Education

You need to know what's going on for your safety as well as the safety of those around you.

Sailing is considered a risky activity. The level of risk is minimized through the education and safety practices of the participants. Bay Sailors, Inc. strongly encourages its members to participate in education programs both within and outside the club.

Bay Sailors helps its member through:

- providing practice on-the-water
- providing educational sessions
- encouraging outside education

Bay Sailors provides practice on the water during day sails and weekend sails. Participants are encouraged to ask questions and to not be afraid to take the helm. The assigned crew for each sail includes at least one "experienced" member to act as first mate to the skipper, and thus experienced members may receive preference in assignments.

Bay Sailors presents educational programs at the monthly membership meeting. Periodically, training weekends or special sessions are scheduled.

Other on-line education links:

All About Sail Trim

Posey Sailing Simulators you can buy, download and play with on your own computer.

BoatSafe has an on-line “Basic Boating Safety” course that’s recognized by the U.S. Coast Guard; the course is broken into sections with quizzes after each section; at the end, you can opt to pay $15 and take the final exam, where you’ll receive a certificate of completion; there’s also basic and advanced quizzes on boating

Test your knowledge sponsored by the U. S. Power Squadrons

BoatUS Foundation's online general boating safety course

Sailing simulator Learn about wind, boat and sail angles. Experiment with sail and boat direction settings. Try tacking and jibing. Also check out the wave simulator and the boat diagram.

Knots! Lots and lots of knots. Get a piece of rope/string and practice these at home.

More knots!

List of VHF radio channels and their purposes

Navigation rules flashcards

(DISCLAIMER: The following is for informational purposes only, Bay Sailors, Inc. does not make any specific recommendations or endorsements)

There are many established education programs outside the club. Bay Sailors encourages its members to take advantage of these resources. On a national level, the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and U. S. Power Squadrons are dedicated to boating education. There are chapters throughout the United States. The links below will take you to the most current list of courses near you:

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary public boating courses

Tampa USCG Aux: 5108 W Gandy Blvd. Tampa
813-835-4118,

Dunedin USCG Aux: Dunedin Marina 51 Main St # 1 Dunedin
727-736-1191
safeboated@live.com

Clearwater USCG Aux: Clearwater Community Sailing Center 1001 Gulf Blvd. 2nd Floor Sand Key (Clearwater)
Jerry Osburn, Flotilla Staff Officer - Public Education 727-469-8895
http://a0701101.uscgaux.info

U.S. Power Squadrons public boating courses and click on the "Boating Education" tab at the top of the screen

St. Petersburg Sail & Power Squadron:
727-498-4001
contact@boating-stpete.org

Anna Maria Island Power Squadron: 1200 71st Street NW Bradenton
941-792-0394
Warren@dibell.org

In the Tampa Bay area, the following schools have been providing various levels of hands-on education for many years:

St Petersburg Sailing Center Demens Landing

Offshore Sailing School offers day sailing, coastal cruising, and offshore courses according to the standards of the U. S. Sailing organization.

Sea Sense, Inc. specializes in women teaching women on live-aboard coastal cruising and offshore courses.

The American Sailing Association (ASA) and U. S. Sailing organizations provide certification through schools across the United States. For locations in the Tampa Bay area, use the following links:

U. S. Sailing and select "FL" from the "State" category and all Florida schools will be listed.

American Sailing Association click on state of Florida and all Florida schools will be listed.