USPS EDUCATIONAL COURSES

1. Boating and Boat Smart

2. Jet Smart

3. Seamanship

4. Piloting

5. Advanced Piloting

6. Junior Navigation

7. Navigation

8. Cruise Planning

9. Engine Maintenance

10. Instructor Qualification

11. Marine Electronics

12. Sail

13. Weather

14. Supplemental Programs

1.  Boating and Boat Smart

The USPS Boating and Boat Smart courses are the organization's primary civic effort toward public instruction in the fundamentals of safe boating.

Both courses are designed to familiarize the student with the fundamentals of safe boating and qualify for certification in most states that require boating education before operating a watercraft.  Both courses are presently offered both in the classroom and Boating is also offered on video.

Every squadron is expected to teach Boating or Boat Smart at least once each year (Bylaws 17.1).

Successful completion of the Boating or Boat Smart examination is a requirement for active USPS membership (22.02).  Family members and other affiliates must take one of these courses as a prerequisite for any "advanced grade" course (12.34).

Subjects covered include:

·        Boating handling under normal conditions

·        Adverse conditions and emergencies

·        Types of boats and boating terminology

·        Required and recommended equipment

·        Boating regulations and navigation rules

·        Lines and knots

·        Weather

·        Charts and aids to navigation

·        Piloting techniques (offered in Boating only)

·        Marine radiotelephone usage

·        Trailer boating

2.  Jet Smart

This is a “personal watercraft” (PWC) safety course.  Jet Smart is NASBLA-approved as meeting the minimum PWC certification requirements and is recognized by the Coast Guard.

Subjects covered include:

·        Types of PWCs and PWC terminology

·        Jet drive propulsion and steering

·        Registration and environment

·        Required and recommended equipment

·        Safety and maintenance checklist

·        Trailering and launching

·        Boating regulation and navigation rules

·        Personal watercraft operation

·        Float plan

This course does not satisfy the educational requirement for membership into USPS.

3.  Seamanship

Building on the basics learned in Boating, the Seamanship course, offered as two modules, is an important foundation for other "advanced grade" courses.  The student learns:

·        Basic marlinespike seamanship

·        Hull design

·        Navigation rules

·        Operation under normal and adverse conditions

·        Responsibilities of the skipper

·        Fire prevention and control

·        Basic first aid

·        Common courtesies on the water

·        Boat care

·        Nautical customs and flag etiquette

4.  Piloting

This course is the first of a two-part program studying inland and coastal navigation.  Its focus is on the fundamentals of piloting - keeping track of a boat's movements, determining one's position at any time and laying out courses to a planned destination.  Included are subjects such as:

·        Charts and their use

·        Aids to navigation

·        The mariner's compass

·        Variation and deviation of the compass

·        Plotting and steering courses

·        Dead reckoning

·        Plotting and labeling charts

·        Introduction to GPS navigation

5.  Advanced Piloting

This is the final part of the inland and coastal navigation series.  Its emphasis is on the use of modern electronic navigation systems and other advanced techniques for finding position.  Among topics covered are:

·        Tides and currents and their effect on piloting

·        Finding position using bearings and angles

·        Simple use of the mariner's sextant

·        Electronic navigation - radar, loran, GPS continued, etc.

6.  Junior Navigation

Junior Navigation is the first in a two-part program of study in offshore navigation.  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, moon, planets and stars

·        Reducing sights to establish lines of position

·        Special charts and plotting sheets for offshore navigation

·        Offshore navigational routines for recreational craft

7.  Navigation

This course is the second part of the study of offshore navigation, further developing the student's understanding of celestial navigation theory.  The course covers:

·        Additional sight-reduction techniques

·        Honing skills in sight taking and positioning  

·        Orderly methods for navigator's day's work at sea

·        Navigating with minimal resources, as in a lifeboat

8.  Cruise Planning

This course is designed for members who plan to cruise for just a weekend or for a year - in either a sail or powerboat.  It covers such topics as:

·        Planning a voyage

·        Financing a voyage

·        Managing commitments back home

·        How to equip a cruising boat

·        Crew selection

·        Provisioning

·        Voyage management

·        Entering and clearing foreign ports

·        Emergencies afloat

·        Security measures

9.  Engine Maintenance

This course attempts to make students more self-reliant afloat, with trouble-diagnosis and temporary remedies given special emphasis.  It covers both marine gasoline and diesel engines, including concepts of operation, maintenance and repair of their:

·        Cooling systems

·        Electrical systems

·        Fuel systems

·        Lubricating systems

·        Power train components

·        Ancillary propulsion components

10.  Instructor Development

Unlike other USPS courses, this one is not designed to enhance boating skills.  Rather it deals with effective communications for the speaker and teacher - a quality that benefits the individual in all walks of life.  It offers practical instruction in:

·        Preparing for teaching assignments

·        Preparing for meeting presentations

·        Effective teaching techniques

·        Conducting efficient meetings

·        Selection and use of audio-visual aids

11.  Marine Electronics

This course, offered as three modules, teaches essential knowledge about a boat's electrical and electronic systems, including:

·        Proper wiring

·        Grounding

·        Corrosion and electrolysis control

·        Batteries and their maintenance

·        Depth finders

·        Marine radiotelephones

·        Radar

·        Loran, GPS, other electronic positioning systems

12.  Sail

The Sail course, offered as two modules, provides a thorough study of the terminology and dynamics of sailing.  It includes:

·        Types of hulls and rigs

·        Running and standing rigging and their adjustment

·        Hull and water forces caused by wind and waves

·        Forces vs. balance

·        The theory of sailing

·        Points of sailing

·        Sail handling

·        Sailing under various wind conditions

·        Navigation rules unique to sailing vessels

13.  Weather

The Weather course is designed to teach a student how to make weather observations and predictions for more enjoyable boating.  Topics include:

·        Awareness of weather phenomena

·        How to read a weather map and the sky

·        How to understand and anticipate weather developments

·        Structure and characteristics of the atmosphere

·        Factors considered in weather forecasting

·        Sources and use of weather reports and forecasts

·        Instrument and visual observations the skipper can make

14.  Supplemental Programs

Supplemental educational programs have been developed to provide in-depth information in many boating-related fields.  Subjects have been selected in areas about which members have expressed interest.  These presently include:

·        Amateur Radio

·        Boat Insurance

·        Calculators for Navigation

·        Compass Adjusting

·        Global Positioning System

·        How to Fly Flags

·        Introduction to Navigational Astronomy

·        Introduction to Sailing

·        Marlinespike (also offered in CD Rom format)

·        Oceanography

·        Plotting and Labeling Standards

·        Predicted Log Contests

·        Principles of Water Sports Safety

·        Radar

·        Sight Reduction Methods

·        Skipper Saver

·        USPS Glossary