Advanced Boating Courses

The Newport Sail and Power Squadron fulfills the second principle, Self Education, by teaching a variety of advanced grade and elective courses to its members. These courses are now open to USPS non-members, also.

Seamanship is the recommended first course for members. It expands on topics from the boating course and adds hull design and performance, responsibilities of the skipper, boating under normal, abnormal and emergency conditions, nautical customs and courtesy.

Piloting introduces the fundamentals of navigation and positioning in coastal and inland waters -- the use of marine charts, both printed and digital, navigating with a compass and GPS, checking the GPS, navigating by dead reckoning and fixing position using bearings as a backup to electronic navigation..

Advanced Piloting builds on the knowledge gained in Piloting to navigate on more extended coastal and inland cruises – use of electronic navigation tools including chartplotters, digital chart navigation, radar, depth sounders, and autopilots for safe and effective navigation; avoidance techniques as a supplement or alternative to point-to-point navigation, prediction of tides and currents, and navigation in the presence of tides, currents and winds.

Celestial Navigation (in two parts) prepares the navigator for off shore voyages. Use and care of the sextant for sight taking, sight reduction methods using the nautical almanac and using this data to determine your position out of sight of land are taught in these courses.
Click here for More Detailed Descriptions of these Advanced Grade Courses.

Elective Courses in Cruise Planning, Weather, Marine Electronics, Engine Maintenance, Sailing and Instructor Qualification are also available. Elective Course Descriptions

Supplemental Programs: In addition, USPS has 20 short subjects ranging from Boat Insurance and GPS to Water Sports, which are suitable to be self taught. Click Supplimental Programs for a list and descriptions of these subjects.

If any of these subjects are of interest to you, check our Coming Events page and our Bulletin Board page or e-mail our Squadron Commander, Bill Loeseke, Squadron Educational Officer, Thurston Gray.
Also check the District 14 website to see when other Member Courses are scheduled at nearby locations in southeastern New England.

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