Here's what
one recent student said:

"Captain Peter, the instructor, is an excellent teacher with a calm and reassuring demeanor. He adapts his teaching style to fit the student(s), but tends to go with a hands-on approach, which we felt was extremely beneficial to our particular group. After the first ten minutes in the water, the students piloted the boat the entire time we were underway. Peter uses the phrase "Set yourself up to succeed" quite a bit and he constantly supervises, but only intervenes when absolutely necessary."

C. Platt
Oakland, CA

In Harbor Close Quarters – 2-Day Class
Basic power boat handling and safety course

Will I learn how to handle a twin engine trawler?
 The Trawler School is set up to teach on a single engine trawler. This is considered by some to be a higher level of in-harbor seamanship. However, we can teach aboard a client's twin engine or twin prop vessel, subject to vessel acceptance by the instructor. This will then become a private lesson arrangement.
Will this make me able to operate my own boat?
 The class, by itself, will not generally make a student ready to go anywhere. The focus of this introductory course is to develop in-harbor, close quarters, maneuvering skills. This is where tension and chance of collision is the greatest.
What type of certification will I receive for completing this course?
You will generally receive a certificate of completion of attendance depending upon how the instructor assesses your skills.
How far out do we go?
 95% of the course is focused on in-harbor maneuvering. However, there is one point in which the class goes out onto the San Francisco Bay to observe how port is approached.

Why You Should Attend This Course...

Course Objectives
  1. Enable operator to acquire and apply effective power boat handling skills in a close-quarters environment.
  2. Builds your confidence.
  3. Hands-on and underway time with an instructor's guidance.
  4. Small class size offers personal attention and coaching.
  5. Successful completion may lower your insurance premiums!

Course Offers
  1. Basic boating skills
  2. Docking and Undocking
  3. Physics of boat handling
  4. Effective instructional materials
  5. Hands on boat handling
  6. learn effective in-harbor management techniques
  7. Safety of vessel and crew

You will generally receive a certificate of completion of attendance depending upon how the instructor assesses your skills

95% of the course is focused on in-harbor maneuvering. However, there is one point in which the class goes out onto the San Francisco Bay to observe how port is approached

WORKING RADAR – A Day On The Bay
Basic power boat handling and safety course

What will I learn from this course?

This one day course teaches "hands on, underway" the essential fundaments of Working Radar.

Where is the class held?

This is not the formal classroom training used to qualify licenses operators and vessel masters for a Radar Endorsement. Class is held aboard a specially outfitted training vessel and is conducted throughout the central San Francisco Bay.

What can I expect from this course?

At the end of the day you will have an overall awareness of what to expect from Working Radar and how to use it effectively, with practical knowledge and skill-building techniques.

What type of certification will I receive?

You will also receive a certificate of completion or attendance which may qualify your for a discount on your insurance.

Class Objectives

Gain "Working Radar" confidence so you can...
  1. Learn what ships, land masses and bridges look like on a working radar.
  2. Get yourself safely off the water and into a safe harbor during low visibility conditions.
  3. Use radar as a working navigational tool to safely transit the water during fog or other restricted visibility situations.
  4. Understand what a Working Radar will and won't see, and what it can distort.
  5. Learn how to easily and systemically satisfy Rule #19 of the rules-of-the-road.
  6. Review emergency techniques to use if your radar unit goes off-line when in use.
  7. Learn how to use radar as a "collision avoidance tool."

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