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Do you have stay-at-home blues? If you have kindergarten through college-age children, they are deeply involved in online learning. So why aren’t you? If you have the children, you have the tools. Be prepared for the boating season by refreshing your boating knowledge and skills through online courses, webinars and videos.

The Pamlico Sail & Power Squadron a unit of the United States Power Squadrons, now known as America’s Boating Club, as well as other essential boating organizations such as the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, North Carolina Department of Natural Resources, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, plus others, offer a range of courses digitally, enabling you to hone your skills and learn new skills in a short time. No schedule is an essential benefit of online learning; there’s no leaving your house and you can work at your pace. You may review sections as often as necessary or move quickly through others you know.

Some resources are listed below, or simply search online for boating courses or safe-boating courses for what piques your interest. Some organizations offer member discounts. One suggestion: take the same course from different organizations to obtain different perspectives.

Here are some available sources:

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary: www.uscgaux.info/peclass.php?unit=130-05-09

www.uscgaux.info/content.php?unit=130-05-09&category=navigation-course-online

N.C. Department of Natural Resources: www.ncdcr.gov/learn/nclearnhome

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission: www.ncwildlife.org/Boating/Boating-in-North-Carolina

BoatUS: boatus.org

National Safe Boating Council: safeboatingcouncil.org

In keeping with local stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, the local Pamlico Sail & Power Squadron, America’s Boating Club, has suspended in-person classes for your safety. While staying safe and staying home, you can prepare for boating season by taking Courses, 10 interactive online seminars ranging from All About Marine Radio and How to Use GPS to Weather for Boaters and various webinar topics. Click on this link: www.americasboatingclub.org/learn/online-boating-education, or visit America’s Boating Channel instructional videos and review basic boating skills at “no-cost” at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4goGel-LSmo.

So don’t sit on your duff at home, wishing you were on the water. Prepare today digitally to be on the water shortly. If NASCAR can hold virtual races, you can go boating virtually.

This article is written the courtesy of Biff Matthews and the Pamlico Sail & Power Squadron, America’s Boating Club. To learn more about our boating courses, email our education officer at psps@gmail.com. We hope to be able to restart our classroom courses and seminars later this year as federal and state guidelines allow. In the meantime, reference our website at pamlicosailandpowersquadron.org/ to learn more and to keep up on the education opportunities offered. Be sure to visit us on Facebook as well!