Boat Handling Grade: S

Content and Topics Covered.  The 2019 Boat Handling curriculum comprises a full six-part Boat Handling course and six seminars:

• Rules of the Road:  A Practical Approach
• Confidence in Docking and Undocking:  Slow-Speed Maneuvering
• Boating with Confidence:  Handling Your Boat Underway
• Anchoring with Assurance:  Don't Get Carried Away
• Emergencies on Board:  Preparation to Handle Common Problems
• Knots and Line Handling:  The Knots You Need to Know

Students who complete the 2019 Boat Handling course and pass the exam will receive credit for the Boat Handling course and earn the Seaman grade. They will also receive seminar credit for each of the class sessions attended.

Student books are available in eBook or printed format.  US Coast Guard Books are available in printed format or downloaded from the Cost Guard.

Piloting Grade: P

Piloting is the first course in the sequence of USPS courses on navigation, covering the basics of coastal and inland navigation. This course focuses on navigation as it is done on recreational boats today and embraces GPS as a primary navigation tool while covering enough of traditional techniques so the student will be able to find his/her way even if their GPS fails. The course includes many in-class exercises, developing the student’s skills through hands-on practice and learning. Ten classes of two hours each normally are scheduled for presentation of this course. In addition the students have seven days to complete the open book exam. Topics covered include:

• Charts and their interpretation
• Navigation aids and how they point to safe water
• Plotting courses and determining direction and distance
• The mariner’s compass and converting between True and Magnetic
• Use of GPS – typical GPS displays and information they provide, setting up waypoints and routes, staying on a GPS route.
• Pre-planning safe courses and entering them into the GPS
• Monitoring progress and determining position by both GPS and traditional techniques such as bearings and dead reckoning
• The “Seaman’s Eye” – simple skills for checking that one is on course.

Advanced Piloting Grade: AP

Advanced Piloting is the second in the sequence of USPS courses on navigation. It continues to build coastal and inland navigation skill, allowing the student to take on more challenging conditions – unfamiliar waters, limited visibility, and extended cruises. GPS is embraced as a primary navigation tool while adding radar, chartplotters, and other electronic navigation tools. As with Piloting, the course includes many in-class exercises, advancing the student’s skills through hands-on practice and learning. Ten classes of two hours each normally are scheduled for presentation of this course. In addition the students have seven days to complete the open book exam. Topics covered include:

• Review of skills learned in Piloting
• Advanced positioning techniques such as advancing a line of position
• Other electronics: radar, depth sounders, autopilots, chartplotters, laptop computer software, etc.
• Hazard avoidance techniques using electronics (e.g., “keep out” zones in GPS)
• Collision avoidance using radar and GPS
• Working with tides: clearances, depth, effects of current
• Piloting with wind and currents
• The “Seaman’s Eye” – simple skills for checking that one is on course

Junior Navigator Grade: JN

Junior Navigation is the first in a two-part program of study in offshore navigation, followed by the Navigation course. It is designed as a practical "how to" course. Subject matter includes:

• Precise time determination
• Use of the Nautical Almanac
• Taking sextant sights of the sun
• Reducing sights to establish lines of position
• Special charts and plotting sheets for offshore navigation
• Offshore navigational routines for recreational craft
• Electronic and computerized offshore navigation

In Junior Navigation, the student will continue to use GPS as the primary position sensor, as they learned to do in Piloting and Advanced Piloting. However, the offshore environment poses many different elements for consideration by the Navigator. Ocean currents, wind, and sea state all affect a vessel's performance over the longer passages.

Also, visible terrestrial landmarks are no longer available to the navigator as reference points. In the Junior Navigation course, the student will learn to substitute celestial objects such as the sun as reference points. The course begins with the study of celestial navigation, teaching the student to take sights on the sun with a marine sextant and derive a line of position from that observation. Next, the student will apply the principles learned in Advanced Piloting, and plot a running fix from two sun sights taken about four hours apart. Once the student has learned the basics of celestial sight reduction, the course continues with planning, positioning, and checking one’s position in the offshore environment, using both electronic and celestial tools.