Affordable On-Water Boat Training Comes to Tampa Boat Show

The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), and Freedom Boat Club have partnered to offer affordable on-water boat training courses taught aboard single-engine powerboats to the Tampa Boat Show held at the Tampa Convention Center September 20 to 23. Courses to be offered include two three-hour sessions, “Intro to Boating” and “Women Making Waves” and a 90-minute course just for teens, “Junior Captain.” Class size is limited to four students per vessel, and each is taught by U.S. Coast Guard-certified instructor.

Boats are provided by Freedom Boat Club Tampa and the Annapolis School of Seamanship. The “Intro to Boating” and “Women Marking Waves” courses cover shifting and steering, basic docking, open-water handling and basic navigation with both taught aboard 20- to 26-foot powerboats.

“Junior Captain” is offered under a partnership of National Safe Boating Council and the Annapolis School of Seamanship and gives teens the opportunity to learn shifting, steering and throttle control, stopping, station holding, understanding the “weathervane” effect and how to use “the boater’s eye” technique to safely navigate. It’s taught aboard 14-foot rigid-hull inflatable boats. To sign up for any on-water training course from the BoatUS Foundation, go to BoatUS.org/On-Water.