Planning Your Boating Cruise

Learn the special skills needed for river and lake boating. How to “read” a river, cope with river currents, go through locks. Plus the navigation rules unique to river boating.

Important for offshore boaters, the 500 millibar upper air chart will help you predict upper-level wind speed and direction, trough and ridge patterns, and the 5640 storm track line.

Avoid collisions with other boats. AIS will show you where other vessels are and how close they will come. How to integrate AIS with radar and other marine electronics.

Car and marine GPS aren’t the same. Learn how to choose a chart plotter and use this tool to create waypoints, build and execute routes, and check your progress along the way.

Know what to expect when crossing international borders. Requirements for the US, Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, and BVI. Entering and leaving foreign ports.