About America's Boating Course

America's Boating Course is a complete home study program covering the basics of recreational boating. The course is designed for boaters using all types of watercraft. The course material includes seven chapters, which cover:

• Boat Education: General information about boats and personal watercraft, and their maintenance
• Boating Safety: How to make your boating safer and more comfortable
• Boating Tips: How to be a more courteous and safe boater
• Boating Law and Regulation: Laws and regulations that you must follow.

America's Boating Course includes:

• A full-color 80-page boating safety course manual, and
• A boating instruction CD-ROM, and
• An online boating course with PIN number, and
• Personal contact with United States Power Squadron members.

America's Boating Course is recognized by the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Power Squadrons and has been approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. It's fun, thorough and inexpensive, so sign up today for America's Boating Course!

The boating education materials include both an 80-page full color course manual and a CD. The course manual is your workbook, and the CD is your "virtual instructor." Both cover the same topics, but each in its own way. The course manual includes many diagrams, graphics and boating tips. The CD has spoken instruction and uses boat training movie clips, video, and sound.

Both the boater education course manual and the CD provide review questions so that you can show that you truly understand the material. In addition to the lessons, this safe boating course includes resources which will come in handy long after you have completed the course: printable forms (such as checklists, accident reports, float plans, etc.) and links to documents such as the U.S. Coast Guard's Navigation Rules, which can help you with any specific boating rule. You will receive both the boater safety printed course manual and the CD when you sign up.

When you purchase America's Boating Course over the Internet, you will also receive a PIN (Personal Identification Number) that provides you with Internet access to our boating web site. Learn the basics of boating online at your own pace, at home or away. In addition to the boating course material, a fellow boater in your area from USPS will contact you and offer to explain boat training, state regulations, taking a final safe boater exam, or answer any other questions you may have. The United States Power Squadrons is on call at any time to help you.

America's Boating Course, a complete boater education package, is only $34.95 plus shipping and handling. Sign up now for America's Boating Course!

Your Private Boating School: Distance Learning Instructions

Follow these steps:

1. Read each chapter of the printed boater course manual along with the boating training material found on the CD-ROM or online boating course.
2. Complete the Chapter Review Exercises following the last chapter, then check your answers on the last page.
3. Review the boat course information you may have answered incorrectly.
4. Once you have successfully mastered the boating safety class material found in the course manual and on the CD-ROM or Internet course, a boater safety test can be given by a local U.S. Power Squadron. If you do not have a local contact, call toll-free 1-866-BOAT ABC (1-866-262-8222) to arrange to take the boater test. And, some states offer online testing.
5. When you pass the boat safety test, you will receive a boating safety card from the U.S. Power Squadrons showing that you successfully completed America's Boating Course exam.

Online Testing for Boat License or Safety Certification

For certain states, you can take a Certification Exam accepted by that state's boating agency. To determine whether online testing is available for your particular state, go to Testing for Your State.

Need More Boating Safety Information?

This guide is designed to be an introductory course to meet the boating education needs of recreational boaters. We encourage you to continue to learn more about boating safety and the boat license or education requirements for your particular state.

For more advanced information, the following publications may be useful:

• U.S. Coast Guard's Navigation Rules
• Chapman Piloting Seamanship and Small Boat Handling by Elbert S. Maloney
• The Annapolis Book of Seamanship by Mark Smith and John Rousmaniere

For additional boating education courses, go to Other Boating Courses and Classes.