On-Water Powerboat Handling Courses on Deck Sept. 29 at Fleet Boat Club, Rochester
by Scott Croft 8 Sep 2018 05:02 PDT
29 September 2018
Affordable on-water powerboat training comes to the Fleet Boat Club location on Irondequoit Bay, Saturday, Sept. 29 © Scott Croft
Want to learn the basics of powerboating or brush up on your skills? A partnership between the nonprofit BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, Fleet Boat Club and West Marine will bring an affordable on-water boat training course, "Intro to Powerboating," to the club's location at 1384 Empire Blvd, on Saturday, Sept. 29. The course is three hours long, taught aboard 20- to 26-foot single-engine powerboats, and priced at $149. Class size is limited to four students per vessel, ensuring each student gets sufficient time at the helm under the watchful eye of a U.S. Coast Guard-certified instructor.
Boats are provided by Fleet Boat Club. The course is offered at 9 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Students will learn engine shifting and throttle control, steering, stopping and station holding, understand the "weathervane" effect and how to use "the boater's eye" technique to safely navigate.
The goal of the course is to address the high costs typically associated with at-the-helm training, making hands-on boating education more accessible. It also offers area residents the chance to try out recreational boating and gives boaters the opportunity to improve their boat-handling skills.
Space is limited. Students must be 21 years or older. To sign up for any on-water training course from the BoatUS Foundation, go to www.BoatUS.org/On-Water.