BASIC BOATING COURSE (OPEN TO ALL) - $95.00

This course is complemented with the textbook -- America's Boating Course - 3rd Edition -- an all new, completely updated manual, outstanding graphics, and two bonus computer disks. The class will cover topics that all recreational boaters must know, including rules of the road, various types of boats, required safety equipment, navigation aids, lights and sounds, anchoring, communications afloat, adverse conditions, water sports safety, trailering, personal water craft safety, and knots and lines. A supplement chapter provides an introduction to digital charts and GPS waypoint navigation, a key skill for boating on larger lakes and rivers and coastal waters. This optional fifth chapter provides the background for more advanced piloting courses. Course registration is scheduled for Monday, February 8, 2016 at the Isidor & Ida Straus School at 18:30. (6:30 p.m.)

Monday evenings
1830 (6:30)

COASTAL NAVIGATION SEMINAR - $TBA

Today, electronics have radically changed navigation, but understanding the basics helps you gain confidence in your equipment and your own skills. In this seminar, you will learn practical techniques to plan, navigate, and check your progress on the water. You will develop situational awareness skills using your eyes and navigation tools to quickly point to your position on a chart, and be able to use backup techniques when the electronics become suspect. This seminar will help captain and crew navigate safely and comfortably. The student kit contains The Weekend Navigator textbook, a Seminar Notes booklet, and Maptech's Chart Navigator Training CD, which includes software and digital charts to gain familiarity with this new technology.

TBD

PILOTING (ADVANCED COURSE)- $120.00

The Piloting course is the first in the sequence of USPS courses on navigation, covering the basics of coastal and inland navigation. This all-new 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. 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 ----including standard GPS displays windows and the information they provide, setting up of 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
• Piloting with wind and currents
• The "Seaman's Eye" - simple skills for checking that one is on course

10/28 -TBD

ADVANCED GRADE COURSES (*As required by demand)
Available to our members.
Chairman of Advanced Grades: 1st/Lt Sarah B. Petrello, P

Seamanship*
Piloting 
Advanced Piloting *
Celestial Navigation *

ELECTIVE COURSES (*As required by demand)
Available to our members.
Chairman of Advanced Grades: 1st/Lt Sarah B. Petrello, P

Engine Maintenance *
Sail *

The availability of the elective courses will depend upon student demand. During the Spring Semester we will offer Engine Maintenance and either Cruise Planning or Sail. The decision will be made at registration. If you have a preference please let the Squadron Education Officer know as soon as possible.**

Supplementary courses for home study available from Squadron Educational Officer or National Website. Sometimes we hold discussion groups for these subjects. There is a wide variety of Supplemental; Course material, from Coast Guard licensing prep and Amateur Radio, to onboard cooking and Nautical Prayers.

MEMBER COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Advanced Grades and Elective Courses Registration and first lecture will be TBD. Bring your checkbook and membership card. All classes will be held at the Straus School, Third Avenue between 95th and 96th Streets.

NYSPS currently offers 11 courses for its members. Most run 10 to 12 weeks, one evening per week ­ a few are shorter, a few are longer. All are now being restructured into modules of about 6 weeks each to give squadrons and members maximum scheduling flexibility. Only a few of the advanced topics have any prerequisite courses.

The first five courses described below comprise a series called "Advanced Grades." They should be taken in the order listed. The next six are termed "Elective Courses" and may be taken in any order.

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The first of the advanced grades offered to USPS members, this introductory course provides essential basics on all aspects of boating - Power and Sail. The course is designed for the novice with little or no formal boating education or experience. It is also a vital synthesizer for the more experienced boater. Emphasis on boat handling, stability and trim, navigation rules, docking, anchoring, safety and emergencies is stressed. This course also covers working rope, knots, splicing, yachting customs and etiquette.
(This course is a good preparation for other advanced grade courses and the Sail course.)
*Please note that according the regulations of the United States Power Squadrons, you cannot receive the grade of Pilot or Advanced Pilot unless you have completed Seamanship.

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The Piloting course is the first in the sequence of USPS courses on navigation, covering the basics of coastal and inland navigation. This all-new 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. 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 ----including standard GPS displays windows and the information they provide, setting up of 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
• Piloting with wind and currents
• The "Seaman's Eye" - simple skills for checking that one is on course

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This all-new course continues to build coastal an 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. 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 "Seamans Eye" -simple skills for checking that one is on course.

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JUNIOR NAVIGATION -

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

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After Junior Navigation, this course is the second part of the study of offshore navigation, further developing the student's understanding of celestial navigation theory. This Navigation 2009 course deals with learning celestial positioning using other bodies, in addition to positioning using the sun (covered in the Junior Navigation course). This course also deals with electronic software tools that can be used to plan and execute an offshore voyage. You will first learn to reduce these sights by the Law of Cosines method. Later in the course, you will learn an additional method of sight reduction, the Nautical Almanac Sight Reduction (NASR) method. You will also learn about sight planning techniques. With that knowledge, you will have the tools to take sights and complete your Navigation Sight Folder. The course includes a chapter on using a software-basedvoyage planning tool and a navigation program. The final chapter of the course contains a Practice Cruise that ties the separate elements of the course together

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ENGINE MAINTENANCE - 12 Weeks

The Engine Maintenance course is divided into two modules. Both of these courses are intended to help the recreational boater. Both modules discuss inboards, stern drives, and outboard engines. Even if you've completed EM before, these courses are well worth taking as they introduce new material and provide greater information on all subjects. Completion of both of these modules is required for credit for Engine Maintenance.

EM 101, Basic Engine Maintenance , provides information about marine propulsion systems, basic engine principles, engine components; controls, instruments and alarms, marine engine maintenance, and steering systems. There is a chapter on winter storage and spring servicing that includes a 25 step winterizing checklist.

EM 102, Advanced Engine Maintenance , delves into cooling and exhaust systems, lubrication, fuel and air induction systems, ignition systems, electrical and starting systems, power trains, and troubleshooting. It concludes with a chapter on emergency repairs afloat.

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CRUISE PLANNING - 12 Weeks

Preparation for a sail or power cruise, whether it be for a day's duration or for a coastal or blue water cruise of a weekend or a year. The course covers planning and financing the voyage, managing commitments back home, equipping a cruise boat, crew selection, provisioning, voyage management, navigation planning, weather communications, entering and clearing foreign and domestic ports, emergencies afloat, security measures and anchors and anchoring. Although there are no prerequisites for this course, a skill level of Advanced Piloting is recommended.

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SAIL -12 Weeks

The Sail course is divided into two modules. These modules cover the following subjects:

Sail 101 Basic Sail

Sailboat Rigs Sail Plans Boat Design and Hull Types Sails Standing Rigging Running Rigging Wind Preparing to Sail Sailing Upwind Sailing Downwind Docking and Anchoring Marlinespike Seamanship

Navigation Rules

Sail 102 Advanced Sail

Wind Forces Stability Balance Sail Shape Tuning the Rig Steering and Helmsman ship Spinnaker Handling Heavy Weather Sailing Storm Conditions Sailing Safety Sailboat Racing Race Management

Navigation Rules II

Completion of both of these modules is required for credit for Sail.
( Seamanship is a prerequisite for the Sail Course )

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To: Fellow Members of NYSPS
From: P/C Joel M. Rosenfeld, AP

Subject: Credit Card Payments.

Up to this time, payment for Courses, Dues and Social Functions have only been accepted as either Cash or Check. We feel offering our members the convenience of paying by credit card would be an advantage to those who do their personal business in this manner. As you may realize, the costs for credit card transactions are high. You receive from your credit card companies¹ air miles and rebates up to 5%. We have chosen an inexpensive credit card payment plan that requires Internet access. Our choice is OEPayPal.com¹ , an eBay company. If you are a web or auction buyer you may already be familiar with PayPal.com. They offer $5.00 for establishing a new account. To set up an Account with your Am Ex, Discover, Master Card or Visa, log on to paypal.com. Follow the instructions on the screens and try the tutorial. For all payments made to NYSPS use Pay To: ernest@stavenhagens.com. The Type: (of payment) goods - non ­ auction. The payment will show as NYSPS on the next screen. If you have any questions with regard to this please contact me at 201.406.4898 or our Past Commander, Ernest Wasserman, SN, at 718.332.6696 or e-mail ernest@stavenhagens.com

Positive Comments always welcome.