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.

Piloting is the first of a two-part program of study of inland and coastal navigation. Focus is on the fundamentals of basic piloting - keeping track of your movements on the water, determining where you are at any given moment, and laying out a course to your planned destination. Included are a thorough study of charts and their use, aids to navigation, mariner's compass, variation and deviation of the compass, plotting and steering courses, bearings, dead reckoning, and developing skill at plotting and labeling.

Advanced Piloting is the final part of the inland and coastal navigation series.  The emphasis is on the use of modern electronic navigation systems and other advanced techniques for finding position.  Some of the topics covered are tides and currents and their effect on piloting, finding position using bearings and angles, simple use of the mariner's sextant, and electronic navigation (radar, loran, GPS, etc.)

Olson's Residence, Monroe

Fee $33.00

Junior Navigation is the first of a two-part program of study in offshore (open ocean) navigation. It is designed as a practical "how to" course leaving the theoretical and more advanced techniques for the Navigation course. The subject matter includes the following:

• The basic concepts of celestial navigation

• How to use the mariner's sextant to take sights of the sun, moon, planets, and stars

• The importance of the techniques of accurate time determination

• Use of the nautical almanac

• How to "reduce" sights to establish lines of position (LOPs)

• Use of special charts, plotting sheets, and other navigational data for offshore positioning and passage planning. / S, P, AP

This is the second part of the study of offshore navigation. It further develops understanding of celestial navigation theory and essential shortcut emergency methods. Navigation introduces additional sight reduction techniques and develops greater skill and precision in sight taking, positioning, and orderly methods of carrying on the day's work of navigation at sea. Of particular interest and importance is the study of offshore navigation using minimal data and or equipment, such as when on a disabled vessel or lifeboat.