Boating Education

America's Boating Club® provides many educational opportunities to both the boating public and to its members. One of the key concepts of the America's Boating Club is the self-education of its members, meaning that successful students go on to teach other students to perpetuate boating knowledge. ABC instructors who teach public courses are also certified regarding their ability to teach and use modern instructional methods.

Courses and Seminars

As part of the ABC boating education program, America's Boating Club - Southeastern New England club members teach courses and present seminars throughout the year in various locations and on-line. These courses and seminars are presented for both members and the boating public. Current information on scheduled and proposed offerings can be found on our course schedule page. ABC courses are multi-session offerings that usually meets one night a week for a number of weeks. The length of courses vary from eight sessions to thirteen depending on the course. ABC Seminars are single sessions events usually lasting two hours that focus on a narrow boating topic, such as Anchoring, Rules of the Road, Marine Radio, and more.

Seminars

ABC Seminars are targeted at specific topics and skills, for a range of boaters and types of boating. In all America's Boating Club has created over 20 Seminars, many of which are periodically offered by Southeastern New England clubs. A complete listing of seminar topics can be found in our course catalog

Courses

For people looking for more comprehensive boating education opportunities, Southeastern New England clubs present a wide range of ABC courses, covering basic boating skills, navigation and other boating related topics. These course offerings are part of the overall ABC educational curriculum that includes a comprehensive boating safety course, America's Boating Course, and a range of beginner, intermediate and advanced boating education courses.

America's Boating Course is the ABC public basic boating education course. Successful completion is honored by all states for their basic boat licensing requirements and most boat insurance companies for premium reductions. Those between the ages of 12 and 16 can obtain their Massachusetts Powerboat Operators Certificate.

Topics covered: Boat handling, state and federal requirements and regulations, safety equipment, aids to navigation, charts and course plotting, knots, marine radio use, trailering, personal watercraft use, and much more.

ABC course offerings include a core sequence of 5 courses starting with Boat Handling

Check our Course schedule page for information on scheduled classes. See the Course catalog for description of each ABC course offering.

Boat Operator Certification

Recently, America's Boating Club has started a Boat Operator Certification program. With the Boat Operator's Certification Program, ABC will certifymembers at various levels of recreational boating proficiency. There are four levels in the program:

• Inland Navigator
• Coastal Navigator
• Advanced Coastal Navigator
• Offshore Navigator

Certification at any level requires successful completion of all prescribed elements including:

• ABC courses
• ABC and/or non-ABC seminars
• Skill demonstrations on the water or, in some cases, ashore

For more information go to the ABC Boat Operator Certification page (member login required).

On-line Resources

Although the primary advantage of the ABC educational program is having local clubs and local instructors to deliver quality material to boaters, we recognize that emerging boaters are of a generation that often favors eLearning and self-paced learning. The following links provide information about on-line boating education opportunities.

Courses & Seminars

America's Boating Course
In addition to classroom presentation, America's Boating Course can be taken in any of three ways: on the Internet, by studying a 244-page course manual, or with a CD. No matter how you like to learn, when you sign up you'll receive a complete package that includes the course manual, the boating course CD, and a PIN number giving you access to the Internet course.

Online ABC courses, seminars and previously recorded webinars
Up-to-date information and purchase of self-paced ABC educational offerings available at the USPSonline store.

Americas's Boating Channel
America’s Boating Channel™ featuring safe boating videos and boater education digital media created especially for boaters, by boaters.