America's Boating Course - 3rd Edition

America's Boating Course - 3rd Edition is our primary civic effort toward public instruction in the fundamentals of safe boating.  Both short (8-hour) and long (12-hour) formats are designed to familiarize the student with the fundamentals of safe boating and qualify for certification in most states that require boating education before operating a watercraft.

The short (8-hour) version covers the basics needed to operate a boat safely, and is a replacement for previous short USPS courses such as Boat Smart and the 8-hour version of The Squadron Boating Course.

The long (12-hour) course covers all that's included in the 8-hour course and adds basic information on both paper and digital charts and basic piloting techniques, equivalent to the full version of The Squadron Boating Course.

Topics

News

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  America’s Boating Course, 3rd Edition, Student Kit Description – Bonus Items

  The student kit contains two bonus items: a CD and a DVD. The ABC3 Companion Courseware CD augments chapters 1 thru 4 (sections 1-16) of the manual with audio and video clips. Most of the Flash and Shockwave slides are narrated. The Coastal Explorer DVD augments chapter 5 (sections 17-18) with an introduction to GPS and Waypoint navigation. Complete information on how to install and use these bonus items is available on this page under Downloadable Material. (17 Mar 13)

• BPECom Assistance Form. If you need assistance from BPECom regarding HQ-800, the ABC3 CD or DVD, or anything else, please use this form to request assistance. Filling in as many sections as possible will help to minimize the number of times we need to contact you while providing the fastest response for you. (28 Feb 13)

• New ABC3 Course Tips Section. A new page for tips to help make conduct of your ABC3 course easier and less frustrating is now available here. (04 Nov 12)

• Update to HQ-800 Tutorial Presentation. An update to the PowerPoint presentations has been done to make it easier for our members to use the tutorial files. See the Downloadable Materials section for the new zipped PowerPoint files. (20 Aug 12)

• Correction to Appendix A in ABC3 Student Manual 2012 Reprinting. Appendix A in the ABC3 Student Manual provides discussion on Canadian Rules and Regulations. Topic A-1 on page 219 discusses ENTERING CANADA. The discussion incorrectly states non-stop transits by U.S. vessels through Canadian waters need not contact Canadian officials. This change (58KB, PDF) to ABC3 Appendix A removes that discussion and inserts the requirement to report to Canadian officials when crossing the International border for any reason. (02 Jul 12)

• Squadron and District Guide for America’s Boating Course – 3rd Edition. A new ABC3 guide for use by squadrons and districts to manage ABC3 Internet students is available in the Downloadable Material section of this web page. (21 May 12)

• Spanish Translations of ABC3 Exams. The ABC3 2012 assessment examination package, ABC3 assessment exam 1A, ABC3 2012 assessment exam 1B, and ABC3 2012 part examination for Chapter 5, has been translated to Spanish and may be ordered from the On-line Materials Catalog & Shopping Cart. (21 May 12)

• ABC3 On-The-Water Guide Now Available. The ABC3 On-The-Water Teaching Aid Guide is now available for downloading and use. The Guide takes the classroom knowledge to actual on-water experience, covering the material in the ABC3 2012 reprinting, 8 and 12 hour course versions. Concomitant to building confidence in new boaters, these skills will establish a foundation for on-the-water training in advanced courses and seminars, and foster interest in the BOC program. (15 May 12)

• The USPS Public Boating Course
  
  America’s Boating Course, 3rd Edition (ABC3): USPS' ABC3 is the sole basic public safety boating course supported by USPS and approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). It has been approved by most states, and is offered in two parts. Part 1 is the 8-hour (Chapters 1-4) format and Part 2 includes Chapter 5 plus appendices. Part 1 coupled with Part 2, Chapter 5 comprises the 12-hour course. Chapters 1-4 focus on Federal laws and state licensing requirements, and Chapter 5 introduces the student to the use of charts and piloting. The classroom version of ABC3 is presented by USPS Certified Instructors only. The ABC3 student manual is "Copyright 2008 United States Power Squadrons Reprint 2012" to distinguish it from prior editions.
  
  Student and Instructor materials to support the ABC3 course (Student Manual, Instructor Manual, Instructor CD with PowerPoint files, bonus CD and DVDs for the student, assessments, answer sheets, diplomas) continue to be obtained from the On-Line Materials Catalog & Shopping Cart on the USPS Education Department Home Page.
  
  Assessment Examinations: Testing and verification are used to assess student comprehension. This includes classroom interaction, completion of the four end-of-chapter reviews, and a 50-question final multiple choice examination at class end. Education on state boating laws is specific to the state’s laws and assessed typically by a 10-question multiple choice test in addition to the 50-question NASBLA approved exam. Students who complete the Chapter 1 through 5 “12-hour” program receive the endorsement “Includes Introduction to Coastal and Inland Navigation Endorsement” (programmed in the HQ-800 12-hour class diploma printing event) on their Certificate of Completion. Minimum passing score for all ABC3 related exams is 80%. All multiple choice examinations are closed book, proctored by USPS members as arranged by the Exam Administrator, and scored by designated personnel other than the instructors. Two ABC3 final examinations are provided. Those not passing the initial assessment may, after additional study, retake the second exam. State-specific test questions are provided by the respective states and may be downloaded from the EdDept Home Page under the “State Boating Info” pull down tab. Additional evaluation direction may be included with the questions. The state specific examinations are in a protected directory to which DEOs have access.
  
  Successful completion of the NASBLA approved 2012 final examination leads to issuance of an ABC3 Certificate of Completion and accompanying wallet card.
  
  Course Completions: There is one report, submitted electronically, that records completion of each public boating class (and seminar). The report is made through either the HQ-800 System or the Boating Course Assistant version 7 (BCA 7) software. Both programs are easily accessed from the USPS Education Department web site. While each is unique with various additional aids to administration, they integrate the necessary information from the Student Registration form (ED46) and Course Answer sheet (ED-26) into a data record which is uploaded to USPS Headquarters. Both allow for pre-registration by students, a feature that aids compilation of data for reporting purposes. These programs include printing student information on the Certificate of Completion.
  
  Boating Class Summary (ED-27): This report provides the student statistics from course completion reports and is sent electronically to the respective district and squadron educational departments, and state boating law administrators. ED-27 reports are produced by the HQ-800 System from squadron information submitted to HQ from either of the two software programs. (13 Apr 12)

• Review Answer Sheet and PowerPoint Files for 2010 Reprint

  Revised PowerPoint files and answer sheet for the 2010 reprint of ABC3 are available under Downloadable Material section of this web page. (22 Mar 10)

• ABC 3rd Edition Posters

  Two sizes of posters are available at no charge to advertise your ABC 3rd Edition courses. They come in 8.5" x 11" and 11" x 14" sizes. Order them using the Free Brochures Order Form. (24 Feb 09)
  

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Downloads

• America’s Boating Course, 3rd Edition, Student Kit Description – Bonus Items. The student kit contains two bonus items: a CD and a DVD.

  • ABC3 Companion Courseware CD: augments chapters 1 thru 4 (sections 1-16) of the manual with audio and video clips. Most of the Flash and Shockwave slides are narrated. 
  • Coastal Explorer DVD: augments chapter 5 (sections 17-18) with an introduction to GPS and Waypoint navigation. Note that this DVD only runs on Windows PCs and is not natively Mac compatible.

  A brief description of these items, and the installation steps for the Courseware CD, can be downloaded here (278KB, PDF). The description also outlines who should use the bonus CD and/or DVD. The key features of the Courseware, in addition to slides for sections 1-16, include:

  • answers to all homework questions;
  • a practice test;
  • a nautical dictionary (glossary);
  • numerous Personal Water Craft (PWC) video clips;
  • and downloadable, printable forms.

  In addition to the brief installation steps, a detailed step-by-step User’s Guide (5463KB, PDF) for the Courseware may also be downloaded.

  The Coastal Explorer DVD is a professionally developed software package that permits establishing nautical routes and waypoints. Once installed, the user may practice with digital nautical charts and common GPS features.

  If you have questions on the installation, setup or revision of any of the default settings of these bonus items, please fill in this online query form. Your question(s) will be directed to the Basic Public Education Committee (BPECom) member best able to respond. (17 Mar 13)

• HQ-800 User Self-Help / Education

  Each district and squadron change-of-watch brings new leadership into our Education Department. Registering and reporting course and seminar completions is a vital element of our educational system, accomplished through either of two software programs, and the subject of much correspondence with members. Several entries on this site in recent years have provided guidance for the new leaders and sometimes the seasoned educators, on use of one program, HQ-800 software. We are starting off 2012 with distilled information with focus on individual self-teaching and group learning presentations. The significant element to these initiatives is that a fictitious squadron (NoneSuch # 5999) has been created to allow learners to enter data as though it was real for purposes of training. The self-teaching and group learning components are as follows:

  1. Using Squadron “NoneSuch” (5999) for HQ-800 Boating Course Registration, Enrollment and Report Training (72KB, PDF)
  2. Using Squadron 5999 “NoneSuch” for HQ800 Seminar Training (87KB, PDF)
  3. HQ-800 Tutorial Presentations (5781KB, Zipped PPTX)

  The first two documents, based on fictitious squadron NoneSuch #5999, are PDF files that allow members who are unfamiliar with HQ-800 software to try out the procedures to register a course or seminar in the program, administer student registration, enter student information for uploading to the National data base and note the “proof of receipt” in an ED-27 report, all without actually entering false data on the National data base. These two aids are excellent learning tools for new DEOs and SEOs.

  There are four PowerPoint files, compressed into item 3 above along with an explanatory Word file, that form a comprehensive tutorial that operates live; there are no practice scenarios. There is a main menu presentation, plus Part A which is essentially the “live” portion of the first two listed “NoneSuch” squadron presentations. Parts B and C take the viewer through printing certificates, printing wallet cards, and listing enrollees. This is an excellent teaching aid for district council meetings and conferences. NOTE: The HQ-800 PowerPoint presentation may be viewed in two modes: (1) the normal mode, which includes the slides and explanatory/speaker notes and is recommended for those accessing this help section for the first time, and (2) the slide show mode, which is recommended for those who feel fairly comfortable with the HQ-800 system. Note that all four .PPTX files MUST be in the same directory/folder for the Slide Show mode to work properly. See the Word document in the zipped file for details. Questions or comments should be directed to the Basic Public Education Committee. (Updated 20 Aug 12)

• Correction to Appendix A in ABC3 Student Manual 2012 Reprinting. Appendix A in the ABC3 Student Manual provides discussion on Canadian Rules and Regulations. Topic A-1 on page 219 discusses ENTERING CANADA. The discussion incorrectly states non-stop transits by U.S. vessels through Canadian waters need not contact Canadian officials. This change (58KB, PDF) to ABC3 Appendix A removes that discussion and inserts the requirement to report to Canadian officials when crossing the International border for any reason. (02 Jul 12)

• Squadron and District Guide for America’s Boating Course – 3rd Edition. A new ABC3 guide (705KB, PDF) for use by squadrons and districts to manage ABC3 students is available. The interfacing with, and handling of various messages for, Internet-based ABC3 students is described in the guide. (21 May 12)

• ABC3 On-The-Water Teaching Aid Guide is available for download here (46KB, PDF). (15 May 12)

• Chapter 5 Exam and Answers. A downloadable version of the Chapter 5 exam questions and answers is available on this protected web page. (22 Nov 11)

• Rose Point Navigation Systems Coastal Explorer Reference Manual. An electronic copy (1248KB, PDF) of the Coast Explorer Reference Manual is available for download. (24 Jul 10)

• America's Boating Course—3rd Edition (ABC3) Chapter Review PowerPoint Files. As part of the ABC3 reprint for 2010, several review questions were reworded and one question was moved from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2. The revised answer sheet is available below (next topic), and the PowerPoint review slides, version 1.1, are available for download here. The PowerPoint files completely replace the previously issued files version 1.0. (22 Mar 10)
  
  

  • ABC3_Chapter_1_Review_v1.1.ppt (1.98MB)
  • ABC3_Chapter_2_Review_v1.1.ppt (1.89MB)
  • ABC3_Chapter_3_Review_v1.1.ppt (3.98MB)
  • ABC3_Chapter_4_Review_v1.1.ppt (6.12MB)

  These files are for use by USPS members only, and you may be asked to provide your USPS certificate number and your PIN when accessing these files. Please note that with the protected files, the system will try to rename any file you save to your local computer.  When the window opens for the download, please rename the file you're saving to something meaningful for you.  Be sure to include the correct file name extension (e.g., .ppt for a PowerPoint file).
  

• America's Boating Course—3rd Edition (ABC3) Chapter Review Answers. A revised answer sheet for the review questions in the reprinted (2010) ABC3 manual is available. The answers have been changed on the student CD to match this sheet. The original answer sheet for the previous ABC3 manual is also available. (16 Mar 10)

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