Fast Track to Power Cruising® Course
In this comprehensive course you’ll learn to “power like a pro” in a variety of conditions, on twin-engine, super power cat from The Moorings. Your instructor is one of the Offshore Sailing School faculty, with US POWERBOATING certification for teaching this course as well as the required U.S. Coast Guard license.
No more than four students are taught on a boat in any of our courses. The Moorings 474 Power Cat will accommodate a family, two couples or four singles and is the ideal boating school training vessel — very comfortable for live-aboard cruising and fun to run! If you are learning together, just the two of you, we suggest you reserve the 37 foot power cat instead.
You will learn in the incomparable British Virgin Islands in a six-day program that really solidifies your boating skills. Plan to arrive Sunday and relax that evening in your Mariner Inn room in The Moorings Village. From your lanai you’ll watch power yachts and cruising sailboats come and go, and drink in the cool Caribbean night air.
After breakfast ashore, you’ll meet your instructor and attend a charter briefing, then boat check out and orientation. You’ll help stow provisions and your personal gear, discuss the itinerary for the day with your instructor and you’re off – going through your first set of maneuvers and training en route to your first overnight anchorage.
Your textbook is sent in advance to study. Each day after breakfast you’ll do engine maintenance and troubleshooting procedures, with “classroom style” instruction aboard before leaving the anchorage or dock, then practice drills underway as you power from island to island, with emphasis on proper boat handling, overboard pick-up procedures, docking, anchoring, backing, turning quickly and a whole lot more.
After anchoring or docking for the evening you'll debrief the day's lessons with your instructor and go into subjects to cover the next day. Dinner aboard or ashore is followed by quiet time and and anchor checks.
Friday is a special time for all aboard – when you do "personal best” maneuvers with your instructor observing, then take your certification test and return to The Moorings docks to leave him or her behind as you set off on your test cruise.If you choose to test for certification, you will earn your US POWERBOATING Student Certification.When you return to The Moorings Saturday morning – with a real sense of empowerment – you’ll enjoy a graduation celebration aboard before leaving for home, confident in your abilities as powerboat skipper and crew.
What You Learn
On-board Systems
- Electrical systems
- Generator operation
- VHF Operation
- Marine sanitation devices
- Fresh water systems
- Cooking aboard - proper and safe use of stove
- Emergency procedures
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Steering
- Directed thrust – steering with throttles
- Rudder
- Prop walk
- Handling wind and wave conditions
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Docking
- Crew teamwork
- Approach in wind and current
- Tight maneuvering
- Proper radio contact for slip space
- Mooring pickup
- Knots, dock lines, spring lines
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Anchoring
- Holding ground and anchors
- Proper scope
- Current and wind considerations
- Tight maneuvering in crowded anchorages
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Navigation Rules
- Safe speed
- Safe lookout
- Sound signals and lights
- Meeting situations
- Restricted visibility
- Traffic separation
- Crossing and overtaking situations
- Lights – how to identify, when to use
- Day shapes
- Rules of the Road
- Right of way rules for inland and international waters
- Differences between U.S. and European buoy systems
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Coastal Navigation
- Reading charts, aids to navigation
- Tides and currents
- Plotting a course
- Determining ETA, time, speed, distance
- Taking fixes and knowing where you are
- Electronic navigation – reading and using a Chart Plotter
- Understanding weather and weather routing
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Overboard Recovery
- Wind and current considerations
- How to approach
- Safety and retrieval procedures
- Use of LifeSling
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Electronics and Safety
- Required safety equipment and best practices
- Emergency procedures
- Overboard rescue procedures and use of Chart Plotter
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Engines
- Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Fueling techniques
- Safe operation
- Fluid checks
- Transmission checks
- Tail shaft coupling and packing glands
- Hydraulics
- Battery management
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Your six-day package includes:
- Five days of instruction aboard a Moorings 474 Power Cat
- Course textbook and Navigation Rules
- US CRUISING POWER BOAT Certification testing
- Overnight test cruise without the instructor aboard Friday afternoon to Saturday morning
- All breakfasts, lunches, snacks and three dinners while living aboard
- Graduation ceremony on last day
- Sunday (arrival night) ashore at The Mariner Inn in Road Town, Tortola
- Room sales tax
The cost per person starts at $3770 double occupancy (sharing a cabin and room ashore), $4165 single (private cabin and room ashore), lowest season rates. Private rates for couples and families are available. A minimum of two students is required to open a course start date.
Not included are fuel consumed during course and mini-cruise, shared by all students aboard and collected upon return last day; transfers to and from base, taxis and jitneys available; hotel service charges, incidentals and other fees; accommodations Saturday night after cruise if desired. Your sales advisor can book extra nights for you if you cannot get a flight out that day.
Click here to get a quote on your Fast Track to Power Cruising adventure.
Call 888-454-7015 to talk to one of our friendly power school advisors.