News and Announcements

 

Sail 2009 Now Available

Sail 2009 is now being shipped from USPS Headquarters. The Squadron Materials Catalog has been updated with the new item numbers. (31 May 09)

America's Boating Course, 3rd Edition, Computer Settings

Recent security enhancements by Adobe and Microsoft require that the default computer settings be changed to permit the ABC3 Courseware CD to run. If you experience difficulties, you should download this file (PDF, 85KB) and follow it carefully. IBM PC computers must use Windows Internet Explorer and change the default values as outlined in the download. Macintosh computer users must run in "IBM PC Compatibility" mode and also use Internet Explorer with its default values changed. (26 Apr 09)

Navigation 2009 Released

The new Navigation 2009 Student and Instructor Manuals are now available from HQ. See the complete announcement and ordering information on the Navigation web page. (02 Mar 09)

Presentations to Promote Seminars

Two PowerPoint presentations are available to help promote USPS seminars. The Train-the-Trainer presentation (488KB) was provided at the 4-district conference in Hampton, NH.  It goes through the process and provides tips for planning and delivering seminars.  It also links to the second "Have Fun" presentation (6823KB) which can be used before each seminar to showcase USPS. (03 Jan 09)

America’s Boating Course 3rd Edition

America’s Boating Course 3rd edition has arrived at Headquarters. The catalog number for the student kit is 03-73-110. The Student Manual includes the Student computer aided instruction CD and the Maptech CD.

ABC 3 has 2 new exams, ABC 3 Exam 1 (02-73-118) and Exam 2 (02-73-119). Exam 1 is the primary exam and exam 2 is to be given to a student who fails the first exam. The answer keys remain the same. Please remember to order the exams and the answer sheets with your course material.

All the brochures that you normally hand out in class are now on a “Free Brochure Order Form” located on the Educational Department home page under “Order Course Materials”.

The Instructor Kit (03-73-111) includes a completely new set of PowerPoint presentations. The Instructor Kit includes all the student material, Instructor Manual and PowerPoint CD. There are no free instructor manuals for this course.

The Squadron Materials catalog has been updated with all the new item numbers for certificates, wallet cards, CDs etc.

Questions should be directed to the Chairman of the Basic Public Education Committee, R/C Gene Molteni, SN. (Updated 03 Jan 09)

Detroit Governing Board Presentations

Three presentations given at the Detroit Governing Board meeting in September are now available. The first is a slightly modified version of the EdDept Overview briefing given at the Open EdDept meeting (PPT, 6790KB), the second is the On The Water (OTW) presentation given by D/6 (PPT, 368KB), and the last is the insurance update presentation (PPT, 120KB). This version of the EdDept Overview briefing is the preferred presentation that DEOs might give to a Fall Conference audience beyond the SEOs. (07 Oct 08)

Upgraded McGraw-Hill
International Marine Book Store

McGraw-Hill has totally revamped its USPS bookstore.  There are some 250 titles now available for on-line ordering at a 30% discount.  This represents almost the entire marine library of McGraw-Hill.  There are many books that complement our courses and seminars and provide hours of interesting reading as well as superb references.  Just follow the link to the store. (17 Jun 08)

Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) Registrations

United States Power Squadrons is now offering MMSI registrations to most recreational boaters. Get more detailed information from the Marine Electronics web page or the USPS MMSI web page. (17 Jun 08)

Educational Department Presentations from the Annual Meeting, February 2008

Presentations on EPIRBs (PPT, 6643KB) and the status of the USCG Rescue 21 (PPT, 4626KB) were provided by the Coast Guard to the DEOs and the Open EdDept meeting in Dallas. (10 Mar 08)

A PowerPoint presentation (5592KB), tailored for the Spring District Conferences, has been prepared based on what was presented at the Dallas Annual Meeting.  It includes narrative notes to go with the slides. (28 Feb 08)

Seminar Workbook (updated 23 Aug 07)

The tool for squadrons to manage student records for Seminars and transmit student information to headquarters for USPS University credit has been updated. Coupled with on-line registration, this Excel spreadsheet application substantially reduces manual data entry. It now is compatible with Office 2007 and the Vista OS. Please download a new copy and begin using it immediately.
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Boating Class Workbook (updated 02 Aug 07)

The alternate tool for boating class administrators to manage their boating classes has recently been updated to insure more accurate reporting. It now contains a link for ED27 reporting and is compatible with Office 2007 and the Vista OS. Please download a new copy and begin using it.
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Exam Ordering Problems

Since the new courses have become available and students are getting ready to take the exams, we have noticed that some squadrons are getting the wrong exams.
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Running the Old Maptech Digital Chart Training CD under Vista

Please note that the following instructions apply to a previous version (5.07d) of the Maptech CD. The latest version (5.08 for Windows XP/Vista) works fine under Vista without any special procedures. (Updated 09 Mar 08)

Maptech's Offshore Navigator (and related products, such as Offshore Navigator Lite and Chart Navigator Viewer) was created long before Microsoft Windows Vista was released. As you may be aware, Microsoft Vista is designed to restrict access to certain core components of the operating system, in order to make the system more robust and secure. Unfortunately, by doing this, older applications must be run "As Administrator" and in "Windows XP Compatibility Mode" in order to function correctly.  Click on this Maptech link to get instructions for how to do this.  Just a reminder, once you have this Chart Navigator software on this CD loaded and operating, you can download and use any charts you would like from Maptech following the “Download - Free NOAA Charts” link on this page.

Boating Course Assistant

Major changes have been made to this program so it is very important for all BCA users to switch to this revision. Older versions do not support the new ED27 data reporting standards, so the data will not get to where it is required and worse, the course graduates may not get credit for taking the course. The new version also manages Seminars and supports importing student data from the email generated by the online pre-registration form.
For more information and to download the new version, please visit: BCA Download.

Boat U.S. Hurricane Resource Center

Be prepared for hurricane season with tips from the Boat U.S. Hurricane Resource Center.
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Boater's World Fishing Seminars

USPS has a working partnership with Boater’s World. Conducted in their stores, we have a 10-miute slot in their seminars to discuss “Tips for Anglers” and to present/demo safety equipment.
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