Seminars
Helping to make boating safer and more fun
In-Person Seminars – 2025
All in-person seminars will be held at the North Palm Beach Anchorage Park Building,
603 Anchorage Drive, North Palm Beach, FL, unless otherwise noted
All in-person seminars:
$25/person, or
Save money: $75 for all in-person seminars this year
Note: online payment is coming soon, until then, fees will be collected at the start of the seminar.
Anchoring with Assurance
Good seamanship demands that all boaters know how to anchor safely. Anchoring topics begin with how to select an anchorage and how to anchor depending on conditions. After learning how anchors should be used, you will know if yours is satisfactory or what kind(s) to buy. The seminar covers useful anchoring tips and tricks and concludes by discussing how to moor and raft safely.
Saturday, April 12
Reminder: a $25/person fee will be collected at the seminar
For more information, contact us at:
Hurricane Preparation for Boaters
When a named storm threatens, you need to be prepared and protect your boat. In this short seminar, you’ll learn how to select a location from which to weather the storm and prepare your boat for a hurricane.
Saturday, May 10
Reminder: a $25/person fee will be collected at the seminar
For more information, contact us at:
Weather for Boaters
“A veering wind will clear the sky;
A backing wind says storms are night.”
All boaters have heard this mariner’s proverb or similar ones. They have a salty flavor that takes us back to the era of sailing ships. The safety and comfort of those who venture out on the water have always been weather dependent. This seminar is a must for boaters who have never taken a weather course. The complex subject of weather is presented in a way that is both understandable and useful.
Saturday, June 21
Registration Not Open
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All About VHF/DSC Marine Radio
Get familiar with your boat’s VHF marine radio in just a couple of hours. An experienced instructor will teach you how to use VHF radio like a pro, including the new digital selective calling (DSC) rescue feature. In this seminar, you’ll also learn how VHF radios work and their controls, using the correct channels, correct radio procedures and terminology, and how the Digital Selective Calling (DSC) works.
Saturday, September 20
Registration Not Open
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Boating with Confidence
Gain confidence, knowledge, and skills that you need for a variety of boat-handling situations.
Learn about basic operations: trimming your boat, operating on a plane, handling seas and waves, dealing with sand bars, rivers, river bends, and other situations you will encounter along your cruise. And you’ll have a better understanding about issues you can control, and how to handle them. Understand the issues that the environment will present and how to react in a timely manner.
Saturday, October 18
Registration Not Open
For more information, contact us at:
Rules of the Road
Navigational rules of the road help you to know what to do whey you share the water with other boats, how to recognize and signal intentions, and how to avoid a collision. This seminar focuses in a practical way on helping you to understand the basic rules encountered by recreational boaters during almost every boating outing and the rules most likely to apply in the local waters where you boat. It covers skipper responsibilities, general rules and definitions, rules to avoid a collision, and sound and light signals.
Saturday, November 15
Registration Not Open
For more information, contact us at:
Online Seminars
Online seminars are available from America’s Boating Club Online Boating Education. https://www.americasboatingclub.org/index.php/learn/available-online
How to Use GPS
Boaters need the most reliable location and position information available, which makes getting the most out of your Global Positioning System pretty important. Learn how to use waypoints, build and execute routes, and monitor progress. Learn to interpret location information and tracking data, and get an overview of how GPS integrates with your boat’s electronic systems. Explore what features you need and how to arrange your display. Also get tips on connecting your GPS to your VHF marine radio, which opens up a new world of digital hailing and distress signaling.
This is an online seminar given by America's Boating Club
Introduction to Navigation
Navigating roadways and waterways is not the same. If you’re comfortable using GPS for car trips, don’t assume you’re automatically ready to use GPS on a boat. This seminar will help you learn some of the differences. You’ll get an overview of how to use electronic (and even paper) charts to plan a safe route with waypoints, how to navigate along the route, and how to check underway that you’re on course. Topics include:
- Understanding nautical charts
- The compass rose and magnetic variation
- Interpreting aids to navigation
- Establishing waypoints and planning routes
- Using chartplotters and multifunction displays
- Planning your voyage electronically
- Electronic navigation while underway
- What to do when the chartplotter quits working