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Courses
Contents |
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| Piloting: started 7 February 2013 | |
| America's Boating Course v3 (ABC-3): starts 3 April 2013. | |
| Engine Maintenance: starts 3 April 2013 | |
| Sail: starts 9 April 2013 | |
| Course Descriptions | |
Piloting
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Now in session |
Piloting Course Description
Piloting is the first course in the sequence of USPS courses on navigation, covering the basics of coastal and 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. The course includes many in-class exercises, developing the student’s skills through hands-on practice and learning. Ten classes of two hours each normally are scheduled for presentation of this course. In addition the students have seven days to complete the open book exam. 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 and converting between True
and Magnetic
•Use of GPS – typical GPS displays and information
they provide, setting up waypoints and routes, staying on a GPS
route.
•Pre-planning safe courses and entering them into the GPS
•Monitoring progress and determining position by both GPS
and traditional techniques such as bearings and dead reckoning
•The “Seaman’s Eye” – simple skills
for checking that one is on course.
Course location: Minuteman Regional High
School
758 Marrett Road
Lexington, MA 02421
For additional information contact:
Donald Stone
Phone: 978-369-6695
Email: stonedandl@msn.com
America's Boating Course v 3 (ABC-3)
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at 7:00 PM |
This course runs for 8 weekly sessions on Wednesday evenings.
America's Boating Course materials include a 244-page full color manual. The manual is your textbook and will be used in class by your instructor. The manual includes extensive diagrams, graphics and boating tips. The manual provides review questions so that you can verify that you truly understand the material, to set you up for success in getting your boater certificate. In addition to the lessons, the course includes resources which will come in handy long after you have completed the course: printable forms (checklists, accident reports, float plans, etc.) and links to reference documents such as the Navigation Rules.
The ABC-3 manual consists of five chapters packed with boating tips along with the nautical rules of the road. The first four chapters contain core boating information while the last chapter is optional and contains an introduction to GPS waypoint navigation and piloting via dead reckoning skills.
Chapter 1
Getting Started - nautical terms.
Required Safety Equipment-life jackets, fire extinguishers
Going Boating - fueling, casting off, underway.
Chapter 2
Navigation Rules.
Navigation Aids.
Lights and Sound signals.
Government Regulations.
State and Local Regulations.
Chapter 3
Finding Your Way - nautical charts, electronic navigation.
Anchoring.
Adverse Conditions and Emergencies.
Communications Afloat.
Chapter 4
Water Sports Safety - water skiing, hunting/fishing, paddling.
Trailering.
PWC Operation.
Knots and Lines.
Chapter 5 (additional)
Featuring hands-on exercises using standard plotting tools. This
chapter is presented in a classroom setting under the expert
guidance of an experienced instructor. Classroom plotting exercises
build skill and confidence for larger lakes and rivers and coastal
waters.
Introduction
to Navigation -
how GPS works, nautical charts, digital charts.
Charts - what they convey and how to interpret the many symbols.
Digital Charting - an introduction to waypoint and route planning
using the latest in computer software.
America's Boating Course is recognized by the U.S. Coast Guard and has been approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA).
Course location: Minuteman Regional High
School
758 Marrett Road
Lexington, MA 02421
For on-line registration, click here.
For additional information, contact the instructor:
Wayne Lambert
Phone: 781-729-7619
Email: wjlambert@comcast.net
Engine Maintenance
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Engine Maintenance
The complete Engine Maintenance course consists of two modular sections. EM 101, Basic Engine Maintenance, provides information about marine propulsion systems, basic engine principles, engine components, controls, instruments and alarms, marine engine maintenance, and steering systems. There is a chapter on winter storage and spring servicing that includes a 25-step winterizing checklist. An 11-page glossary concludes the student manual.
EM 102, Advanced Engine Maintenance, delves into cooling and exhaust systems, lubrication, fuel and air induction systems, ignition systems, electrical and starting systems, power trains, and troubleshooting. The last chapter is on emergency repairs afloat. An 11-page glossary concludes the student manual.
Course location: Minuteman Regional High
School
758 Marrett Road
Lexington, MA 02421
For on-line registration, click here.
For additional information contact:
Donald Stone
Phone: 978-369-6695
Email: stonedandl@msn.com
Sail
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Sail Course Description
This is a completely new sail course created to serve the needs of the novice and experienced sailor, as well as the non-sailor, for basic skills and knowledge. The course starts with basic sailboat designs and nomenclature, rigging, safety, and sail processes and then tackles the physical aspects of sailing forces and techniques, sail applications, marlinespike, helmsmanship and handling of more difficult sailing conditions, navigation rules, and an introduction to heavy weather sailing. Appendices provide an introduction to sailboat racing and sailing in Canadian waters.
This new Sail course is a single volume Student Manual developed in cooperation with the Canadian Sail & Power Squadron.
Course completion is documented by a closed book exam graded by USPS Headquarters.
Course location: Minuteman Regional High
School
758 Marrett Road
Lexington, MA 02421
For on-line registration, click here.
For additional information contact:
Donald Stone
Phone: 978-369-6695
Email: stonedandl@msn.com
America's Boating Course
America's Boating Course can be taken in any of three ways: on the Internet, by studying a 244-page course manual under an instructor in a class setting, or with a CD. No matter how you like to learn, when you sign up you'll receive a complete package that includes the course manual, the boating course CD, and a PIN number giving you access to the Internet course.
The course manual, CD and online course contain identical material, except for your state-specific boating law, which can only be accessed online. This boat safety course is fun and very thorough.
Click here for the Course
Outline and Chapter contents.
Seamanship (S)
Building
on the basics taught in the public boating course, Seamanship
is the recommended first course for both power boaters and sailors.
Students learn practical marlinespike, navigation rules, hull
design and performance, responsibilities of the skipper, boat
care, operating a boat under normal and abnormal conditions,
what to do in various emergencies and weather conditions, nautical
customs and common courtesy on the water. This course provides
a needed introduction to the USPS Educational Program and a strong
foundation for students going on to other Advanced Grades courses
and/or Cruise Planning or Sail.
Piloting (P)
Piloting
is the first of the advanced navigational classes focusing on
techniques for piloting a boat in coastal and inland conditions.
The course emphasizes planning and checking along with the use
of GPS for determining position, and introduces digital charting
along with traditional charting, compass and dead reckoning skills.
Plotting, labeling, use of the compass, aids to navigation and
a host of related topics are included in this all-new approach
to coastal and inland piloting.
Advanced Piloting (AP)
Advanced
Piloting is the final part of the inland and coastal navigation
series. This material continues to build on the base developed
in Piloting, and includes practical use of additional electronic
navigation systems and other advanced techniques for finding
position. Among topics covered are: finding position using bearings
and angles, collision avoidance using GPS and RADAR, what to
do when the electronics fail, tides, currents and wind and their
effect on piloting, and electronic navigation with GPS, chart
plotters, RADAR, autopilots, etc. Application of course lectures
takes place through practical in-class and at-home exercises.
Junior Navigation (JN)
Junior
Navigation is the first of a two-part program of study in offshore
(open coast) navigation. It is designed as a practical, how-to
course using GPS for offshore navigation with sun sight taking
using a sextant as a backup technique. The more advanced techniques
for other celestial bodies and sights are for study in the subsequent
Navigation Course. JN subject matter includes: basic concepts
of celestial navigation; how to use the mariner’s sextant
to take sights of the sun; the importance and techniques of accurate
time determination; use of the Nautical Almanac; how to reduce
sights to establish lines of position (LOPs); and the use of
GPS, special charts, plotting sheets and other navigational data
for offshore positioning and passage planning.
Navigation (N)
This
is the second part of the study of offshore navigation. It further
develops the student’s skills and understanding of celestial
theory. The student is introduced to additional sight reduction
techniques for bodies other than the sun. The student develops
greater skill and precision in sight taking, positioning and
the orderly methods of carrying on the day’s work of a navigator
at sea. Of particular interest and importance is the navigation
software that is explained and used in practices for planning
and navigating in the offshore environment with the included
software. Offshore navigation using minimal data and/or equipment,
such as when on a disabled vessel or lifeboat is also studied.
Sail
Sail
2009 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.
Engine Maintenance
The complete Engine Maintenance course consists of two modular sections. EM 101, Basic Engine Maintenance, provides information about marine propulsion systems, basic engine principles, engine components, controls, instruments and alarms, marine engine maintenance, and steering systems. There is a chapter on winter storage and spring servicing that includes a 25-step winterizing checklist. An 11-page glossary concludes the student manual.
EM
102, Advanced Engine Maintenance, delves into cooling and exhaust
systems, lubrication, fuel and air induction systems, ignition
systems, electrical and starting systems, power trains, and troubleshooting.
The last chapter is on emergency repairs afloat. An 11-page glossary
concludes the student manual.
Marine Electronics
The new series of Marine Electronics courses is being structured into three new manuals: Marine Electrical Systems, Marine Communication Systems, and Marine Navigation Systems.
Marine Electrical Systems (MES) 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 after passing this course.
Marine Communication Systems (MCS) is an in-depth, nine chapter review of communications systems available to the recreational boater. Radio history and spectrum definitions are presented along with definitions of radio circuits that the student should learn, to choose the best communications method for his/her situation. One chapter is devoted to the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and another to FCC Rules and regulations. The remaining chapters cover High Seas radio (MF/HF and satellite communications) and other systems such as Family Radio Service transceivers. There is also a chapter on troubleshooting of radio installations.
Marine
Navigation Systems (MNS) covers all aspects of electronic navigation
using GMDSS as the foundation for modern marine communications.
GPS is taught as the primary method of position fixing, and LORAN
will be covered only as a historic sidebar topic. This will be
a systems course—not “how to” navigate—that
focuses on the use of electronic devices to augment the practice
of safe navigation on the water. Topics include GPS, the Automatic
Identification System (AIS), RADAR, depth sounder and related
instruments, electronic charting systems, and a working understanding
of the electronic bus structures needed to tie these devices
together.
Weather
The safety and comfort of those who venture out-on-the water have always been weather dependent. In this course students will become keener observers of the weather, but weather observations only have meaning in the context of the basic principles of meteorology — the science of the atmosphere. The course focuses on how weather systems form, behave, move, and interact with one another and reflects the availability of all sorts of weather reports and forecasts on the Internet. It is a general weather course benefiting those sitting in their living rooms, as much as those standing behind the helm.
Each
student receives: a Weather Manual - USPS Weather - an explanatory
text with full color photographs and drawings covering weather
in the United States and its coastal and inland waters; a set
of three Daily Weather Maps - learning aids with a complete explanation
of map symbols designed to develop weather map reading and analysis
skills; and NOAA’s Sky Watcher Chart - a reference to assist
in identifying cloud types – helpful indicators of approaching
weather.
Cruise Planning
Designed
for mariners 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. The manual
includes a twelve-month cruise planning timeline.
Instructor Development
This
course deals with effective communication for speakers and teachers—a
quality that benefits the individual in all walks of life. It
offers practical instruction in: preparing for teaching assignments,
preparing for meeting presentations, effective teaching techniques,
conducting efficient meetings, and selecting and using audiovisual
aids.
