Recreational & Subsistence
Boating Safety Courses
Above: Participants in a recreational boating safety class for women
try on and learn about various styles of personal flotation devices
Please see AMSEA's Course Calendar for upcoming recreational and subsistence boating safety courses.
AMSEA offers safe boating courses
that address Alaska's special needs. The courses usually include a mixture of presentations and hands-on activities. Courses typically are designed to meet the needs of participants and can take
from 8 to 20 hours to complete. Courses currently being offered include:
Basic Boating Safety is primarily intended for boaters operating small power, wind and paddle-powered vessels on near-shore coastal waters and lakes. It is designed for new, inexperienced boaters as well as for more experienced individuals who are new to boating in Alaska.
This basic course can be tailored to the needs and desires of groups such as teenage boaters, hunters who boat in winter conditions, kayakers, etc.
Cost for Basic Boating Safety courses varies. Please see details about specific, scheduled classes on
AMSEA's Course Calendar.
Topics covered during this course include:
- Float plans
- Boating trip risk assessment
- Reading the weather
- Essential items for every boating trip
- Handling an outboard engine malfunction
- Retrieving someone who falls overboard
- Types of PFDs and their uses
- Cold water survival skills including the Heat Escape Lessening Position (HELP) and the Huddle position
- How to use a VHF radio, including how to make a proper Mayday call
- Types of emergency signals, including flares, and their proper use
Boating Without the Boys incorporates the same information as Basic Boating Safety, in a supportive, women-only classroom. It is intended to give women the confidence and skills to take a small vessel out on their own, or to be able to handle a vessel in the case of an emergency where the primary operator needs assistance.
This course is intended for women who are new, inexperienced boaters, experienced individuals who are new to boating in Alaska, and those who have in the past relied on the boating skills of male companions.
Cost for the course is typically $99.00, but may vary depending on location. Please see details about specific, scheduled Boating Without the Boys classes on
AMSEA's Course Calendar.
Left:
Emily Lewis from Elfin Cove, AK examines an inflatable PFD during a Boating Without the Boys course in Sitka.
Back to top
Alaska Water Wise, the State of Alaska's Safe Boating Course, is incorporated into some of AMSEA's boating safety courses. This minimum 8-hour course covers
topics approved by the National Association of State Boating Law
Administrators (NASBLA) and qualifies boaters for a state-issued certificate that is
recognized by many insurance companies for discounts.
Cost for the courses that incorporate Alaska Water Wise vary. Please see details about specific, scheduled classes on
AMSEA's Course Calendar.
Course topics to meet NASBLA requirements:
- Trip planning and preparation
- Cold water survival
- Navigation rules
- Boats and boat operations
- Signals
- Boating emergencies
- Legal requirements
Also, Alaska Water Wise courses are offered by instructors throughout the state under the auspices of the Alaska Office of Boating Safety. Please contact them for details.
Coastal Navigation is designed for small vessel operators who travel on coastal waters, especially the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound, and other near-shore areas. This course can be customized to meet the needs of specific mariner groups including sailors, kayakers, and long-distance cruisers.
Cost for the course varies. Please see details about specific, scheduled Coastal Navigation classes on
AMSEA's Course Calendar.
Topics covered may include:
- Understanding latitude and longitude
- Reading nautical charts
- Distance, speed and time calculations
- Using a compass
- Dead reckoning
- Taking bearings
- Tide and current calculations
- Publications: Coast Pilot, Light List, Local Notice to Mariners
- Local knowledge about navigating in a specific area
Back to top
Emergency Procedures for Recreational Boaters (EPRB) is modeled on AMSEA's highly successful, U.S. Coast Guard approved emergency procedures and drills courses for commercial fishermen. This is not a beginning boating safety class. Rather, it is intended for those who have already taken a beginning course or for experienced boaters who desire additional skills and information to enhance the safety of themselves, their passengers and their vessels.
The course provides practical information on survival equipment and on conducting emergency onboard drills. Skills are learned in a hands-on format, and the course typically includes training exercises in a pool or protected cold water.
Cost for the EPRB course is $175.00. AMSEA members receive a $50.00 discount. For information about becoming a member of AMSEA, please see the Membership Page.
Topics covered include:
- Onboard firefighting
- Liferaft maintenance, installation, deployment and use
- Maydays
- Immersion suits and other PFDs
- Flares and other emergency signals including emergency position indicating radio beacons (EPIRBs)
- Emergency drills
- Cold water survival skills
Please see AMSEA's Course Calendar for upcoming recreational & subsistence boating safety courses.
Back to top
|
