Training Material
ABOUT BOATING SAFETY
- Introduction to Boating – Types of power boats; sailboats; outboards; paddle boats; houseboats; different uses of boats; various power boating engines; jet drives; family boating basics.
- Boating Law – Boat registration; boating regulation; hull identification number; required boat safety equipment; operating safely and reporting accidents; protecting the marine environment; Federal boat law; state boating laws; personal watercraft requirements.
- Boat Safety Equipment –Personal flotation devices ("life jackets"); fire extinguishers; sound-producing devices; visual-distress signals; dock lines and rope; first aid kit; anchors and anchor lines; other boating safety equipment.
- Safe Boating – Bow riding; alcohol and drug abuse; entering, loading, and trimming a boat; fueling portable and permanent tanks; steering with a tiller and a wheel; docking, undocking and mooring; knots; filing a float plan; checking equipment, fuel, weather and tides; using charts; choosing and using an anchor; safe PWC handling; general water safety.
- Navigation – The U.S. Aids to Navigation system; types of buoys and beacons; navigation rules (sometimes referred to as right-of-way rules); avoiding collisions; sound signals; PWC "tunnel vision."
- Boating Problems – Hypothermia; boating accidents and rescues; man overboard recovery; capsizing; running aground; river hazards; strainers: emergency radio calls; engine problems; equipment failures; carbon monoxide (CO); other boating and PWC problems.
- Trailering, Storing and Protecting Your Boat – Types of trailers; trailer brakes, lights, hitches, tires, and bearings; loading, balancing, and towing a trailer; towing (and backing) a trailer; boat launching and retrieving; boat storage and theft protection; launching, retrieving and storing a PWC.
- Hunting and Fishing, Water-skiing and River Boating – Carrying hunting gear and weapons in a boat; fishing from a boat; water-skiing safety guidelines and hand signals; water-skiing with a PWC; navigating rivers, and other boating tips.
SAILING SKILLS AND SEAMANSHIP
- About Sailboats – Language of the sea; components of a sailboat; standing and running rigging; sails; types of sailboats; boat building materials; guidance on selecting and purchasing a boat.
- How A Boat Sails – Reading the wind; points of sailing, running, close hauled, reaching, sail shape; sail adjustments; when the wind picks up.
- Basic Sailboat Maneuvering – Tacking; jibbing; sailing a course; stability and angle of heel; knowing your boat.
- Rigging And Boat Handling – Stepping the mast; making sail; hoisting the sails; leaving the dock; mooring; controlling the sails; anchoring; weighing anchor.
- Equipment For Your Boat – Requirements for your boat; your boat’s equipment; legal considerations.
- Trailering Your Sailboat – Legal considerations; practical considerations; selecting your trailer; the towing vehicle; handling your trailer; pre-departure checks; launching; retrieving; raising the mast; storing your boat and trailer; theft prevention; aquatic nuisance species; float plan.
- Your Highway Signs – Protection of ATONS; buoyage systems; waterway marks; how waterways are marked; light characteristics; chart symbols; light structures; lights on bridges; electronic aids to navigation; navigation publications.
- The Rules Of The Nautical Road - Two sets of rules; to whom do the rules apply; the general responsibility rule; general considerations; conduct in narrow channels; traffic separation schemes; vessel traffic serves; stand-on or give-way; rules for special vessels; risk of collision; bend signals; restricted visibility; vessel lights and shapes; vessels at anchor; diving operations; distress signal; drawbridge signals; penalties.
- Inland Boating – Types of inland waters; inland navigation; inland seamanship; river currents; maintaining inland waterways; dams; locks; river charts; commercial traffic; before you go (This lesson typically will not be taught in coastal courses).
- Sailing Safety – Small boat safety; man overboard; cold water immersion; sharing the water with other boats; fueling; carbon monoxide poisoning; sources of weather information.
- More On Sail Trim And Boat Handling – Tuning sailboat rigging; lee and weather helm; headsails and headsail trimming; handling in heavy weather, reefing sails, knock down, or a capsize; disabled rudder.
- Introduction To Navigation – Piloting tools; maps and charts; chart features, chart information block; other charted information; your magnetic compass; position on earth’s surface; locating a point on the chart; distance on the earth’s surface; measuring distance; course plotting; sources of compass error; correcting a compass reading; positioning; speed-time-distance; dead reckoning; practicing your art. * Engines For Sailboats – Outboard engines, two and four cycle; trouble shooting and maintenance; inboard auxiliary engines; diesel engine maintenance and trouble shooting; batteries; propellers; galvanic action; basic tool kit.
- Lines And Knots For Your Boat – Line or rope; rope materials; kinds of rope; measuring rope; selecting your ropes; care of ropes; making up line; knots, bends and hitches; splices; securing lines; dipping the eye.
- Weather And Sailing – Sources of weather information; wind and boating; wind and waves; weather and heat; fog; non-frontal weather.
- Your Boat’s Radio – Radios used on boats; functions of radios; licenses; selecting your VHF-FM radio; installation; operating your VHF-FM; maintain a radio watch; channels have special purposes; some “no no’s”; copies of rules; calling another station; procedure words; phonetic alphabet; routine radio check; distress, urgency, and safety calls; crew training.
WEEKEND NAVIGATOR
TOPICS INCLUDED IN PART I
- What is navigation – Three steps of navigation and piloting without electronics
- Fundamental of waypoint navigation – Practice using a sample cruise exercise, GPS, avoiding hazards, and using landmarks
- The tools of navigation – Use of nautical charts including scales, chart symbology, ATONs, plotting tools, GPS, compass, and other electronics
TOPICS INCLUDED IN PART II
- Planning with GPS and paper charts – Planning and paper charts, chart plotting, and entering waypoints into your GPS *
- Planning with digital charts – Using digital charts, cruise planning software, chart planning software, working with digital charts, chart plotters, and PDA’s
- Planning to avoid danger – Defining the area, marking obstacles, and marking landmarks
- Underway with GPS and paper charts – Steps in waypoint navigation, staying on course, navigating a route with GPS, navigating in a region, marking objects, and keeping track
- Underway with digital charts – Using a chart plotter underway, PDA’s and pocket PC’s, and the future of onboard computers
- Double-checking with instruments – Making quick observations and more accurate bearings
- Eye of the mariner – Use of headings, ranges, bearings, collision bearings, and rules of the road
- What to do if the GPS quits – Knowing when to stop and regroup, plan before proceeding, and navigating without GPS
- Planning as you go with GPS – Finding where you are and how to plot a safe path to a new destination
- Tides, winds, and currents – Knowledge of tides and tidal currents, adjusting for tides and tidal currents, and winds, waves, and other unpredictable events
- Navigating with radar – Range settings for recreational boaters, the radar display, collision avoidance, and navigating with radar
- Using depth in navigation – Using depth sounders versus sonars and fish finders, and navigating with depth sounders
- Using the radio in navigation – How to use a radio in an emergency, use of the weather radio, and fixed versus handheld VHF
- Using an electronic compass – Types of electronic compasses and using the electronic compass for navigation
- Using an autopilot in navigation – How to navigate with an autopilot
- Navigating harbors and channels with electronics – Importance of good visibility and operating under limited visibility
- Navigating under adverse conditions – Operating under limited visibility and influence of the wind and seas
- A last word in avoiding danger – Importance and use of electronic alarms and visual observations
- Other instrumentation in navigation – Use of weather instruments
- Connecting it all together – Basic electronic interconnection and high speed connection
BOATING SKILLS AND SEAMANSHIP
- Which Boat Is For You? – Boater's language; types of boats; outboard motors and sterndrives; hull design; uses of boats; other power plants; materials for constructing boats; your intended use; the Coast Guard Customer Infoline; marine surveyors; buying a boat.
- Equipment For Your Boat – Requirements for your boat; your boat's equipment; legal considerations; substance abuse; boating accident reports; Courtesy Marine Examinations.
- Trailering Your Boat – Legal considerations; practical considerations; the towing vehicle; balancing the load; handling your trailer; pre-departure checks; preparing to launch; launching; retrieving; storing your boat and trailer; theft prevention; Zebra mussels; float plan.
- Handling Your Boat – Leave with a full tank; fueling your boat; your boat's propellor; cars and boats; twin screws; jet drives; loading your boat; getting started; leaving a pier; "man" overboard; docking; mooring to a permanent anchor; anchoring; towing a skier; heavy weather; small boat safety.
- Your "Highway" Signs – Protection of ATONs; buoyage systems; waterway marks; how waterways are marked; light characteristics; chart symbols; light structures; lights on bridges; electronic aids to navigation; a word to the wise; navigation publications.
- The Rules You Must Follow –Two sets of rules; to whom do the rules apply; what is a vessel; the general responsibility rule; general considerations; conduct in narrow channels; traffic separation schemes; vessel traffic services; stand-on or give-way; rules for special vessels; risk of collision; bend signals; restricted visibility; vessel lights and shapes; vessels at anchor; diving operations; distress signals; drawbridge signals; penalties.
- Inland Boating – Types of inland waters; inland navigation; inland seamanship; river currents; maintaining inland waterways; dams; locks; river charts; commercial traffic; before you go. (This lesson typically will not be taught in coastal courses)
- The Rest Of Our Story – Small boat safety; personal watercraft; hypothermia; motorboats and sailboats; carbon monoxide poisoning; float plan; U.S. Coast Guard District Offices; instructions for using a course plotter; metric conversion system.
- Introduction To Navigation – Piloting tools; maps and charts; chart features; your chart's general information block; other charted information; your magnetic compass; position on the earth's surface; locating a point on a chart; distance on the earth's surface; measuring distance; course plotting; sources of compass error; correcting a compass reading; positioning; speed-time-distance; dead reckoning; practice your art.
- Powering Your Boat – Types of marine engines; marine engines; selecting a propeller; induction systems; ignition systems; flame arresters; cooling systems; gasoline considerations; batteries; maintenance; winterizing your boat; spring fitting-out; troubleshooting.
- Lines & Knots For Your Boat – Line or rope; rope materials; kinds of rope; measuring rope; selecting your ropes; care of rope; making up line; knots, bends, and hitches; splices; securing lines; dipping the eye.
- Weather & Boating – Sources of weather information; wind and boating; wind and waves; understanding weather; weather and heat; fog; non-frontal weather.
- Your Boat's Radio – Radios used on boats; functions of radios; licenses; selecting your VHF-FM radio; installation; operating your VHF-FM; maintain a radio watch; channels have special purposes; some "no no's"; copies of the rules; calling another station; procedure words; phonetic alphabet; routine radio check; distress, urgency, and safety calls; crew training.
GPS for Mariners (GPSFM) is a modern learning experience that focuses on the GPS equipment typically owned by the recreational boater. This course is the result of an exciting synergy between textbook's publisher, the book's author, and the Auxiliary.
The recommended presentation of the course involves inviting course participants who already own hand-held GPS units to bring them to the class, increasing interactivity of the educational experience and getting students more involved.
However, this class is so effective that even those not possessing handheld units will learn how to use a GPS for practical recreational boating.
HOW TO READ A NAUTICAL CHART
Course Overview
When navigating on land you use a map. It depicts the various thoroughfares, their directions and names. Major areas such as parks, lakes etc. would also be noted. By selecting the prescribed route, you would be able to reach a desired destination.
A three hour seminar course unraveling the mystery of charts.
At sea there are no streets, no separate areas, no differences from abutting or surrounding areas. With no land mass over the horizon, everything looks the same. For navigating at sea, we use a chart.
By knowing our latitude and longitude, we can locate our position anywhere on earth. Navigators must also be warned of dangerous areas, leading them through safe passages and directing them within set patterns to prevent collisions. For this, Aids to Navigation are depicted on nautical charts.
Other available information on nautical charts includes, but is not limited to, depth of water, bottom type, magnetic variations affecting the compass, chart scales, and inter-tidal information.
SUDDENLY IN COMMAND
The captain becomes incapacitated or falls overboard; you purchase a new boat and step aboard for the first time. You are Suddenly In Command.
This 4-hour boating safety primer is designed for those not generally at the helm, and will help you to “be prepared” with the basics in case of an emergency.
You will learn about your vessel, including nomenclature and operating principles including starting the engine. Also included are descriptions of what causes boating mishaps and how to minimize them, basic boat handling and what equipment should be on board.
Literature contains many horror stories about a passenger, who does not know how to start the engine or operate the radio, watching in horror as a strong wind blows the boat away faster than a captain who has fallen overboard can swim.
Misfortune occurs in seconds, and you have the rest of your life to be grateful that you knew what to do because you were prepared.
PADDLESPORTS
Canoeists and kayakers are boaters also. Now, there is a course available to address the unique needs of this audience. Paddlesports America is an exciting safety course designed to attract the novice paddle enthusiasts. This four-hour course presents five chapters of safety information.
Topics include
- Know Your Paddlecraft - parts of a canoe and kayak; understanding paddlecraft characteristics such as basic types, hull shapes hull materials, lengths and widths and weights; selecting your paddle for both canoe and kayak.
- Before You Get Underway - knowing your paddlecraft’s capacity and how to file a float plan; transporting your paddlecraft; conducting a pre-departure check; dressing for a safe trip; loading gear in a canoe or kayak; storing paddle craft; the responsibilities when paddling with others.
- Operating Your Boat Safely - how to enter and exit a canoe or kayak safely; securing the paddlecraft and sharing the waterways with others; the U. S. Aids to Navigation System (ATONS); learning about local hazards on waterways.
- The Legal Requirements of Boating - vessel registration, hull identification numbers and who may operate a paddlecraft; unlawful operation of paddlecraft; Homeland Security restrictions; policies on alcohol and drugs. Life jackets; navigation lights; sound-producing devices and visual distress signals; protection of environment and what to do if in a boating accident. State specific information may be added at the end of this chapter.
- Boating emergencies… What to Do - minimizing the risk of drowning, capsizing, swamping or falling overboard; emergency techniques; how to deal with cold water immersion and hypothermia; understanding heat related illness; dehydration; handling weather emergencies.