BS&S Topics
Lesson 1: Which boat is for you?
Lesson 2: Equipment for your boat.
Lesson 3: Trailering your boat.
Lesson 4: Handling your boat.
Lesson 5: Your "Highway" signs.
Lesson 6: The rules you must follow.
Lesson 7: Inland boating.
Lesson 8: The rest of our story.
Lesson 9: Piloting your boat.
Lesson 10: Powering your boat.
Lesson 11: Knots and lines for your boat.
Lesson 12: Weather and boating.
Lesson 13: Your boat's radio.
Lesson
1: Which boat is for you?
Boater's Language
Types of boats
Outboard motors and stern drives
Hull design
Uses of boats
Other power plants
Materials for constructing boats
Your intented use
The Coast Guard customer hot infoline
Marine surveyors
Buying a boat
Lesson 2: Equipment for your boat.
Requirements for your boat
Your boat's equipment
Legal considerations
Substance abuse
Boating accident reports
Vessel Safety Checks
Lesson 3: Trailering your boat.
Legal considerations
Practical considerations
The towing vehicle
Balancing your load
Handling your trailer
Pre-departure check
Prepairing to launch
Launching
Retrieving
Storing your boat
Theft prevention
Zebra mussels
Float plans
Leaving with a full tank
Fueling your boat
Your boat's propeller
Cars and boats
Twin screws
Installation and tilt adjustment.
Jet drives
Loading your boat
Getting started
Leaving the pier
"Man" overboard
Docking
Mooring to a permanent anchor.
Anchoring
Towing a skier
Heavy weather
Small boat safety
Lesson 5: 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
A word to the wise
Navigation publications
Lesson 6: The rules you must follow.
Two sets of rules
To whom do the rules apply
What is a vessel
The general responsibility rule
General consideration
Conduct in narrow channels
Traffic separation schemes
Vessel traffic services
Stand-on or give-way
Rules for special vessels
Risks of collisions
Bend signals
Restricted visibility
Vessel lights and shapes
Vessels at anchor
Diving operations
Distress signals
Drawbridge signals
Penalties
Types of inland waters
Inland navigation
Inland seamanship
River currents
Maintaining inland waterways
Dams
Locks
River charts
Commercial traffic
Before you go
Lesson 8: The rest of our story.
Small boat safety
Personal water craft
Hypothermia
Motorboats and sailboats
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Piloting tools
Maps and charts
Chart features
Your chart's general information block
Other chart information
Your magnetic compass
Position on the earth's surface
Locating a point on a chart
Distance on the earth's surface
Measuring distance
Course plotting
Sources of compass error
Correcting a compass error
Positioning
Speed-time-distance
Dead reckoning
Practice your art
Lesson 10: Powering your boat.
Types of marine engines
Marine engines
Selecting a propeller
Induction systems
Ignition systems
Flame arresters
Cooling systems
Gasoline considerations
Batteries
Maintenance
Winterizing your boat
Spring fitting-out
Troubleshooting
Lesson 11: Knots and lines for your boat.
Line or rope
Rope materials
Kinds of rope
Measuring rope
Selection you ropes
Care of ropes
Making up line
Knots, bends, and hitches
Splices
Securing lines
Dipping the eye
Lesson 12: Weather and boating.
Sources of weather information
Wind and boating
Understanding weather
Weather and heat
Fog
Non-frontal weather
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 Nos
Calling another station
Copies of the road
Procedure words
Phonetic alphabet
Routine radio check
Distress, urgency, and safety calls
Crew training
