Safe boating requires knowledge and skill
on the part of the boat operator. Auxiliary Public Education courses
provide instruction to recreational boaters at all levels, from the
fundamental to the advanced. Flotilla 12
Chicago offers courses taught by
experienced and knowledgeable instructors committed to the highest
standards of the Coast Guard Family.
Our courses are given in Chicago. If the locations and
times are not convenient you may wish to check the
district web site for U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary courses in Indiana,
Wisconsin and other Illinois locations.
Below
are three sections:
-
2008 CLASS SCHEDULE
-
REGISTRATION
-
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
ABS About
Boating Safety $50.00 8 hrs (3
weeks, or 1 day seminar)
BS&S
Basic Skills and Seamanship $75.00 9
weeks
HRNC
How to Read a Nautical Chart TBA
2 hr seminar
NAV
Navigation
13 weeks
2008 CLASS SCHEDULE
Basic Sailing &
Seamanship Length:
9 weeks
Day: Tuesdays
Time: 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Dates: March 4, 11, 18, 25, and April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Location: IBEW, 2ND Floor,
600 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago
About Boating
Safety #2
Length 3 weeks
Day: Wednesdays
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Dates: March 5, 12, 19
Location: IBEW, 2ND Floor,
600 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago
About Boating
Safety #3
Length: 3 weeks
Day: Thursdays
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Dates: April 10, 17, 24
Location: IBEW, 2ND Floor,
600 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago
REGISTRATION
TO REGISTER ONLINE - click on the Pay Now PayPal button to pay for the desired course using
a credit card or PayPal account, and then contact the public education
coordinator, at
safeboat@gmail.com
TO REGISTER BY
MAIL - print and complete the Register
by Mail Form and mail it to the address indicated.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
ABS - ABOUT BOATING
SAFETY
- This beginner boating class will give
you the knowledge needed to obtain a boat license or safety certification
in many states. Many boat insurance companies will offer discounts on
boating insurance to boaters who successfully complete America's Boating
Course.
Topics Include:
- 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, and
Storing 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.
BS&S -
BOATING SKILLS & SEAMANSHIP
- The U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's Boating Skills and Seamanship
(BS&S) course is a comprehensive course designed for both the experienced
and the novice boater. The course, now in its 12th edition
published in 2002, consists of 6 core required two- to four-hour lessons 2
added optional lessons that are normally included in the core course, plus
five elective lessons, providing up-to-date knowledge for handling boats
in all conditions.
Topics Include:
- 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 propeller; 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.
Many insurance companies
will offer discounts on boat insurance to individuals who successfully
complete this course.
Individuals who
successfully complete the course and exam are awarded certificates and
cards.
HRNC - HOW TO READ A
NAUTICAL CHART -
A three hour seminar course unraveling the mystery of charts.
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.
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.
This course will provide
the navigator with the knowledge to interpret the chart’s contents to
navigate safely to their destination and return to port. Text and training
chart included.
NAV - NAVIGATION
The U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's
Navigation course is a comprehensive course to prepare the boater with the
knowledge needed to safely pilot a boat.
Taught in two parts, the
course begins with Basic Navigation (Chapters 1-6) then concludes with
Advanced Navigation (Chapters 7-12).
Topics Include:
-
Introduction to Coastal Navigation
- Course overview; names and definitions of various types of navigation;
steps of voyage planning and underway navigation; earth's coordinate
system and its use to specify location; how direction can be measured on
the surface; conversion of direction (true, magnetic, compass and
relative) to another.
- The Marine
Magnetic Compass - Parts
and principle of operation of the marine magnetic compass; concept of
deviation and distinctions between compass north, magnetic north, and
true north; "swinging ship" and deviation table preparation; rapidly and
reliably solving TVMDC and/or CDMVT computations.
- The
Nautical Chart -
Characteristics of nautical charts, particularly Mercator and polyconic
projections; plotting positions in terms of latitude and longitude;
various chart types/scales and their appropriate uses; basic knowledge
of chart symbols; rapid and reliable measurement of direction, distance,
and location on Mercator and polyconic nautical charts.
- The
Navigator's Tools & Instruments
- Navigator tools used in everyday practice; basic skills and
familiarity with the use of plotting instruments; use of other
instruments and equipment used in the practice of navigation.
- Dead
Reckoning - Working
knowledge of dead reckoning methods including plotting, labeling,
measuring, and determining DR positions; speed, time, distance formulas
and problem solving; speed estimation, tachometers and speed curves.
- Piloting - Line of Position (LOP) concepts; bearing use in LOPs; running fix
by advancing or retiring an LOP; danger bearings; estimated positions
when the data are lacking for a FIX.
- Current
Sailing - Understanding
current and the motion of the vessel; current problems on both the
nautical chart and maneuvering board including determination of EP given
set and drift, course steered, and speed maintained; determination of
actual set and drift given course steered, speed maintained, and a FIX;
determination of course to steer and resultant SOA given set and drift
and intended track; determination of course to steer and speed to
maintain given specified track and speed of advance and current set and
drift.
- Tides &
Tidal Currents -
Understanding tidal phenomena, causes, and typical variations;
appreciate the practical reasons why tides are important to the mariner;
know how to use the Tide Tables to estimate the height of the tide at
any time; know how to use the Tidal Current Tables to estimate the
strength and direction of the current at any time.
- Radio
Navigation -
Understanding the basics of RDF, Loran-C, Radar, and GPS, their
respective advantages, disadvantages, limitations and how they can be
used to fix position; radar use for collision- avoidance CPA and target
course and speed.
- Navigation
Reference Publications -
Acquaintance with the U.S. Coast Pilot, the Light List, and the Notices
to Mariners; computation of visibility of lights given height of light,
observer, prevailing visibility and nominal ranges; importance of
up-to-date charts and other publications.
- Fuel &
Voyage Planning -
Understand the basics of fuel planning, including the definitions of
fuel efficiency, fuel reserves, endurance, and range; fuel consumption
affects of such factors as hull design, engine horsepower, throttle
settings, condition of bottom etc.; developing a fuel consumption curve;
effects of current in fuel planning; preparing and using a "Howgozit"
chart for a voyage.
-
Reflections - Examples
of 10 principles of navigation learned the hard way.
Individuals who
successfully complete the course and exam are awarded certificates.