Way back in the early 1970's I was a 1/3 owner of an Irwin 32, same model as the one pictured below. When I bought into the partnership, the outgoing owner of the share that I bought gifted me with a copy of Chapman's "Piloting and Seamanship." I read that book religiously, over and over again, and learned way more from it than from any course that I had taken.

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Originally posted by trapper189:
The BoatUS one is free, but not all states accept it. Cost me $90 to have my kids take one that Michigan approves of. Oh well. The class seems to be long on rules and regs, but short on practical safety.

Knowing which way to turn when you are on a collision course with another vessel is a matter of Practical Safety and, gee whiz, that's in the Rules and Regs.

I had my first course in Piloting in 1964 at Lake George, NY. That class was specifically geared towards kids and it was all about the rules of navigation and how to avoid collisions with other boats using those rules. As for small boat handling, kids pick that up like a greedy sponge.

BTW, I sold my last boat in 2011 but still have a copy of Chapman's Piloting I kept on the boat. So, how many other boaters have a copy of Chapman's? IMO it's a book that every boater should have because it covers everything applicable to small boat handling, even how to forecast the weather based on cloud formation.

The Irwin 32 was moored at Burnham Park on Chicago's lakefront. One sunny afternoon, we headed out for Michigan City -- not a tough navigation problem, just keep the compass pointing at 120° and Bob's your uncle.

One of the partners was taking a Celestial Navigation course at the planetarium. I had no idea what he was doing, he fooled around with his cheap student model sextant for a while, then went below and delved into books and charts and calculators. And beer. Lots of beer.

A while later he came topside and told us that he had calculated our exact position, 3.4 miles southwest of Omaha.

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Originally posted by Scooter123:
Knowing which way to turn when you are on a collision course with another vessel is a matter of Practical Safety and, gee whiz, that's in the Rules and Regs.

I’ll summarize: Don’t crash into stuff, aim for the back of the boat you are on a collision course with, red right return, the US Navy has the right of way.

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Originally posted by trapper189:

I’ll summarize: Don’t crash into stuff

Yup. That's really the only rule. All the rest of the stuff is there just to help with that rule.

True Virgins Make Dull Companions At Weddings

Can Dead Men Vote Twice At Elections

That’s all I got. 4 years at the boat school and that is what I recall. Lol

I would go the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary route and an in-person 1-day course. Will probably also get you a slight discount on your insurance.

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Originally posted by pedropcola:

True Virgins Make Dull Companions At Weddings

I have used "True Virgins Make Dull Company" since starting to fly in 1964, but I never heard the last two words, "At Weddings." I understand True, Variation, Magnetic, Deviation, and Compass, but what does "At Weddings" stand for?

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Originally posted by V-Tail:

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Originally posted by trapper189:

we practiced capsizing and righting it

The first part doesn't need that much practice. Ask me how I know.

You can fit 6 kids on a Sunfish, but the seventh ...

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Originally posted by gpbst3:
I thought it would be a good idea to take a boaters safety course.

There is an online class offered and I figured why not, safety first right!
Sign up and see there is a $40 fee for the online class! WTF so your telling me I can pay $40 to take a safety class that is not required.
I know $40 is not much money but it still pisses me off.

Why do you think that anyone who provides a service should have to do it for free?
Even if it is a good idea or beneficial ~ it costs money to provide.
Do you work for free?

My Dad was a long time member of the US Power Squadron, he taught most all their courses and was a very good navigator. I spent years boating with him until I bought my first boat. I took the basic course, it was worth a 10% discount on insurance. Everyone that boats should take some kind of safety course.

John Wayne's son, Ethan was asked what lesson from his dad stayed with him. He replied "Red, Right, Returning".

I’m going to qualify my prior posts in this thread. I was only referring to the State required boaters’ safety classes. They are the equivalent to what most States accept as training to get a concealed weapons license. In other words, a bare minimum.

I think most of us would suggest new gun owners seek additional training beyond the State minimum. I would suggest the same for new boat owners. US Power Squadron courses are a great idea.

V Tail when you are converting from True to Compass, At Weddings means add west mag variation and deviation while going the other way from Compass to True it is the opposite, At Elections add East.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:

V Tail when you are converting from True to Compass, At Weddings means add west mag variation and deviation while going the other way from Compass to True it is the opposite, At Elections add East.

Ah, we covered that with a separate phrase: "East is least and west is best."

In the Navy we were too lazy to have extra sayings. Lol