London Power and Sail Squadron

Course Descriptions

Clearly the best of the PCOC seminars available, this highly acclaimed seminar was one of the first to be accredited.

Once comfortable with the study material, you may challenge the PCOC exam.

Crossing the border? CPS is a provider of safe boating courses approved by both Transport Canada and the U.S. National Association of State Boating Law Administrators

Upon successful completion of the exam, you may accept a one-year complimentary Associate Membership to CPS, with its benefits. Following this seminar (which is considered the 1st Part of the Boating Course) a student can continue on to Boating Essentials (Part II of BOATING) and attain full CPS membership.

You can't get where you're going if you don't know how to get there. CPS has been offering boating courses long before they were mandatory. This course picks up where Boating Basics, which includes PCOC, leaves off and offers instruction in navigation, charting, plotting and an introduction to electronic navigation.

The Pleasure Craft Operator Card gets you out there Boating Essentials helps bring you back.

Anyone with a recognized Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC) may continue to expand their boating knowledge with this course. The PCOC is a prerequisite for this course.

Passing the final exam allows you the opportunity to join CPS-ECP (Canada's largest association of recreational boating enthusiasts) and receive the benefits of full membership.

When unforeseen circumstances arise such as man-overboard or medical emergencies, the seamanship course helps the student to acquire the skills to deal with life-threatening situations.

Successful completion of the Boating Course is a suggested prerequisite.

Seamanship focuses on navigation and the skills needed to cope with a variety of hazards.

The Seamanship Course builds on techniques introduced in the Boating Course.

Seamanship uses traditional navigation, GPS fixes, Way Points, along with the introduction of Deviation, in the three homework cruises, and the examination take home cruises.

When unforeseen circumstances arise such as man-overboard or medical emergencies, the seamanship course helps the student to acquire the skills to deal with life-threatening situations.

Successful completion of the Seamanship or Piloting Course is a suggested prerequisite.

A necessary course in advanced coastal navigation for short duration trips out of sight of land, the Advanced Piloting course will give you greater accuracy in positioning and plotting exercises, as well as adherence to standardized labeling. Your chart-work skills will be developed to standards recognized in the maritime industry.

Develop a back-up system to your electronic navigation tools and advance your piloting skills by taking this exciting course.

The full enjoyment of boating includes both the pleasure of using the boat and the satisfaction of properly maintaining it. To many boaters, working on their boat is part of the fun, to say nothing of the savings in costs. 

All boats need maintenance to correct for the gradual deterioration from wear and tear, let alone exposure to the elements. A boater should be constantly on the alert for signs of vessel degradation, and make repairs while the problem is minor.

From spark plugs to bottom paint, the Marine Maintenance course covers all the basics for DIY boaters.

Junior Navigator (September 17th)
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CCH Room 118, 7pm Recommended Prerequisite: Advanced Piloting

Junior Navigator is the first of a two-part program of study in offshore (open coast) navigation. It is designed as a practical, how-to course using GPS for offshore navigation with sun sight taking using a sextant as a backup technique. The more advanced techniques for other celestial bodies and sights are for study in the subsequent Navigation Course.

JN subject matter includes: basic concepts of celestial navigation; how to use the mariner's sextant to take sights of the sun; the importance and techniques of accurate time determination; use of the Nautical Almanac: how to reduce sights to establish lines of position (LOPs); and the use of GPS, special charts, plotting sheets and other navigational data for offshore positioning and passage planning.

Marine Radio (VHF-DSC) (September 17th, January 7th, and April 22nd)
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CCH Room 101, 7pm

The Maritime Radio course teaches emergency radio procedures, as well as everyday operating techniques to you and your family.

In Module 1, you will learn the uses of marine radios, choice of frequencies, operation, phonetic alphabet, procedural words and phrases.

Module 2 covers Digital Selective Calling and the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, (DSC/GMDSS). All mariners, including recreational boaters, will want to take advantage of the many features and capabilities of this innovative form "automatic" radio.

The objective is to provide a course that is geared to both new sailors and sailors who want to increase their knowledge and skills. This student manual consists of four parts, 22 sections, 2 appendices. Each section of the text is followed by multiple choice homework questions. In the Sailing course, we explain why a sailboat behaves as it does, what forces are acting on it, and why it reacts the way it does. We then proceed to explain how you can control the way your boat reacts to the various forces. This knowledge will enable you to increase speed and/or comfort under both normal and severe conditions.

Now that the cost of radar has been drastically reduced to the point where entry level units can be had for about $1200, many boaters want to learn more about this valuable safety device.

This new CPS course, "Radar for Pleasure Craft" teaches the use and capabilities of marine radar. You learn how to interpret the screen, how to use the various controls, how to measure distance and bearing to other boats and to hazards.

You learn about radar's abilities and limitations. It is important that you understand the meaning of a unit's specifications when selecting a radar and the course explains these.

This course manual has over 130 pages and also comes with a CD that can be used on a PC computer. Among the CD's various features is a radar simulator that allows you try out the common radar controls including VRM, EBL, ERBL, etc.

Learn collision avoidance in the safety of your home using the simulator's MARPA capability.

Global Weather expands on those concepts introduced in the CPS Fundamentals of Weather course. You may choose to take this course for general interest, or because the far horizon tempts you to sail beyond sheltered waters.

In this course you will study topics like El Niño, summer monsoons, or lake effect snows. Work with measurements such as air pressure, temperature, dew point and wind direction/speed to sharpen your forecasting skills.

Appreciate the inner workings of tropical cyclones (hurricanes) and chinooks. Develop skills in offshore sailing and advance planning through the use of weather services and data interpretation. Whatever your reasons, “Global Weather” is your chance to study the weather in all of it’s moods.

Are you ready to ‘cut the ties that bind’? Extended Cruising is an essential first step in understanding the elements of the long-distance passage making lifestyle under sail or power. Through this course you will become confident in the boat you select by understanding seaworthiness, stability, and other design concepts. You will gain an awareness of the maintenance required for critical systems, passage planning, provisioning, and visiting foreign countries, safety issues, emergency preparedness and weather tips. If you want to cruise coastal waters, experience remote anchorages far from home or explore countries across oceans, Extended Cruising provides you with a deeper understanding of the skills necessary for confident, safe passages.

This course will allow the pleasure craft operator to navigate safely knowing his exact location at all times. You will learn to navigate using GPS and paper charts as well as electronic charting devices. It includes a CD containing a number of charts and a full scale simulator of a chart plotter to help you learn by doing. Join with others to share experiences and knowledge.