Coastal Cruising & Night Navigation

Saturday, 9am-5pm & Sunday, 9am-11pm

With so many great cruising locations on the Great Lakes, and beyond this Coastal Cruising course teaches how to safely venture beyond Illinois waters. The class focuses on the technical and risk management skills necessary to explore unfamiliar waters. You'll learn how to plan, prepare, and execute a multi-day cruising expedition.  If you are looking to charter a boat in a foreign country for your next vacation, then this is the class for you. This 20-hour course takes place on our CYA cruising yacht.

Day One:
Planning the trip
Vessel inspection Fueling procedures
Safety checklists Passage planning
Basic chart plotting
Marine forecast interpretation

Day Two:
Execute trip plan Cruising to Racine, WI or New Buffalo MI (students choice)
Open water driving
Coastal piloting
Chart plotting
Dead reckoning
GPS
Storm strategies
Crew overboard recovery
Once at the determined destination, students will practice anchoring and docking along with the protocol necessary to stay overnight at an unfamiliar marina. The class will then cruise back to Chicago with the ability to practice night navigation, electronics, and docking.

Prerequisites: Basic Powerboat Cruising
Ages 16-Adult
Certification(s) Earned: US Powerboating Inshore Powerboat Cruising certificate and US Powerboating Night Operations certificate
Cost: $1000 which includes all books and materials needed