Boating Education

ABYC is now offering two new courses for boat owners. Please review the descriptions below and follow the link to the Calendar of Events for the seminar dates and locations. The price for each two-day course is $295.

Basic Diesel for the Boat Owner

This two day course will provide the participant with the information they need to understand the needs of their engine and how to keep it running in tip-top form. We'll begin with a look at how a diesel engine works, and a comparison of it to a gasoline fueled engine. Next, we'll explore each of the needs of the engine in detail and learn how to insure that they are being met on your boat. In class we will discuss all of the details of the fuel system, air delivery, pre-heat starting aids, lubrication and exhaust as well as cooling system troubleshooting and maintenance. Winter lay-up and recommissioning in the spring will be discussed in detail. All of the material discussed during this course will be presented in a generic manner, so whether you own a Yanmar, Westerbeke, Perkins, or any other brand diesel engine, the information conveyed will apply.

On day two of this course participants will get an opportunity to apply their new skill sets on a real engine to see first hand what to look for on their engine, and how to keep the engine itself and all of it's ancillary support systems it top condition for a trouble free boating experience.

Basic Electricity for the Boater

This two-day program will teach the boat owner the basics they need to know to perform simple repair, troubleshooting and maintenance procedures on their boat's electrical system. The course will begin with a look at electricity fundamentals such as the relationship between volts, ohms, amps and watts and how knowledge of their interaction with each other can help to determine such things as appropriate wire sizes to use for various electrical loads on board, how to select appropriately sized and rated overcurrent protection devices like fuses and circuit breakers, and how to determine the appropriate size of such things as shore power systems and battery banks to keep all the equipment up and running. We'll also discuss how to properly terminate wire and some of the basic ABYC Standards as they apply to wire support and chafe protection.

Once the fundamentals are set in place, we'll move on to multi-meter use. The participant will learn how to take electrical measurements for both low voltage DC and higher voltage AC systems, and what those measurements mean. Students are encouraged to bring to class their own instrument (if they have one) so they can familiarize themselves with its use and features. For those who haven't purchased a multi-meter yet, we will discuss what features to look for and what features are frivolous for the average user.

Next we'll review some common electrical system tests the boat owner can easily perform to establish whether their boat's electrical system is designed in accordance with ABYC Standards, and whether maintenance or upgrading of the system is required.

On the second day of the program, the class will get an opportunity to apply their new found skills on a boat at the Seaport by running through some test procedures on the boat and evaluating their findings.

Calendar of Events / Registration