Crusing & Cruise Planning
There is something very special about the thrill of cruising in new waters and the sense of accomplishment upon completing an extended cruise. To go beyond what most boaters do on a weekend overnight or even a week or so marina hopping requires boaters to leave their normal cruising areas and comfort zones. The Cruise Planning course focuses on the planning and preparation necessary for safe enjoyable extended cruises on both inland and coastal waters.
Designed for members who cruise on either a sail or powerboat (owned or chartered) - this course covers the following topics:
- Cruise preparation and planning - General
- Boat and Equipment
- Anchors and Anchoring
- Security
- Chartering
- Cruising Outside the United States
- Crew and Provisioning
- Voyage Management
- Communications
- Navigation
- Weather
- Emergencies
The manual includes a comprehensive cruise planning timeline.
The Cruise Planning Course can be comfortably taught in eight two-hour sessions including time for review and the multiple choice closed book exam, but each instructor will determine the pace of the course.
Engine Maintenance
The new Engine Maintenance course 2011 has been put into one ten chapter course that stresses the diagnosis of modern systems, while also teaching the basics of engine layout and operation. Gasoline inboards, outboards, and diesel engines are taught in a way that reinforces the common aspects of how engines work. This new course is complete in one book with one exam.
Modern engines offer high reliability and good performance through the use of computerized systems for fuel delivery and engine timing. Most of these systems are “black boxes” that can no longer be serviced by weekend mechanics with ordinary tools. The EM course covers those repairs that do-it-yourselfers can still perform, teaches how to diagnose problems that might be beyond your ability to fix, and how to share information with your mechanic so the right repairs get performed. The new Engine Maintenance 2011 also covers basic mechanical systems such as drive systems (propellers), steering systems, and engine controls. The last chapter discusses solutions you might use to problems that could occur while afloat and away from a repair facility. Gasoline, diesel, and outboard engines are treated independently in this chapter.
Sail
Sail 2009 is a completely new sail course created to serve the needs of the novice and experienced sailor, as well as the non-sailor, for basic skills and knowledge. The course starts with basic sailboat designs and nomenclature, rigging, safety, and sail processes and then tackles the physical aspects of sailing forces and techniques, sail applications, marlinespike, helmsmanship and handling of more difficult sailing conditions, navigation rules, and an introduction to heavy weather sailing. Appendices provide an introduction to sailboat racing and sailing in Canadian waters.
This new Sail course is a single volume Student and Instructor Manual (IM) developed in cooperation with the Canadian Sail & Power Squadron. Course instructional materials include material in Microsoft PowerPoint® format with embedded animations that require additional software to perform correctly.
Weather
The safety and comfort of those who venture out-on-the water have always been weather dependent. In this course students will become keener observers of the weather, but weather observations only have meaning in the context of the basic principles of meteorology - the science of the atmosphere.
The course focuses on how weather systems form, behave, move, and interact with one another and reflects the availability of all sorts of weather reports and forecasts on the Internet. Wx2008 is a general weather course benefiting those sitting in their living rooms, as much as those standing behind the helm. Each student receives:
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A Weather Manual - USPS Weather - an explanatory text with full color photographs and drawings covering weather in the United States and its coastal and inland waters;
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A set of three Daily Weather Maps - learning aids with a compete explanation of map symbols designed to develop weather map reading and analysis skills; and
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NOAA’s Sky Watcher Chart - a reference to assist in identifying cloud types - helpful indicators of approaching weather.
The Weather Course is designed to be conducted over ten two-hour sessions including time for review and the multiple choice closed book exam, but each instructor will determine the pace of the course.
Seminars
These short seminars are targeted to specific boating topics and needs with a two-hour format, and valuable take-away guides. This page is intended to provide the latest information for instructors and administrators on the available seminars.
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