The America’s Boating Course (ABC Course) is the most comprehensive, single source boating course available today that provides the skills needed to enjoy your time on the water and boat safely with confidence. Taking this boating course will also reduce your risk of accidents and injuries and will save you money on boat insurance.

 

What You Will Learn

Information about NY State Boating Laws, regulations, boat registration, and licensing.

Required boating safety equipment.

Dos and Don’ts of boating safety.

Practical knowledge of navigation and rules of the road.

How to handle medical emergencies onboard and mechanical problems on the water.

The basics of towing and trailering.

 

The ABC Course consists of four, "Virtual", evening classes, each two hours long, from 7 to 9 pm, beginning Tuesday, October 4th, and a fifth evening for the final exam which will be given online. All classes will be held on the ZOOM platform. You will need a computer with a camera to take these classes. Tuition and course material is $60, which is fully reimbursable upon successful completion for all boaters living on the South Shore of LI between Massapequa and West Islip, complements of the Jerry Cappa Memorial Scholarship Fund.

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Tuition and course material is $60.

Electronic Navigation

Electronic Navigation introduces GPS technology from the most basic receiver to chart plotter systems for navigation on board. The process of navigating by establishing waypoints and routes, and then running the planned courses, is demonstrated. Further, electronic charting software for the desktop computer is examined, with creation of waypoints and routes on the desktop and subsequent download to the on-board unit. Despite differences among the various manufacturers' offerings, a thorough discussion of the features being made available is included.

Special attention is paid to apps for tablets and smartphones that provide the electronic navigation function at the helm, for relatively little cost.

Students should be familiar with basic charting concepts such as latitude, longitude, the compass, course plotting, and time/distance calculation, to get the most out of the course.

The student materials include a soft-bound course text and a Windows-compatible CD for electronic content. The course menu provides all the class presentation PowerPoints, an interactive homework tool, and hands-on exercises on the PC that simulate GPS functions. We now recommend OpenCPN as the laptop/desktop chartplotter software along with free charts downloadable from NOAA. We no longer support the chartplotter emulator included on the CD.

Engine Maintenance

 The new Engine Maintenance course 2011 has been put into one ten chapter course that stresses the diagnosis of modern systems, while also teaching the basics of engine layout and operation. Gasoline inboards, outboards, and diesel engines are taught in a way that reinforces the common aspects of how engines work. This new course is complete in one book with one exam.

Modern engines offer high reliability and good performance through the use of computerized systems for fuel delivery and engine timing. Most of these systems are “black boxes” that can no longer be serviced by weekend mechanics with ordinary tools. The EM course covers those repairs that do-it-yourselfers can still perform, teaches how to diagnose problems that might be beyond your ability to fix, and how to share information with your mechanic so the right repairs get performed. The new Engine Maintenance course also covers basic mechanical systems such as drive systems (propellers), steering systems, and engine controls. The last chapter discusses solutions you might use to problems that could occur while afloat and away from a repair facility. Gasoline, diesel, and outboard engines are treated independently in this chapter.