SEAS Monmouth Courses

 

Basic Sailing Course:  Designed to teach students with no prior sailing experience everything they need to know to begin sailing small single-sail and sloop-rigged (two-sails) sailboats.  Course topics include points of sail, rigging, sail trim, rules of the road, safety, tacking, jibing, crew-overboard, and capsize recovery.  Instruction includes both classroom time (4 evenings) and two Saturday water sessions.

 

N.J. Boating Safety:  Classroom-only class designed to provide an overview of boating terminology, legal requirements, and general safety information.  Includes test for Boating Safety certification required by the State of New Jersey for all operators of motor vessels.  8 hours of classroom time.


Advanced Sailing Course:
  Concentrates on advanced sailing topics on a keelboat including sail trim, reefing, gibing, and use of all the boat’s sails.  The student will learn to perform common boat maneuvers under sail including tying up to and leaving a mooring, and anchoring.  Sailing-related rules of the road will also be reviewed. 

 

Boat Handling Course:  Designed to teach all common boat-handling maneuvers, including entering and leaving a slip, docking and undocking, anchoring, and tying up to and leaving a mooring.  The student would learn the effects that wind and current forces have on their boat, and how to apply this understanding to the basic boat handling maneuvers. 

 

Boating Safety and Crew Overboard (COB):  At the conclusion of this course participants will have a well thought out and practiced plan for approaching a COB and a method for hauling the individual back onboard. This course will be conducted both onshore and afloat. While onshore, participants will review basic safety practices and the immediate steps to be taken in the event of a COB.  Instruction will be given on crew overboard recovery maneuvers and retrieval techniques for both conscious and unconscious persons. Participants will then be familiarized with the crew overboard aids available on the Invictus and set sail for a practice area. Once offshore the COB recovery maneuvers and retrieval techniques will be executed using a simulated COB (at no time will a “person” be in water). At the end of the course participants will discuss the effectiveness of the various maneuvers and techniques.


Keelboat Mini Courses:  A series of 2.5 to 3.0-hour “hands-on” keelboat water sessions focused on teaching a particular aspect of boat handling or sailing.  Each Mini course is self-contained and independent from the others.  They are usually taught on Wednesday evenings but may be offered on other days or evenings as well.

 
Cruising Course:
  The Cruising Course provides you with the basic skills you need to enjoy life on cruising sailboats - boats that range in length from 32 to 55 feet, with living accommodations for from 4 to 8 people. The course consists of four classroom sessions, each lasting about 2˝ hours, at which you learn about many aspects of cruising: Navigation, Course plotting, Anchoring, Using the radio, Plumbing on a boat ("the head"), Safety, Crew overboard, Clothing - what to bring (and what not to bring), Weather, Using the engine, Steering the boat,  Docking - how to use dock lines and fenders, Sailing - what are all those "extra" controls for?, living on a boat and much, much more.