If you’re looking to improve your marine navigation but can’t seem to find the time for a classroom course, the new, go at your own pace, online “Modern Marine Navigation” course from the BoatUS Foundation and US Coast Guard Auxiliary could be the answer. The course can be taken anytime at home or on the road and allows course takers to stop and return to the course as their busy schedules permit.
Aimed at giving recreational boaters on any body of water the navigational skills for a safe afternoon of boating or navigating on longer journeys, it’s available for a $40 course fee at www.BoatUS.org/navigation. For a limited time, using the early bird discount using promotional code “Nav2016” will save you an additional 10%.
“Classroom courses are a great way to learn, but it can be a challenge to find the block of time,” said BoatUS Foundation Director of Education Amanda Suttles Pérez. “We’re offering a very comprehensive, in-depth course on navigation in a way that works with your schedule.”
The course uses a series of online voyages as practical learning tools that course takers complete using navigation skills. Quizzes check progress and allow you to review previous course material at any time with no penalty. Topics covered include:
- Both the pre-planning of and actual en route navigation.
- Reading and interpreting a nautical chart.
- Reading and using compass.
- Fixing your boat’s position using visual techniques and by way of electronics.
- Plotting fixes and dead reckoning positions on chart.
- Laying out courses, plot positions, and measuring distances on a nautical chart.
- Time-speed-distance calculations.
- Obtaining essential information not contained on a chart with navigation reference publications.
- Obtaining and using information on tides and tidal currents.
For more, go to BoatUS.com/navigation.