General Information

Course starting dates and other pertinent information is available from the
course instructor.  If a course is offered by our squadron on a day that is a conflict, contact the Educational Officer who will check nearby squadrons for their dates.  A USPS member may take a USPS course in ANY squadron, if space is available. 

USPS currently offers eleven courses to its members. These average ten to twelve weeks in duration. A few courses are longer than this and a few shorter. For a few courses, the advanced nature of the course content necessitates completing a prerequisite course. Your Squadron Educational Officer can explain these to you. (See your Roster for the name and phone number of your Squadron Educational Officer.) The remainder become immediately available to you.

The courses offered are described below. The first five courses comprise a series called "Advanced Grades."  They should be taken in the order listed, since each course builds upon the knowledge gained in the previous one. The next six courses are termed "Elective Courses" and may be taken in any order.

Advanced Grades

Seamanship

Seamanship takes up where the public boating safety course left off. It covers basic knowledge that every skipper wants to know even before leaving port. It includes practical marlinspike, hull design and performance, boat care, the skipper's responsibilities, boating under both normal and abnormal conditions, handling emergencies afloat, and much more. 
Instructor Gerald Borna.   Contact him for the fall 2008 course date

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Piloting

This course introduces you to the important topics of marine charts, aids to navigation, use and adjustment of the mariner's compass, planning and plotting a course, using the "dead reckoning" method of keeping track of your position, and taking compass bearings to determine your boat's position on the water, tides and currents and other aspects of piloting. 

Instructor: Rich Woznicki, AP    Next course to be announced

Photo Piloting Class

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Advanced Piloting

This course builds on the knowledge gained in Piloting to teach you how to navigate in coastal waters, how to predict and correct your course plots for tides and currents, how to navigate safely with electronic devices such as radar, loran C, and GPS, and how to optimize course planning. The course will start following the completion of the Piloting Course so the Piloting students can move on to Advanced Piloting.  Tentative date is late January or early February.  Contact P/C Ewald Schulz. 

Contact Ewald Schulz.  Class size is limited. 

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Junior Navigation

While Piloting and Advanced Piloting train you to effectively navigate in coastal waters within sight of land and visible navigation aids, Junior Navigation begins your study of offshore navigation. You will learn to use integrated electronic positioning systems, how to take sights on celestial bodies with a mariner's sextant, and how to use special open-ocean charts to plan your passage and determine your position.

Instructor P/D/C David Drummond, SN  - Next course to be announced. 

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Navigation

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Elective Courses

Sail

Sail guides you through the special terminology and dynamics of sailing, hulls and rigging, wind and water forces and balance, points of sail, sail handling, and navigation rules unique to sailing and much more. It is in two modules, Basic Sail 101, and Advanced Sail 102. Each module runs six to seven weeks.

Cruise Planning

This course is designed to help you prepare for voyaging in your boat, whether it's just a weekend or a multi-month cruise. You'll learn the essentials of equipping and provisioning your boat, selecting a crew, financing the trip, entering and clearing foreign ports, handling emergencies afloat, and boat security. 

The course is planned to be conducted starting the week of March 2^nd 2008, to continue for eight weeks with the exam scheduled for the week of April 20^th 2008.  The day of the week for the course to be offered has not been determined, is somewhat flexible, and will be determined by the participants. To register for the course or to answer any of your questions, please call George Druist at 732-294-9719 or e-mail at gdruist@verizon.net.

Instructor:      George Druist

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Engine Maintenance

This course will teach you how to troubleshoot most common engine problems and "jury rig" many repairs. The course covers outboard motors, inboard gasoline and diesel engines, power trains, and related mechanical systems. This course won't turn you into an expert mechanic, but can save you time and money.

Next Course date to be announced

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Instructor Development

Instructor Development provides you with the practical knowledge and training in techniques of making effective presentations, whether as a course instructor, meeting chair, public speaker, or everyday conversationalist

Instructor: R/C Chub Varga, AP    Next course in the fall.  Contact Past Commander Chub Varga for date.

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Marine Electronics

This course offers you essential information about boat electrical and electronic systems in non-technical terms. You will learn about proper wiring and power systems, corrosion and electrolysis, and electronic navigation, communications, and safety systems.

Instructor: George Zenker        Next course date to be announced.

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Weather

This course teaches you the basic structures and characteristics of our atmosphere, how to interpret weather maps and reports, and how to make your own skilled observations. It's all geared to helping you predict and anticipate weather developments affecting your boating.
 

Instructor:  Andy Anastasio, JN   Next Course fall 2008

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USPS also offers a series of "USPS Learning Guides." They are self-study handbooks on specialized boating related subjects of interest to skippers and navigators. Topics range from GPS to Knots, Bends, & Hitches; from Amateur Radio to Oceanography; from Boat Design & Construction to Predicted Log Contests. USPS currently has over twenty different Learning Guides.

Now it's up to you. Are you ready to expand your boating knowledge and skills?

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