E-LIB - Boating Safely

Sailing Skills & Seamanship - Course Description

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary’s Sailing Skills and Seamanship Course (SS&S) is a comprehensive course designed for both experienced and novice sailboat operators. The course, now in its 6 th edition that was published in 2008, is divided into parts: 10 core requirement two-to four-hour lessons plus 6 elective lessons that will enhance the skills required for a safe voyage in all conditions. These courses can be taught in addition to the core courses.

TOPICS INCLUDE

About Sailboats –Language of the sea; components of a sailboat; standing and running rigging; sails; types of sailboats; boat building materials; guidance on selecting and purchasing a boat.

How A Boat Sails – Reading the wind; points of sailing, running, close hauled, reaching, sail shape; sail adjustments; when the wind picks up.

Basic Sailboat Maneuvering – Tacking; jibbing; sailing a course; stability and angle of heel; knowing your boat.

Rigging And Boat Handling – Stepping the mast; making sail; hoisting the sails; leaving the dock; mooring; controlling the sails; anchoring; weighing anchor.

Equipment For Your Boat – Requirements for your boat; your boat’s equipment; legal considerations.

Trailering Your Sailboat – Legal considerations; practical considerations; selecting your trailer; the towing vehicle; handling your trailer; pre-departure checks; launching; retrieving; raising the mast; storing your boat and trailer; theft prevention; aquatic nuisance species; float plan.

Your Highway Signs – Protection of ATONS; buoyage systems; waterway marks; how waterways are marked; light characteristics; chart symbols; light structures; lights on bridges; electronic aids to navigation; navigation publications.

The Rules Of The Nautical Road - Two sets of rules; to whom do the rules apply; the general responsibility rule; general considerations; conduct in narrow channels; traffic separation schemes; vessel traffic serves; stand-on or give-way; rules for special vessels; risk of collision; bend signals; restricted visibility; vessel lights and shapes; vessels at anchor; diving operations; distress signal; drawbridge signals; penalties.

Inland Boating – Types of inland waters; inland navigation; inland seamanship; river currents; maintaining inland waterways; dams; locks; river charts; commercial traffic; before you go (This lesson typically will not be taught in coastal courses).

Sailing Safety – Small boat safety; man overboard; cold water immersion; sharing the water with other boats; fueling; carbon monoxide poisoning; sources of weather information.

More On Sail Trim And Boat Handling – Tuning sailboat rigging; lee and weather helm; headsails and headsail trimming; handling in heavy weather, reefing sails, knock down, or a capsize; disabled rudder.

Introduction To Navigation – Piloting tools; maps and charts; chart features, chart information block; other charted information; your magnetic compass; position on earth’s surface; locating a point on the chart; distance on the earth’s surface; measuring distance; course plotting; sources of compass error; correcting a compass reading; positioning; speed-time-distance; dead reckoning; practicing your art.

Engines For Sailboats – Outboard engines, two and four cycle; trouble shooting and maintenance; inboard auxiliary engines; diesel engine maintenance and trouble shooting; batteries; propellers; galvanic action; basic tool kit.

Lines And Knots For Your Boat – Line or rope; rope materials; kinds of rope; measuring rope; selecting your ropes; care of ropes; making up line; knots, bends and hitches; splices; securing lines; dipping the eye.

Weather And Sailing – Sources of weather information; wind and boating; wind and waves; weather and heat; fog; non-frontal weather.

Your Boat’s Radio – Radios used on boats; functions of radios; licenses; selecting your VHF-FM radio; installation; operating your VHF-FM; maintain a radio watch; channels have special purposes; some “no no’s”; copies of rules; calling another station; procedure words; phonetic alphabet; routine radio check; distress, urgency, and safety calls; crew training.

Many insurance companies will offer discounts on boat insurance to individuals who successfully complete this course.

Individuals who successfully complete the course and exam are awarded certificates and cards.

Contact: Hank Foglino, DVC-EM
Chief, Course Management Division

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This page last updated on May 6, 2008
Comments: DC-E