Basic Boating- Piloting - Semanship
UNITED STATES POWER SQUADRON

Registration:

• E-mail: NRUSPS@aol.com or Call: (212)-217-2900
• Basic Boating - Begins March 25th, 2008 with 8 sessions.  Cost: $85 includes an extensive course book, electronic and paper training charts and plotting tools.
• Piloting begins on March 11, 2008 with 10 sessions. Cost $50 including manual and course materials.
• Seamanship registration will take place on May 20th, the final day of the Boating Class and classes will begin on May 27th. Cost $50.

Class Location:
Murry Bergtraum High School, 411 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10038 at 1830 (6:30 PM) every Tuesday ..
For maps and directions to Murry Bergtraum High School click here.  

The USPS is the world's largest private, nonprofit boating organization. USPS members enjoy more than 30classroom and self-study courses in marine subjects from Seamanship and Piloting to GPS and Celestial Navigation. We hope you can join us!  

	Basic Boating is a good beginning course for anyone interested in pleasure boating, either sail or power, and a good refresher course for those with experience. Topics include: Boating Safety, Basic Navigation and Charting, Rules of the Road, Boat Handling, Nautical Terms and Basic Sailing.  We've taught the USPS Basic Boating Course continuously since 1936 as a public service to promote safe boating.  After completion of Basic Boating you are also eligible to join the Squadron and continue with the many advanced boating courses such as those offered below, all the way up to celestial navigation. Those who reside in Connecticut and New Jersey and in many other states and who complete certain additional requirements which we administer will be given a certificate obtain a boating license in those states. For a complete description of Basic Boating click here.

Seamanship   Building on the basics taught in the public boating course, Seamanship is the recommended first course for new members, both power boaters and sailors. Students learn practical marlinespike, navigation rules, hull design and performance, responsibilities of the skipper, boat care, operating a boat under normal and abnormal conditions, what to do in various emergencies and weather conditions, nautical customs and common courtesy on the water. This course provides a needed introduction to the USPS Educational Program and a strong foundation for members going on to other Advanced Grades courses and/or Cruise Planning or Sail.

Piloting is the first of the navigational classes focusing on techniques for piloting a boat in coastal and inland conditions. The course emphasizes planning and checking along with the use of GPS for determining position, and introduces digital charting along with traditional charting, compass and dead reckoning skills. Plotting, labeling, use of the compass, aids to navigation and a host of related topics are included in this all-new approach to coastal and inland piloting.   Interested Persons should email Education@northriversquadron.org.

Advanced Piloting builds on the knowledge gained in Piloting to teach how to navigate safely in coastal waters -- predict tides and tidal currents and their impact on boat position, advanced positioning techniques, and the use of electronic navigation systems for positioning and course planning You must be a USPS member and have taken Basic Boating to sign up.  

Engine Maintenance course covers the general construction, operating principles, maintenance and repair of marine gasoline and diesel engines, cooling, electrical, fuel, and lubricating systems and associated propulsion components - clutches, shafting and propellers. Since one of the major objectives of the course is to help the student become more self-reliant afloat, trouble diagnosis and temporary remedies are emphasized along with safety measures. The course is intended to make you a more intelligent and more resourceful boat engine operator.

Junior Navigator  begins the study of offshore (open-ocean) navigation -- integrated electronic positioning systems, sight taking with a mariner's sextant on the sun, moon, planets, and stars, how to reduce sights using the nautical almanac to determine position, and passage planning with special open-ocean charts.

Navigation will begin in November, 2006.   Navigation is the highest level certificate course offered by USPS and expands the celestial skills learned in JN and will be taught in conjunction with the New York Squadron.  Interested persons should email Jerome Tauber at NRUSPS@aol.com.

Amateur Radio The North River General License Amateur Radio course will begin in Spring 2008 at the office of Arnon Ben-Ari, 224 W 35th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) Suite 508, NY, 10001. The class will have four sessions meeting every other week and will cover the material required to obtain an General Class amateur radio license. The FCC has recently removed the Morse Code requirement for this license so that people who pass the exam can operate on the worldwide amateur bands.   For more information about this course please contact Jerome Tauber at WA2YMR@aol.com. We will be using the ARRL publication General Class License Manual which cost $19.95.  Interested persons should email Jerome Tauber at NRUSPS@aol.com.

Weather - Awareness of weather phenomena, how to read the weather map and the sky, and understand and anticipate weather developments for more pleasurable boating are the objectives of this course. Subjects studied include: characteristics and structure of the atmosphere, what weather is and its basic causes, normal development and movement of weather over the earth, and the factors considered in weather forecasting. Observations that the skipper can make afloat include both instrumental and visual: cloud sequences and the weather they predict; air masses, fronts, storms, and fog; and the use of radio and television weather broadcasts. Throughout the course the student is encouraged to make observations and predictions in order to gain experience in applying the principles taught and develop greater insight into weather phenomena.

Registration  - To register or for more information about Basic Boating leave a voice message at (212)-217-2900 or e-mail NRUSPS@aol.com.  Leave your name and phone number. You may also register directly at the first and second Basic Boating class.  Registration closes after the second class. Please do not call the school. There is a $85 charge for the course materials for Basic Boating which includes a textbook, training charts, course plotter and dividers for those who wish to purchase them, which we highly recommend.   Those who complete the Basic Boating course and certain additional requirements will be given a certificate which is accepted by the States of New Jersey and Connecticut to obtain a boating license. There is also a $85 cost for Seamanship.  For more information about Seamanship email Education@northriversquadron.org.