Florida East Coast District 8

Florida East Coast District 8 United States Power Squadrons

The United States Power Squadrons teach safe boating classes to the public at various locations around the US. One of the main goals of USPS is “boating safety through education” - we believe that an educated boater is a safer boater. In addition to its public education program, USPS teaches a series of outstanding courses that cover advanced seamanship, navigational techniques, boat handling, boat maintenance, and they have a series of 2 hour seminars (http://www.usps.org/e_stuff/seminars.htm) available as, well!

There are 33 districts with numerous squadrons in the United States. For details go to the USPS website http://www.usps.org/d_stuff/dist.html.

There are 14 squadrons in Florida in District 8 (http://www.uspsd8.org/). The district covers the Florida East Coast from Sebastian to Key West.

Each squadron has a website that identifies when and where courses are offered. By clicking on squadrons posted http://www.uspsd8.org/SquadronInfo.php?sqdcode=540 ( left side of screen) a list of courses will appear. If there are no classes shown please contact the education officer shown under “Bridge Officers” (right of the screen).

The latest rapidly growing program deals with “On the Water Training (OWT)”. What this means is that you now are able to get in a vessel on the water and learn with hands on. That’s right you actually will be behind the wheel (at the helm) of a real boat. I have taken the class and it’s a real thrill. Keep in mind this is new and many squadrons are still working out details on how they will implement this program.

Boating Is fun. We will show you how!