Cost: $1895 per person.
Duration and Availability: 7 days, 6 nights: Start on Saturday morning and concludes on the following Friday afternoon. The 200 Course is offered all year long.
Course description: The 200 course is specifically designed for those students that have a good understanding of general seamanship, navigation and boat handling. Our goal is to sharpen your skills so that you will be a successful skipper.
The 200 course offers a general overview of coastal and offshore navigation techniques with a specific emphasis on Dead Reckoning and the use of plotting sheets. The course itinerary includes a night crossing of the Gulf Stream with landfall on the Island of Bimini, in the Bahamas. Dead Reckoning across the Gulf Stream to make an accurate landfall on a tiny island adjusting for a current of 3 to 4 knots is an accomplishment any sailor can be proud of.
Over the past decade an amazing amount of technology has developed to help sailors navigate. As a professional mariner we have had the opportunity to use some of the very best and latest, from integrated Chart Pak/GPS/RADAR systems to side scan sonar. Most of our instructors have consulted on new boat commissioning and we make numerous purchase suggestions that include many of these modern tools. At the same time, any experienced sailor will tell you that hundreds of thousands of nautical miles of safe passages have been accomplished using basic navigational tools that have been developed over hundreds of years. Keeping a log, plotting a DR position, calculating set and drift, being able to interpolate tide and current tables are all skills that every serious mariner should have. In the 200 course we make sure that you are comfortable with all these techniques and a lot more.
The Offshore Bareboat Certification Course 200 is also about managing a vessel. As captain your first responsibility is to the welfare and safety of the crew, passengers and the vessel. To help in your responsibilities for the vessel we cover such diverse items such as basic diesel engine maintenance, fuel systems, fresh and raw water cooling systems, DC electrical and battery maintenance, AC electrical, marine heads and EPA clean water requirements, fresh water systems including pumps, accumulators, manifolds, the reason behind multiple tanks, filters, anchor systems, using more than one anchor, handling a vessel under power, prop walk and how to use it to your benefit, spring lines, using tide and wind as an aid instead being a hindrance.
In the area of safety we show you how to manage a crew to the benefit of everyone. Many times when chartering you will find yourself being the only one who has formal training. We will show you how to get the best from your crew, how to build a team so that anchoring, docking, hoisting sails, going from one tack to another is a simple task instead of an exercise in crisis management.
We'll show you techniques that will mark your vessel as one of those where the folks, "obviously know what they're doing" instead of, "lookout, here comes boat load of inept clods looking for an accident".
If you're ready to sharpen those skills and become more competent and comfortable operating a vessel, give us a call.
We understand that the hardest part of getting away is getting away. Once you are able to schedule a date for the course you desire we will be 110% committed to making the rest of the process as easy as possible.
In the past year we have instituted a policy of providing transportation for our students to and from the airport. We have working relationships with some of the better lodging establishments in the Fort Lauderdale area and have negotiated corporate discounts, which pass along to our students. We provide snorkeling gear on the vessel at no extra charge. We maintain a limited number of foul weather jackets and pants that our students can rent for a nominal fee. We also sell Pro Rainer foul weather gear on a custom order basis.
Fort Lauderdale has been called "The yachting capital of the world" and as such, hosts a wide range of chandlers including EB Marine, Boat US, West Marine and a number of other smaller local marine centers, we can arrange for our students to visit one or more of these marine stores if there are items that they wish to purchase. All this is part of a continuing effort on our part to do all we can for our students.