Boating Course

Boating Course

With the fun of boating, also comes a great responsibility and therefore it is very important to familiarize yourself with the following:

- By attending a boating course, you will be informed about safety equipment that is required to have on your boat before you undertake any boating excursion. This is of the utmost importance because it could mean the difference between being able to attend to the problem at hand or not. Your outing could also be cut short when the sheriff checks your boat and fines you for not having the required equipment onboard.

- You will learn that driving a boat is vastly different from driving a car. You are dealing with air and water currents. If you have never docked a boat you may think that it is easy, until that is, the current is pulling you in the opposite direction that you want to go. Understanding air and water currents will help you learn how to dock your boat.

- Knowing how to work with lines and tying knots is part of boating. You have to be able to secure a boat properly. If your boat gets away, it is amazing how quickly the current will take it out of your reach and you will probably require the assistance of another boater to help you get to it. So learn your knots.

- You will learn what the channel markers mean. We learned the hard way the first time we went out on a boat and ran aground outside the markers. We also had no clue what the red and green markers meant on the poles. This you also learn on the course.

- There are speed limits on certain water ways but unlike the roads, they may or may not be posted. Ignorance may not be enough to get you out of a ticket.

- Using charts for coastal navigation can be a life saver. It's your road map that helps you stay away from the shallows and shows where all the markers and bridges are, and by using measurements you can calculate the distance and time it will take to get somewhere. It can be valuable tool for navigation.

- Just like on the roads, there is the right of way. On a boating course you will learn who has the right of way and why.

- Every boat should have a horn. You may hear one long toot or 2 short toot and so on, and you'll learn what they mean.

- There are boating regulations and laws that must be followed by all boaters, for example, (and I have seen this rule broken so many times) you are not allowed to sit on the bow of the boat with your feet hanging over board. There are many more regulations to learn and not knowing them can cost you.

When anchoring a boat, one should not see it just as a matter of dumping the anchor down to the bottom. Most of you in the boating industry will know that there is a mathematical technique applicable to anchoring a boat and that it has to do with the size and length of the boat. By doing this correctly, you will be sure that your boat is not going anywhere until you sail again!

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