagnose problems that might be beyond your ability to fix, and how to share information with your mechanic so the right repairs get preformed. The course also covers basic mechanical systems such as drive systems, steering systems, and engine controls.

Delves into radio waves and transmitters, receivers and transceivers, antennas and transmission line, FCC Rules and Regulations, FCC Frequency Plan, marine radiotelephone operating procedures, and other communication services (PIRB / DCS / GMDSS), amateur radio, and satellite communications.

Covers the practice of wiring your boat, including boat electrical wiring practices and diagrams, direct and alternating current power, galvanic and stray current corrosion, and lightning protection. Troubleshooting is emphasized throughout, so students should feel comfortable performing even tricky wiring tasks.

Presents information on depth sounders, RADAR, LORAN-C, GPS Navigation, Electronic Charting and computer-assisted navigation.

The safety and comfort of those who venture out-on-the-water have always been weather dependent. In this course students will learn what the sky has to say and how to use weather observations in the context of the basic principles of meteorology.

Don’t let the title scare you. This course is not only meant to prepare our members for classroom and meeting presentations but will also help you in your professional endeavors.

Our educational program is highly-regarded in the recreational boating community. We believe our program should offer the highest quality materials and instructors.

In cooperation with the States Boating Law Administrators, USPS has developed this course to prepare our members to be ‘certified instructors’ in safe boating education. Its emphasis is on enhancing your presentation skills and is designed to demonstrate interactive teaching methods focused on adult learning. 

Sail 2009, replacing Sail 101/102, is a complete sail course beginning with basic boat designs, rigging and sail processes for the non-sailor.  The course proceeds into the physical aspects of sailing, sail applications, marlinespike, helmsmanship, and handling of more difficult sailing conditions, navigation rules, and an introduction to heavy weather sailing.