Building on the basics taught in the Boating Course, Seamanship is the recommended first course for new members, both power boaters and sailors. Students learn practical marlinespike, navigation rules, hull design and performance, responsibilities of the skipper, boat care, operating a boat under normal and abnormal conditions, what to do in various emergencies and weather conditions, nautical customs and common courtesy on the water. This course provides a needed introduction to the USPS Educational Program and a strong foundation for members going on to other Advanced Grades Courses and/or Cruise Planning or Sail.

Piloting is the first of a two-part program studying inland and coastal navigation. It focuses on the fundamentals of piloting --- keeping track of a boat's movements, determining your position at any time and laying out courses to a planned destination. Included are such subjects as: charts and their use; aids to navigation; the mariner's compass; variation and deviation of the compass; plotting and steering courses; dead reckoning; and plotting and labeling charts.

This is the final part of the inland and coastal navigation series. It emphasizes the use of modern electronic navigating systems and other advanced techniques for finding position. Among topics covered are: tides and currents and their effects on piloting; finding position using bearings and angles; simple use of mariner's sextant; and electronic navigation --- RADAR, LORAN, GPS, etc.

Junior Navigation is the first of a two-part program of study in offshore (open ocean) navigation. It is designed as a practical, how-to course, leaving the theoretical and more advanced techniques for the Navigation Course. Subject matter includes: basic concepts of celestial navigation; how to use the mariner's sextant to take sights of the sun, moon, planets and stars; 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 special charts, plotting sheets and other navigational data for offshore positioning and passage planning

This is the second part of the study of offshore navigation. It further develops the student's understanding of celestial theory. The student is introduced to additional sight reduction techniques and develops greater skill and precision in sight taking, positioning and the orderly methods of carrying on the day's work of a navigator at sea. Of particular interest and importance is the study of offshore navigation using minimal data and/or equipment, such as when on a disabled vessel or lifeboat