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Top 5 Reasons to Sign Up for Boating Classes Online

Debbie Hanson

1/31/2018

With a new year kicking off, now is the perfect time to commit to signing up for boating classes online. You can easily learn how to improve your boating skills from the warm and cozy confines of your humble abode. In fact, there's no better way to start preparing for prime boating days that spring and summer will bring.

Whether you have some boating experience or plan to start boating this spring, an online boating education is a smart idea. Not yet convinced? Check out five reasons why boating classes online are worth signing up for.

5 Reasons to take Boating Classes Online:

You learn about safety equipment you are required to have on board. While taking an online boaters safety course may not be state law everywhere across the U.S., state and federal laws do require you to have certain types of safety gear and equipment. These laws can vary depending on the type of recreational boat you operate and by taking boating classes online you can learn more about them.
If you are new to boating, you may not be aware of how wind and current can affect your docking and navigation abilities. An online boating course will explain how wind and water current affect docking and navigation. Your trips will be much easier and safer as a result.
You will become educated on the boating rules of the road. Knowing what buoys and markers mean can prevent you from running aground in a shallow channel or help avoid a collision with another boat.
Learn how to use charts for safe navigation. Charts are like road maps that help you calculate the distance and time to get to your destination. They also show you where the markers, bridges, and shallows are located.
Online boating education can help save lives and reduce the number or accidents and injuries that occur on the water. More than 40 states in the U.S. have educational requirements for operating recreational boats or PWC on state waterways.

Now you know five of the key reasons why taking an online boating course, and associated online boat test, is a smart idea. Be a safer boater this year by signing up for an online boating course now.

How to, Boating, Boating Basics, Safety

Debbie Hanson

Debbie Hanson is an award-winning outdoor writer, women’s sport fishing advocate, IGFA world record holder, and freshwater guide living in Southwest Florida. Hanson’s written work has appeared in publications such as Florida Game & Fish Magazine, BoatUS Magazine, and USA Today Hunt & Fish. To learn more about her work, visit shefishes2.com or follow her on Instagram @shefishes2.

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