Boating School Information

It doesn’t seem like it should be possible to learn how to sail or drive a powerboat when you don’t have access to the sea, but it is and online boating school will teach you everything you need to know. These courses must, however, be supplemented by later hands-on training before you can become a certified sailor.

Online boating schools usually divide their courses between those relevant to sailing and those relevant to powerboating, and there are also those schools who offer online courses in windsurfing. Sailing courses would be further categorized into introductory courses, small boat courses, cruising courses and keelboat courses.

Introductory boating courses cover things that a person would have to know about boating before they ever set foot on a boat and are usually aimed at absolute beginners. Small boat courses are designed to teach the basics about handling sailing boats under 20 feet long and will consist of classes in such subjects as terms and boat parts, points of a sail and turning the boat. The Keelboat courses should always be taken before the cruising courses and they teach the basics about keel sailing by emphasizing specific subjects like boats and rigging, sail trim and shape, and wind and reefing. Once the keelboat courses have been completed then it’s on to the cruising courses where a student will learn all about things like how to charter, how to tie advanced knots and docking and navigation.

Powerboat courses also come on an introductory level and there are also advanced courses on offer on powerboat handling. Subjects covered in the beginners’ courses include USCG rules of the road, aids to navigation and anchoring.

The usual course offered by an online boating school is structured so that students complete online lesson plans that feature tools such as online and downloadable videos, PDFs, charts and lectures. Once they have completed the course they then take a test online, which is graded by the course instructor, who reports back by advising what areas should be looked at again. Further useful tools that are offered to students include the online sailing calculators, which are online worksheets showing students how to calculate the formulas needed for navigation and sailing. Available online sailing calculators include those for current deviation, sail area/displacement, capsize formula and motion comfort.

Online boating school may not get you wet but it will definitely get you interested in boating.