Boating Skills & Seamanship Course
Boating Skills & Seamanship
Saturday & Sunday, September 17 & 18, 2022
Saturday, September 24, 2022 (Optional)
0900 – 1700 hrs.
Pierpont Bay Yacht Club (Ventura Harbor)
The U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary’s Boating Skills and Seamanship (BS&S) course is the boater certificate course designed for both the experienced and novice boater. The course consists of eight core required two-hour lessons. Successful course completion will entitle you to obtain a California Boater Card (soon to be required for all boaters). Topics include:
• Which Boat Is For You?– Types of boats, hull design, uses of boats, materials for construction, types of engines, and buying a boat.
• Equipment For Your Boat– Requirements for your boat’s equipment, legal considerations, boating accidents, and substance abuse.
• Highway Signs– Buoyage system, ATONS, light characteristics, chart symbols.
• Rules of the Road– Boating traffic, stand-on and give-way vessels, traffic separation, diver-down rules, anchoring, narrow channels, restricted visibility, small boat safety, and inland waters.
• Your Boat’s Radio– Functions of radios, selecting your VHF radio, channels, radio procedure, and types of radio calls.
The course will be taught at the Pierpont Bay Yacht Club, 1363 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura, CA (2nd floor). There is a large parking lot at the building.
The cost of the course is $25, and participants will be required to purchase two books. To enroll please see the reverse side of this flyer. Upon enrollment, participants will receive additional information and instructions. To attend you must be vaccinated (this is U.S. Coast Guard policy for everyone’s protection)!
Enrollment & Class Information
- The class is limited to 35 students. To enroll, you must mail a check for $25 (payable to “U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 7-2”) to Auxiliarist Steve Rosenberg, 1992 Campbell Avenue, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360. Checks or money orders only; no cash! Please make certain your name, residence address, telephone number, and e-mail address appear on your check.
- You may send proof of COVID vaccination with your check or show proof of vaccination at the classroom door. Coast Guard policy is very strict about this. You may obtain your personal vaccine record fromhttps://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov/.
- Once we receive your check, we will send you (via e-mail) detailed instructions about homework. Homework is required to obtain your California Boater Card (the homework will enable you to pass the required examination).
- Please order and read the following two books (both are required).
- U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Boating Skills and Seamanship, 14th Edition, published by McGraw Hill’s International Marine (softbound). Make certain you order the 14th edition! This book is available from Internet booksellers and (occasionally) West Marine. Do not purchase an earlier (out of date) edition! When you get this book, please read it cover-to-cover to prepare for the exam. We will not cover every chapter in class!
- U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Rules (softbound). Order from Paradise Cay Publications, www.paracay.com, or visit your local West Marine store. Please get the latest published edition (2018 or later).
- Class will begin promptly at 0900 each day, and end no later than 1700each day. There will be a noon break for lunch. You may bring a sack lunch withyou (plus something to drink). There is food service in Ventura Harbor, but time isshort.
If questions or concerns, please contact Auxiliarist Steve Rosenberg (via e-mail at stevecgauxmember@aol.com) or by cellular telephone (at 818-321-0642).
