Our “America’s Boating Course” class (ABC) ended on March 20 with 10 students able to take the final exam. Four other students were unable to attend but will be given the opportunity to take the exam soon. For those that passed the exam, all of them, and want to get their California Boating Card, they can go online to the California Department of Waterways to apply for their Card. It’s a simple process that requires the submittal of $10 and a copy of the certificate of completion they received from us.
The ABC class uses a USPS textbook that contains two supplemental chapters on navigation and charting. While this material is not required to obtain a certificate of completion from us or to obtain the California Boating Card, it can provide a very good grounding in the use of charts and navigation techniques, and it will serve as an excellent introduction to our more intensive Piloting class. I polled the current class and they are very much interested in learning this material so we will be presenting these chapters to the current class in two sessions on March 27 and April 3.
We’ve also made good progress in scheduling more classes for this year. Steve Young will be teaching Marine Electrical Systems from April 24 to June 19 and Pete Seagoe will be teaching Engine Maintenance from September 11 to November 20. We’ve also scheduled Steve York to teach the Partner in Command seminar during Boating Safety Week on Saturday May 19.
If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to contact me at rdciolino@cox.net or 805-682-4543. Sail safely!