ADVANCED GRADE COURSES

The advanced grade courses for members of the Naples Sail and Power Squadron lead the boater from boating handling fundamentals through celestial navigation and acquaint him or her with a wide range of nautical lore.

Members earn grades and insignias to recognize their educational achievement. Show your insignia proudly on your uniform.

Please review below the boating courses offered and review our current course schedule for details. These boating courses are designed to be taken in sequence, as the first is a pre-requisite for the next course. Contact us with your questions or request assistance with your enrollment.

Seamanship
This course is the first Advanced Grade and is the basis for all other Squadron studies. It covers boat types, boat handling, marlinspike seamanship and other fundamentals for smart boating. Recommended for both powerboaters and sailors.

Piloting
Explores in greater depth the subjects covered in the Seamanship Course and gives practical instruction in position determination. It provides detailed information on required equipment. Lessons also cover the way the boat is handled while afloat.

Advanced Piloting
In these classes, the student learns about charts and how to find his position, how to lay out and follow courses, and how to determine and compensate for tides and currents. The successful student is competent to guide a boat in waters within sight of land, using along-shore navigational aids.

Junior Navigation
The student learns how to apply his piloting skills out of sight of land, using celestial bodies and marine sextant instead of land-based aids. Higher mathematics is not required. Star recognition is emphasized.

Navigation
This advanced course leads to an understanding of the theories behind the material learned in Junior Navigation and supplements, extends and deepens his knowledge of celestial navigation.