2008 Members Advanced/Elective Courses
Online Registration

USPS UNIVERSITY SEMINAR SERIES

USPS offets a variety of seminars that address various boating topics.
CLICK HERE to learn more about them, or to enroll in one.

THE FOLLOWING ARROWHEAD COURSES AND CLASSES ARE FOR MEMBERS ONLY



SAIL
Description of Course:
  The Sail course includes many topics to improve your sailing safety, including sailboat handling, the balance of hull and sails, stability, sailing in heavy weather, and managing rigging and sails. Special importance is placed on using safety harnesses when going forward on deck out of the cockpit. Being pitched out of the cockpit in unsettled seas is decidedly unsafe.

Topics include:
  • Sailboat Rigs
  • Sail Plans
  • Boat Design and Hull Types
  • Sails
  • Standing Rigging
  • Running Rigging
  • Wind
  • Preparing to Sail
  • Sailing Upwind
  • Sailing Downwind
  • Docking and Anchoring
  • Marlinespike Seamanship
  • Navigation Rules
  • Wind Forces
  • Stability
  • Balance
  • Sail Shape
  • Tuning the Rig
  • Steering and Helmsmanship
  • Spinnaker Handling
  • Heavy Weather Sailing
  • Storm Conditions
  • Sailing Safety
  • Sailboat Racing
  • Race Management
  • Navigation Rules II

Choose a class:
No Sail classes are scheduled at this time.






WEATHER
Description of Course:
  The Weather course will furnish basic weather knowledge for safer and more enjoyable boating. The student will learn to make weather predictions based upon observations of the sky, upon barometer and wind information, as well as weather data provided by maps, satellite images, and radio and TV broadcasts. Wx 101 and Wx 102 use a USPS supplement manual together with The Weather Book from USA Today (second edition, 1997) as the textbook.

Topics include:
  • Effects of Heat and Cold
  • Wind and Pressure
  • Storms and Fronts
  • Rain, Humidity and Fog
  • Floods, Droughts, and
    Winter Precipitation
  • Thunderstorms and Tornados
  • Tropical Weather
  • Atmosphere and Clouds
  • Forecasting
  • Climate

Choose a class:
No Weather classes are scheduled at this time.






INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT
Description of Course:
  Unlike other USPS courses, ID is not designed to enhance boating skills. Rather, it deals with effective communications for speaker and teacher - a quality that benefits the individual in all walks of life.

Topics include:
  • Preparing for teaching assignments
  • Preparing for meeting presentations
  • Effective teaching techniques
  • Conducting efficient meetings
  • Selection and use of audio-visual aids
Choose a class:
No ID classes are scheduled at this time.




INSTRUCTOR RECERTIFICATION
Description of Course:
Students who have completed Instructor Development must periodically become recertified.

Topics include:
  • A review of topics covered in Instructor Development
Choose a class:
No IR classes are scheduled at this time.




ANCHORING
Description of Course:
The Anchoring class will teach you how, when, and where to anchor, and all the attendant issues with respect to that challenge. This class is given once a year, usually in August.

Topics include:
  • Types of anchors
  • Scope
  • Dropping anchor
  • Setting the anchor
  • Weighing anchor
  • Types of bottoms
  • Great places to anchor
Choose a class:
No, thanks.
Summer of 2008 in Redlands; Instructor Walker

Cost: Free

  Enroll Me Now




JUNIOR NAVIGATION
Description of Course:
  Junior Navigation is the first in a two-part program of study in offshore navigation. It is designed as a practical "how to" course.


Topics include:
  • Precise time determination
  • Use of the Nautical Almanac
  • Taking sextant sights of the sun, moon, planets and stars
  • Reducing sights to establish lines of position
  • Special charts and plotting sheets for offshore navigation
  • Offshore navigational routines for recreational craft
Choose a class:
No JN classes are scheduled at this time.




NAVIGATION
Description of Course:
  This course is the second part of the study of offshore navigation, further developing the student's understanding of celestial navigation theory.


Topics include:
  • Additional sight-reduction techniques
  • Honing skills in sight taking and positioning
  • Orderly methods for the navigator's day's work at sea
  • Navigating with minimal resources, as in a lifeboat
Choose a class:
No Navigation classes are scheduled at this time.






CRUISE PLANNING

Description of Course:
  This course is designed for members who plan to cruise for a year or just a weekend - in either a sail or power boat.


Topics include:
  • Planning a voyage
  • Financing a voyage
  • Managing commitments back home
  • How to equip a cruising boat
  • Crew selection
  • Provisioning
  • Voyage management
  • Entering and clearing foreign ports
  • Emergencies afloat
  • Security measures
Choose a class:
No Cruise Planning classes are scheduled at this time.






ENGINE MAINTENANCE
Description of Course:
  This course attempts to make students more self-reliant afloat, with trouble-diagnosis and temporary remedies given special emphasis. Topics cover both marine gasoline and diesel engines, including concepts of operation, maintenance and repair of:


Topics include:
  • Cooling systems
  • Electrical systems
  • Fuel systems
  • Lubricating systems
  • Power train components
  • Ancillary propulsion components
Choose a class:
No Engine Maintenance classes are scheduled at this time.






MARINE ELECTRONICS
Description of Course:
  This course teaches essential knowledge about a boat's electrical and electronic systems.


Topics include:
  • Proper wiring
  • Grounding
  • Corrosion and electrolysis control
  • Batteries and their maintenance
  • Depth finders
  • Marine radiotelephones
  • RADAR
  • LORAN, GPS, and other electronic positioning systems
Choose a class:
No Marine Electronics classes are scheduled at this time.






SEAMANSHIP

Description of Course:
  This course teaches essential knowledge about a boat's electrical and electronic systems.


Topics include:
  • Proper wiring
  • Grounding
  • Corrosion and electrolysis control
  • Batteries and their maintenance
  • Depth finders
  • Marine radiotelephones
  • RADAR
  • LORAN, GPS, and other electronic positioning systems
Choose a class:
No Seamanship classes are scheduled at this time.






PILOTING
Description of Course:
  This course is the first of a two-part program (Advanced Piloting completes the program) studying inland and coastal navigation. Its focus is on the fundamentals of piloting - keeping track of a boat's movements, determining one's position at any time and laying out courses to a planned destination.


Topics include:
  • Charts and their use
  • Aids to navigation
  • The mariner's compass
  • Variation and deviation of the compass
  • Plotting and steering courses
  • Dead reckoning
  • Plotting and labeling charts
Choose a class:
No Piloting classes are scheduled at this time.




FIRST AID / CPR
Description of Course:
 

This is the American Red Cross Adult CPR with First Aid course. This 5.5 hour course provides individuals with the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize and provide basic care for breathing and cardiac emergencies for adults including the use of an AED (automated external defibrillator). How to respond to sudden illness, injuries.

Meets OSHA Guidelines for First Aid.


Certifications:
 

First Aid – Valid 3 Years
Adult CPR – Valid 1 Year


Choose a class:
No, thanks.
Mar 8 , 2008
May 18 , 2008
Oct 11, 2008

Cost: $30

  Enroll Me Now




BASIC CANOEING

Description of Course:
 

Canoeing Basics gets you ready for everything from an afternoon on a lake to a week on the Colorado River! This course developed by leaders of the 1999 Northern Tier expedition to Canada. Learn canoe handling, paddling ... ... and camping next to waterways. Learn safety AND fun. Must have current Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat certification cards (waived for Arrowhead members). This course available to adults and Venturing-age youth (14+).

This is a three-day course. Day 1 is in the classroom learning canoeing skills. Days 2 and 3 are on the water in Mission Bay putting learning to work doing a Trek called the Salty Rat. Salty Rat is topped off with a potluck Dutch oven cook. Participants may opt to go home or stay the night.



Topics include:
  • Basic canoe handling
  • Strokes
  • Rescues
  • Equipment
  • Safety
Choose a class:
No Basic Canoeing classes are scheduled at this time.




WILDERNESS BASIC FIRST AID

Description of Course:
  This course shows you techniques for first aid in the wilderness.


Topics include:
  • [under construction]
Choose a class:
No, thanks.
Apr 25-27, 2008

Cost: $75

  Enroll Me Now




KID SMART

Description of Course:
 

Safe boating for kids. All the topics are hands-on with a fun activity to learn each topic.



Topics include:
  • Cold Water Survival -Life Jackets, Hypothermia, H.E.L.P.
  • Self Rescue
  • Fire and Carbon monoxide
  • Operating the VHF radio
  • ... and more

Choose a class:
No, thanks.
May 26 , 2008

Cost: $Free

  Enroll Me Now


 

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments to the SEO:
(Squadron Educational
Officer)

 

Please note:  Additional classes will be posted when they are available. With some flexibility, fall is defined as October- November-December, winter is January-February-March, spring is April-May-June. This schedule may be adjusted from time to time as necessary, and will be updated and posted accordingly.

For more specific information, please email the Squadron Educational Officer at SEO@ArrowheadSPS.org