District 085 Division 11 Flotilla 04
Hudson, Wisconsin
Sailing Skills and Seamanship (SS&S) course
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.
Classes,
Dates, times and locations
Request for more information or sign up.