Compass Courses Maritime Training
Compass Courses is fully-equipped and offers numerous United States Coast Guard-approved curricula.
By Steve Fennell
There’s nothing scarier than not having an answer when someone yells “what do we do now?” when you and your crew find yourself in a hazardous situation miles from shore. Earning maritime safety credentials is the smartest training any recreational boater can achieve. Emergency situations arise on the water and it’s vital to be prepared when they do.
“There has to be one person onboard who is very much in charge of everything when something goes wrong,” says Julie K. Keim, owner of Compass Courses Maritime Training of Edmonds, Washington. “It’s surprising to learn that people know very little about the weather or weather patterns as it can always change in an instant no matter how beautiful the day is.”
A recreational boater and avid angler who owns a 25-foot Kingfisher called Molly Dooker, Keim founded Compass Courses in 2001 after sailing on her license in the small-passenger vessel industry. The training facility simply reflects her passion for providing boaters with the knowledge necessary to safely enjoy time of the water.
Compass Courses is located 20 minutes outside of Seattle and consists of a professional team of instructors that provide hands-on professional and recreational maritime training for those who are frequently on the water or enjoy extended boating trips every season.
Compass Courses Maritime Training
Since its opening, Compass Courses has trained more than 10,000 students.
A registered vocational school in the State of Washington and approved for the GI Bill , the training facility is fully-equipped and offers numerous United States Coast Guard-approved curricula. While there are a series of courses designated for the commercial marine industry, the centre provides various curricula for recreational boaters to include basic safety training, first aid / CPR, personal survival techniques and able seaman courses. Custom courses are also available.
One of the more popular courses is the Captain’s Licensing Program, devised for anyone who owns a boat or makes a living on the water. Among the many topics addressed during the two-week program are the rules of the road, navigation/chart plotting, deck general, deck safety, environmental protection, and navigation general – all the necessary criteria to help navigate new routes and destinations.
“People get a lot out of our License Captain’s Course as they start to understand the rules of the road, how to read charts, and learn the functions of various equipment on their boat,” said Keim. “What’s interesting is we have a lot of advanced (recreational) boaters and they still learn a great deal from the program.”
Since its opening, Compass Courses has trained more than 10,000 students and its facility includes four classrooms, numerous training aids, two galleys, an on-site 73-passenger enclosed lifeboat, a full size lifeboat gravity davit plus a RADAR simulator lab. Whether you are a recreational boater or a seasoned professional, Compass Courses offers affordable, quality training to effectively meet your safety needs.
For more information visit www.compasscourses.com
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