Elective: Piloting

Discription & Purpose of Course

Objective

The Piloting course is the first in a sequence of USPS courses on navigation. This 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.

Description

The course includes many in-class exercises, developing the student's skills through hands-on practice and learning.

Topics 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-typical displays and information they provide, setting up 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
The "Seaman's Eye" - simple skills for checking that one is on course.

Instructor

TBD

Biography

Schedule

For course dates, check the Calendar. If not scheduled, call the Squadron Education Officer SEO. Courses will be offered based on interest and requests.