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Pleasure Craft Operators Card (PCOC)

All operators of motorized pleasure craft are required to show proof of operator competency. All you need to know for th... Read moree Transport Canada test is presented in an easy to read format that is both informative and entertaining. You can be confident that this study guide meets all the standards established by Transport Canada’s Office of Boating Safety. As an extra benefit, if you pass the test offered by Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons, your Card is recognized by BOTH Transport Canada and The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (USA).Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Maritime Radio Certificate - ROC(M)

The Maritime Radio course teaches emergency radio procedures and everyday operating techniques. Learn all about the uses... Read more of marine radios, choice of frequencies, operation, phonetic alphabet, procedural words and phrases, as well as Digital Selective Calling and the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, (DSC/GMDSS). All mariners, including recreational boaters, will want to take advantage of the many features and capabilities of this innovative form “automatic” radio. Secure your lifeline. Be sure that you and your family take the Maritime Radio course. This complete package will prepare you for the Restricted Operator Certificate (Maritime) with DSC Endorsement exam which is included as part of this courses. To operate a maritime radio, you need the certificate. It's the law!Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Basic Navigation and Boat Handling - Combined (B2/B3)

This course includes sections covering basic navigation skills (using a compass, reading and interpreting nautical chart... Read mores, using chartplotter, smartphone or tablet and manual navigation skills needed to navigate safely including locate a position (i.e., identify latitude and longitude coordinates), set direction and measure distance. This course includes practice cruises using your navigation device and manual navigation skills. Safety topics include understanding how to use navigation aids - buoy system, legal responsibilities, selecting and using lines and knots, anchoring, docking, the impact of weather on boater safety, electrical hazards, collision avoidance rules, using tide and current tables, and other related topics. Each section includes course notes, instructional video, knowledge checks – skill testing quizzes and exercises, and links to supplementary resources. An optional final “multiple choice” exam is also available.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC)

Table of Contents (PDF)

Basic Navigation and Boat Handling - Part 1 (B2)

This course includes sections covering basic navigation skills (using a compass, reading and interpreting nautical chart... Read mores, understanding the navigation aids - buoy system, and exploring the basic features and use of Electronic Navigation devices), legal responsibilities and safety measures, selecting and using lines and knots, anchoring, docking, understanding the impact of weather on boater safety, electrical hazards, collision avoidance rules, tides and currents, and other related topics. Each section includes course notes, instructional video, knowledge checks – skill testing quizzes and exercises, and links to supplementary resources. An optional final “multiple choice” exam is also available.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC)

Table of Contents (PDF)

Basic Navigation and Boat Handling - Part 2 (B3)

This course continues the navigation theme by focusing on using the capabilities of chartplotters, tablets and smartphon... Read morees as well as the manual navigation skills needed to locate a position (i.e., identify latitude and longitude coordinates), set direction and measure distance). This course includes practice cruises using your Electronic Navigation device and manual navigation skills. Each section includes course notes, instructional video, knowledge checks – skill testing quizzes and exercises, and links to supplementary resources. An optional final “multiple choice” exam is also available.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite B2: Basic Navigation & Boat Handling - Part 1

Table of Contents (PDF)

Near Shore Marine Navigation Level 1 (B4)

This course will increase your confidence by focusing on the manual navigation technique called Dead Reckoning followed ... Read moreby logbook protocols. This is followed by a review of fixed and floating aids and more detailed navigational techniques. Other chapters will increase your knowledge of environmental influences on the marine environment: Tides and Currents, Weather, and Wind and Waves. Still other chapters are devoted to specific procedures to follow when things go from bad to worse: skills for boating handling during adverse weather, managing emergencies, and coordinating rescue efforts with the Coast Guard. Finally, you must demonstrate your proficiency in tying various knots and splices. The exam includes an extensive quiz section and charting/cruise exercise testing you understanding all topics covered in the course.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite B3: Introduction to Navigation or Basic Navigation and Boat Handling - Part 2

Table of Contents (PDF)

Offshore Marine Navigation Level 1 (B6)

If you are contemplating a voyage off-shore, this course will teach you what you need to know to navigate in open ocean ... Read morewaters with no land insight. You will develop confidence in your ability to sail safely and comfortably for long periods at sea. The course covers: Trip planning and advanced preparation using Visual Passage Planner (VPP2)software; Offshore navigational processes, tasks, and responsibilities including use of OpenCPN, logging, and dead reckoning; Charts and electronic equipment including GPS, AIS, and chart plotting devices; Typical offshore weather patterns including wind and sea states, using PilotCharts and GRIB overlays; Emergency navigation using a calculator and basic trigonometry; and preparation for landfall and arrival. An appendix is included dealing with the use of the sextant for taking noon sights on the Sun. This material is non-examinable but is included for those wishing to pursue Celestial Navigation. Before you head offshore, make sure you have the skills needed for planning and independently conducting a safe voyage across vast bodies of water when immediate assistance is not available.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite B5: Near Shore Navigation Level 1

Practical Weather for Boaters

This course will improve your understanding of the systems that cause weather. It will help you use forecasts more intel... Read moreligently and to augment forecasts with local observations. This will improve your decision making. It will help you develop keen judgments in “reading” the sky and sea for optimum boating safety in and around Canadian waters. Each section includes a manual (e-copy), instructional video, quiz/exercise activity, and links to supplementary resources.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Table of Contents (PDF)

RADAR for Boaters

This course covers the different types of RADAR equipment, their capabilities and limitations. It helps you understand t... Read morehe available features and how they apply to your needs. Learn how to use your RADAR for collision avoidance and for navigational purposes. The course covers everything about RADAR from how and where to mount the antenna to how to use and interpret the displays.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Boat and Engine Maintenance

Keep the water on the other side of the wall! From spark plugs to bottom paint, this course covers all the basics for �... Read more�do it yourself” boaters. This course will equip you with the knowledge required to prevent onboard problems, carry out specialized tasks and tackle both short-term troubleshooting as well as long-term boat care. It features practical information and handy tips suitable for both new and existing boat owners. The dream of owning, maintaining and using your own boat without great expense can be achieved through the completion of the Boat & Engine Maintenance Course.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Marine Electrical Maintenance

Learn how to maintain electrical systems in your boat properly and safely. Gain a solid foundation in wiring, direct cur... Read morerent systems, and alternating current systems found on recreational vessels. It also covers galvanic and stray current corrosion, lightning protection, interference suppression and electrical troubleshooting. Learn how to maintain electrical systems in your boat properly and safely. Gain a solid foundation in wiring, direct current systems, and alternating current systems found on recreational vessels. It also covers galvanic and stray current corrosion, lightning protection, interference suppression and electrical troubleshooting. Enrol in the Marine Electrical Maintenance Course with your local Canadian Power and Sail Squadron, because PEACE OF MIND IS PRICELESS!Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Sailing

Do you want to learn more about sailing? Do you want to improve your sailing skills and your understanding of how sails ... Read morework? This Sailing Course covers the practical and theoretical basics of sailing and sailing seamanship. The range of topics is broad: from a description of different sailboat rigs, sail plans, hull types, and rigging to stability, balance, and the physics of sailing; from sailing at different points of sail to handling heavy weather and storm conditions; from spinnaker handling to reefing; from leaving the dock to mooring and anchoring. It also covers sailing safety, navigation rules, and sailing tactics Whether you are a new sailor or you are an experienced sailor and want to increase your sailing knowledge and skills, this course is for you.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite Boating 2 (Beyond Basics) or Basic Navigation & Boat Handling - Part 2

Extended Cruising

Extended Cruising is an essential first step in understanding the elements of the long-distance passage making lifestyle... Read more under sail or power. Through this course you will become confident in the boat you select by understanding seaworthiness, stability, and other design concepts. You will gain an awareness of the maintenance required for critical systems, passage planning, provisioning, and visiting foreign countries, safety issues, emergency preparedness and weather tips. If you want to cruise coastal waters, experience remote anchorages far from home or explore countries across oceans, Extended Cruising provides you with a deeper understanding of the skills necessary for confident, safe passages.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite B3: Basic Navigation & Boat Handling

Seminar: Tropical Weather for Boaters

The Seminar is designed to be done in one sitting of about 90 minutes. Many boaters like to spend all or part of their w... Read moreinters sailing in tropical waters, and no doubt wonder what sort of weather they might encounter. The meteorology behind winter weather in the Tropical Zone is very much different from that which we experience here in the mid-latitudes. This seminar gives provides a quick review of mid-latitude weather, and then explains the differences that we would find in the tropics, and why they are different. A good follow up of this course would be Weather for Boaters which is a multi week course with Tutor support.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Seminar: Tides and Currents

For the safety of oneself, the boat’s crew and the boat itself, the boater had best be prepared to take tides and cur... Read morerents into consideration when planning a voyage of any length in tidal waters. Failure to do so can result in the vessel’s running aground or, just as embarrassing and damaging, snapping off a mast in a collision with a bridge or utility cable stretched across a tidal river. It is not possible to cover every detail of the subject of tides and currents within the constraints of this seminar, but it will certainly give the student a solid introduction to the subject. To learn more, we highly recommend boaters take the CPS-ECP courses, B4: Near Shore Marine Navigation Level I and B5: Near Shore Marine Navigation Level II. Tides and currents are covered more extensively in those courses.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Seminar: How to Use a GPS

This introductory online seminar is for boaters who want to know the basics of how to set up their GPS/Chartplotter, und... Read moreerstand how it works, how to use it to and how it can connect to other boat electronics including tablets and smart phones. In this seminar, you will learn about waypoints, routes and how to best use the display options available for charts and data. Knowing how to plan and safely execute a route and interpret what you see on the charts is important A section is included on the capabilities of multi-function displays connected to an autopilot, sensors, radar, AIS or DSC radio. This is an interactive seminar and to help you assess your learning, there are question and answer segments located throughout the various sections.Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Seminar: Celestial Navigation in a Nutshell

The Seminar is designed to be done in one sitting of about 90 minutes. Before electronic navigation aids like GPS and e... Read morelectronic chartplotters came along, coastal sailors plotted fixes by using natural and man-made references, such as lighthouses, buoys, church steeples, radio/TV towers, and so on, that were plotted in their exact locations on paper navigation charts. They did this by taking quick-succession bearings on two or more of these objects, thus producing lines of position (LOPs) that crossed each other at some point. When these LOPs were plotted on the paper chart, the sailor could see the fix, indicating the boat’s position. This process is called getting a terrestrial fix. However, if the sailor is in the middle of an ocean, there are no lighthouses or church steeples. There is a solution however, and as the Friendly Giant used to say, “Look up … way up,” and there are all those heavenly bodies, “lighthouses in the sky.”Read less

Suggested Prerequisite none

Boating 2-3 Combined - ONLINE with Weekly Meetings

Bluenose - Oct 12th, 2023

Burlington - Oct 3rd, 2023

Burlington - Jan 9th, 2024

Coquitlam - Sep 26th, 2023

Grand River - Oct 3rd, 2023

Guelph - Oct 3rd, 2023

Hamilton - Jan 9th, 2024

Port Dalhousie - Oct 3rd, 2023

Port Dover - Oct 3rd, 2023

Port Dover - Jan 9th, 2024

Shediac - Oct 18th, 2023

Shediac - Jan 10th, 2024

Pleasure Craft Operators Card (PCOC)

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Maritime Radio Certificate - ROC(M)

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Basic Navigation and Boat Handling - Combined (B2/B3)

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Basic Navigation and Boat Handling - Part 1 (B2)

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Basic Navigation and Boat Handling - Part 2 (B3)

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Near Shore Marine Navigation Level 1 (B4)

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Offshore Marine Navigation Level 1 (B6)

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Practical Weather for Boaters

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RADAR for Boaters

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Boat and Engine Maintenance

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Marine Electrical Maintenance

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Sailing

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Extended Cruising

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Seminar: Tropical Weather for Boaters

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Seminar: Tides and Currents

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Seminar: How to Use a GPS

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Seminar: Celestial Navigation in a Nutshell

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