United States Power Squadrons®

Great Blue Hill Sail & Power Squadron

Advanced Boating Education

For our introduction to boating course, see America's Boating Course (the ABCs)

Menu

Upcoming Advanced Boating Courses

Piloting, our beginning course in coastal navigation, will run starting January 9, 2018. Information and registration is below. We are planning additional courses for the spring. Please check back.

New for 2017-2018, Great Blue Hill offers one-evening seminars to help improve specific boating skills. Fall seminars are SOLD OUT. Please check back for our spring schedule, to be posted soon.

You may also sign up for GBH Boating alerts. Let us know which courses you are interested in taking.

Core Courses

These courses follow the ABCs (America's Boating Course) in a sequence designed to build continued confidence from boat handling for both power and sail, to course plotting and coastal piloting, to off-shore navigation.

USPS members receive recognition for completion of courses in the core curriculum.

Great Blue Hill generally offers core courses as follows: Seamanship, fall; Piloting, spring; Advanced Piloting, fall; Jr. Navigation, spring. Navigation is offered every other year. To receive notices of upcoming courses, request to have your name added to the mailing list.

Seamanship

Build boating confidence and competence for safe and fun on-the-water adventures. Seamanship provides a foundation of knowledge and skills in boat handling and maneuvering, boat operation, skipper's responsibilities, and boating techniques that will advance your boating enjoyment.

For both sail and power boats, Seamanship covers a wide range of topics, including:

  • Types of boats and how they behave on the water
  • Anchoring in various conditions
  • Docking and line handling
  • Close quarter maneuvering
  • Rules of the road
  • Communication with other boats
  • How to respond to various emergencies
  • Marlinespike/basic knots
  • And other interesting topics

Piloting
Classes run Tuesdays January 9 - March 13, 2018
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

Learn the essentials of safe coastal and inland navigation using basic GPS in conjunction with charts and other marine data. The Piloting course teaches you how to use the GPS along with traditional dead reckoning techniques for planning and laying out safe routes, as well as ensuring that you are on-course while underway.

  • Charts and their interpretation
  • Landmarks and navigation aids (buoys, daymarks, lights, etc.)
  • Plotting courses and determining direction and distance
  • The mariner's compass and converting between True and Magnetic
  • Use of GPS - basic GPS displays and information they provide, setting up waypoints and routes, staying on a GPS course
  • Pre-planning 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

Piloting is scheduled for Tuesdays, January 9 through March 13, 2018, 7:00-9:00pm, at Council on Aging, 60 Nahatan St., Westwood, Mass. The instructors are Robert E. White, former publisher of Eldridge Tide & Pilot Book, and Michael Hanlon, certified USCG captain.

Registration is now open. Non-members $195, Members, $130, Auditing $88. More Info and Registration-by-Mail Details Direct link to Online Registration and Payment

Advanced Piloting

Do you want to navigate unfamiliar waters in limited visibility or take an extended cruise with confidence? Learn to use radar, chart plotters, AIS and other electronic tools to supplement basic GPS navigation. Obtain a thorough understanding of piloting techniques in a variety of coastal tide, current and wind conditions.

  • Advanced positioning techniques, such as advancing a line of position to obtain a running fix
  • Use a variety of electronic tools: radar, depth sounders, autopilots, chart plotters, laptop computer software, and more
  • Hazard avoidance techniques using electronics (e.g., avoidance waypoints or safety zones in GPS)
  • Collision avoidance using radar, GPS, and AIS
  • Working with tide and current data to determine clearances, depth of water and effects of current
  • Piloting in various wind and current conditions
  • The "Seaman's Eye" - simple skills for checking that one is on course

Junior Navigation (Celestial Part 1)

What happens when your GPS fails? Have fun and satisfy your curiosity about boating in the days before electronics in the Junior Navigation course. Learn to use a marine sextant to take sights on celestial objects such as the sun. Even if you are not traveling long distances off shore, remember that GPS is not infallible, nor always available. Be confident when no aids to navigation or land objects are in sight.

In Junior Navigation, you will continue to use GPS as the primary position sensor as you learned in Piloting and Advanced Piloting, but with celestial navigation as your backup technique. Because terrestrial landmarks are no longer visible to the offshore navigator, you will learn to use a marine sextant and the sun as your reference point, derive a line of position, and develop a running fix. You will also learn to calculate your latitude from a noon sight on the sun.

  • Determining precise time
  • Using the Nautical Almanac
  • Taking sextant sights of the sun
  • Reducing sights to establish lines of position
  • Determining latitude from a noon sight
  • Using special charts and plotting sheets for offshore navigation
  • Setting offshore navigational routines for recreational craft

Navigation (Celestial Part 2)

Learn navigation using all the celestial bodies! Use navigational software tools to plan and execute an offshore voyage. In the event of a loss of electronics on board, you'll be glad you took this course and developed the necessary backup skills for an offshore voyage. Even if you have no plans to travel offshore, you will be able to impress your boating friends with your depth of celestial knowledge.

The Navigation course will teach you how to use the moon, planets, and stars to determine your position at morning and evening twilight to supplement daytime sights on the sun, moon, and bright planets. You will also get access to and use navigational software tools that can be used to plan and execute any voyage.

  • An overview of how the celestial bodies in the sky appear to us on earth
  • Finding local mean time of solar and lunar phenomena and converting these times to watch time
  • Reducing sights of the moon, stars, and planets by the Law of Cosines and Nautical Almanac Sight Reduction methods, along with sight data averaging
  • Achieving acceptable 2- and 3-body fixes, using both traditional and electronic tools
  • Determining your latitude from a sight on Polaris, the north star
  • Provisioning an emergency navigation kit and constructing emergency plotting sheets
  • Using navigational software to plan an offshore voyage (Visual Passage Planner 2) and execute a voyage (OpenCPN)

Advanced Elective Courses

These courses are of similar length to the core courses and build knowledge and skill in specific boating areas.

Instructor Development
Now Running

Unlike other USPS courses, the Instructor Development course is not designed to enhance boating skills. Rather, its emphasis is on enhancing presentation techniques and instructor skills.

The course has been designed to demonstrate interactive teaching methods focused on adult learning. Students are required to prepare lesson plans and give three presentations to their peers utilizing a variety of teaching aids and presentation skills. The instructor may assign a topic for these presentations or you may use material and PowerPoint slides from existing USPS courses, and they may build on one another.

This course offers practical experience in:

  • Effective communication for speakers and teachers
  • Preparing for teaching assignments and meetings
  • Effective teaching techniques
  • Conducting efficient meetings
  • Selecting and using audiovisual aids

Engine Maintenance

Every skipper needs to understand the fundamentals of gas and diesel engines to perform basic maintenance and diagnose problems under way. Learn about transmissions, propellers, and steering. Get the knowledge you need to keep your boat in tiptop shape.

  • Basics of engine layout and operation for gasoline inboards, outboards and diesels
  • Basic 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

Weather

For boaters, knowing the forecast isn't enough; you need to understand its impact on you and your boat. Gain the knowledge and confidence to venture out on the water. Be a responsible skipper, protect your friends and family and take this course today.

  • How weather systems form, behave, and move
  • Where to get weather reports and forecasts on the Internet
  • Using full color photographs and drawings to understand weather in the United States
  • Using Daily Weather Maps - learning aids with a compete explanation of map symbols designed to develop weather map reading and analysis skills
  • Understanding NOAA's Sky Watcher Chart - a reference to assist in identifying cloud types

Sail

Learn about basic sailboat designs and nomenclature, rigging, and safety from experienced USPS sailors. Then tackle the physical aspects of sailing forces and techniques, sail applications, marlinespike, helmsmanship, and handling of difficult sailing conditions. This course will benefit non-sailors as well as novice and experienced sailors.

  • 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
  • Heavy weather sailing and storm conditions
  • Boat operations including docking, anchoring and safety issues

Cruising & Cruise Planning
TO BE OFFERED SPRING 2018

Want to take a "road trip" on the water? Gain the confidence 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.

  • 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
  • Emergencies

Seminars

Seminars are one-evening, concentrated courses that give quick access to needed boating skills.

Anchoring
SOLD OUT!

Don't drift! Understand the issues and problems involving anchoring, such as anchor types and sizes. Learn proper anchoring techniques for your area. By understanding anchoring conditions and situations, you'll protect your boat and get a good night's sleep on the water. The seminar materials include the Anchoring Seminar booklet and the Anchoring QuickGuide.

What's Included?

  • Anchor types
  • What size anchor
  • Anchoring
  • Tips and tricks
  • Buying an anchor
  • Where common anchors work best
  • How much line or chain to use
  • Anchor lines
  • Anchor chains
  • Holding power

Emergencies on Board
SOLD OUT!

Learn how to adequately prepare for common emergencies and deal with them when they occur. Gain practical knowledge about accident prevention, running aground, onboard fires, getting lost, towing, and medical emergencies. A must-have for skippers, this seminar provides valuable skills for anyone venturing on the water. The seminar comes with a full color Student Guide for the seminar and the Emergencies on Board QuickGuide - a handy reference to use in responding to emergency situations.

What's Included?

  • Prevent accidents
  • Make emergency calls and signals
  • Deal with running aground
  • Handle a person overboard situation
  • Deal with medical conditions
  • Put out fires onboard
  • Deal with losing power
  • Deal with steering failures
  • Deal with getting lost

Introduction to Navigation
JUST COMPLETED!

Do you want to learn practical techniques to plan, navigate, and check your progress on the water? It's not that hard, and modern marine electronics like GPS and chartplotters make it even easier. This seminar will introduce you to using nautical charts to determine safe routes, creating waypoints in your chartplotter and other GPS devices, and basic electronic navigation and planning using the free downloadable OpenCPN software. This seminar is a great foundation for advanced courses that teach piloting and celestial navigation skills.

The student kit includes the Introduction to Navigation booklet with integrated discussion to the instructor PowerPoint classroom presentation, including directions to download navigation charts and the OpenCPN software application.

What's Included?

  • Nautical charts
  • Waypoint navigation using a chartplotter
  • Navigation planning using OpenCPN software
  • Navigation while underway
  • What to do when things go wrong

Using VHF & VHF/DSC Marine Radios
JUST COMPLETED

Get familiar with your boat's VHF marine radio in just two hours. Experienced instructors teach you how to use VHF radio like a pro, including the new digital selective calling (DSC) rescue feature. You'll also get tips on purchasing and installing VHF to get the most out of your investment. A handy waterproof McGraw-Hill Captain's QuickGuide Using VHF is included with essential information that you should have aboard. This QuickGuide explains to anyone on your crew how to use the radio, a real benefit if you're unable to help in an emergency. You also receive a computer VHF radio simulator to practice your calls at home.

What's Included?

  • How VHF radios work and their controls
  • Using the correct channels
  • Using correct procedures and terminology
  • Advanced methods of communication
  • How digital selective calling (DSC) equipped radios work and their controls
  • Practice DSC calls using the included DSC simulator on CD

Online Courses

USPS offers several courses and seminars online in partnership with the BoatUS Foundation. USPS members receive discounted fees.