| Courses | Boating Course Outline |
This course will present the basic information you need in order to become comfortable with the necessary boating skills required to enjoy boating with a typical pleasure boat (power or sail), with particular regard to the characteristics of the waters off British Columbia's coast. You will learn about compasses, taking bearings, aids to navigation, marine charts, plotting bearings and courses, keeping a log, tides and currents, anchoring, weather, boat handling, launching, docking, safety and emergency procedures, mandatory equipment, licensing requirements, and government regulations. The Pleasure Craft Operator (P.C.O.C.) Card exam is included with this course at no additional cost.
The course is held twice-weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at Prince of Wales School, 2250 Eddington Drive, Vancouver. You may choose to attend either night, since each week's topics are presented in full in the Tuesday class and again in the Thursday class; but you should, if possible, attend on the same night each week. You may also, if you are having difficulty with a particular topic, attend on both nights.
Each class starts promptly at 7:00 PM (1900 Hours) with 30 to 45 minutes in small groups, working with a Proctor (a teaching assistant), reviewing the previous week's homework and discussing any questions you may have. Then the first part of the evening's scheduled lecture is presented, for about an hour, followed by a short coffee break (coffee and soft drinks are available), then the balance of the lecture to about 9:45 PM (2145 Hours). The Class Schedule shows the class topics and homework assignments for each week.
Course Textbooks and EquipmentDuring registration, you receive the following:
You will also need to acquire a drafting pencil (i.e., any ordinary mechanical pencil with a 0.5 mm H or HB lead, a set of dividers, and a good eraser. These can be obtained at most stationery stores, and drafting/drawing supply stores. We also will have CPS plotting kits available at a reasonable cost ($15.00). The CPS kit contains dividers, 0.5mm mechanical pencil and drafting eraser
The following books may be of use as additional sources of relevant information:
The first two are American, and somewhat intimidating; the third is Canadian, and, like the CPS Boating Course, has a strong B.C. orientation. The last (despite the title) is an excellent guide to the knots most commonly used in boating. All should be available in Pubic Libraries and marine bookstores.
The examination takes place on the last class night. It requires approximately 2 to 3 hours to complete, and is "closed book" - no reference materials may be used. The exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions. You will need to bring a calculator, pencil, eraser, dividers, and the CPS Plotter. No P.D.A.'s are allowed. The exam results are the only "mark" given for the course. More details will be given during the classes leading up to the exam night.
You will note in the Schedule that the sequence of lessons is not in the order presented in the CPS textbook. This is so that we may introduce you to the topics of Aids, Charts, and Plotting, as early as possible; thus you will have more time to work on the Plotting homework cruises. Plotting, Aids to Navigation and related topics are worth more than one third of the total marks on the examination, so it is very important that you thoroughly understand them!
When you have passed the exam, you will receive the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons' Certificate of Completion. You will receive a complimentary one year membership in CPS, which allows you to join the Squadron of your choice and fly the Canadian Power & Sail Squadron flag. You will then also be eligible to take our Advanced and Elective Courses, such as Piloting, Marine Electronics, Weather, and others.
Home study and the timely completion of the homework assignments are essential to successful completion of the Course! You should also keep ahead of the material by reviewing in advance of each week's class the Sections/Topics to be taught that week. As a rough guide, you should expect to spend about 3 hours each week on homework, and another hour or so preparing for the upcoming class.
If you don't understand something, please ask your Proctor during the group sessions or by contacting them by email or phone. And, as mentioned above, feel free to attend the "other" night if you need to for any reason.
As you will learn in Section 4, you must obtain an Operator's Certificate in order to operate a Marine Radiotelephone (VHF radio) on your boat. The CPS R.O.C. Radiotelephone Seminar is a short course which covers the topics one needs to know in order to obtain the Certificate, and which ends with the Government examination. This seminar is held in the Fall and the Spring , and is scheduled on consecutive Wednesdays so that Boating students can take it. Unlike the Boating Course, there is a limit on the number of students we can handle - and we give priority to you! See your Proctor or Class Coordinator to pre-register for the Radiotelephone Course, or if you want more information on it.
As a student of the current Boating Course you are welcome as guests at any of Vancouver Squadron's monthly Monday night meetings held the 3rd Monday of the monthduring the Boating Course. The dates of upcoming meetings will be mentioned by your Class Coordinator, as well as in sample copies of our newsletter, The Masthead, which will be available for reading, from time to time, on the "info" table at the back of the classroom.
Three-plus months is a long time, in today's busy lives, and sometimes one's life changes abruptly: a new job, the "flu", or whatever. If for some reason you find yourself missing too many weeks of classes and homework, it can be arranged for you to attend another session of the course, within a year (ie: then next spring or fall course). The fee would be $45 for processing, plus the cost of any revised textbooks or other course material.
revised 2010/01/14 PB