Steve Sanford
Well-known member
As a followup to Keith's earlier thread (It just got worse in New York State), I thought I would report on my experience last Monday and Tuesday - taking the Boater Safety Training now required for young (anyone 18 or less) motorized vessel operators across NYS. I am glad I went - I picked up some new information and thought about a few things I hadn't thought about in a long time. Here are a few of my observations:
1 - The 8-hour course was given over 2 days. By coincidence, most of the students were operators of survey boats that are part of GE's cleanup of Hudson River PCBs. That cleanup was an important part of my own professional responsibilities once I moved to Albany (our DEC's Central Office) in 1994. They were a great bunch of guys, with varying levels of boating experience, skills and knowledge - but all fine classmates.
2 - The instructor was a professional captain, mostly tugs, with a 200-ton Master License - for about 45 years. I wish the course allowed for more free discussion so that I could have learned more from him.
3 - The cost was $82 - that was for the instructor. I just mailed an additional $10 to NYS Parks to get my permanent Boating Safety Certificate. I do not think this will be a recurring fee. I could - but decided not to - send an additional $12.50 to NYS Motor Vehicles so they could print an Anchor on my Drivers License right away. Instead, I will wait until my next license renewal - in 2020 - and get it printed for free. (We duck hunters tend to be both patient and cheap....)
4 - The significant deficiency of the course was the materials. Although the new training manual is available on-line, the supply did not reach the instructor in time for this class. So, 8 of us used the old book and 4 used the new. Since we read from the books in class, it made teaching a challenge for the instructor and students alike. There were a few instances where the information conflicted between the books. And, we did not get to keep the books - even after spending a total of $92....(Loath to print an 84-page document on my own printer, I will try to get one from Parks.)
5 - The little (~10 pp) I read of the new manual on-line was disappointing. I noted significant amounts of misinformation about boats - mostly in definitions. I am guessing this is the result of a chief editor who was not a subject matter experrt ("boat person") - and probably the result of the general dumbing-down of all media which we Old School guys observe across all sectors of society - but especially in media and communications. Even the "old" manual - prepared by a firm from Virginia and used by numerous states - had problems (beyond just grammar). For example, the "study questions" at the ends of the chapters more than once asked for information that was presented only in later chapters. (Looks like an obvious "word processing" error - because it is so easy to move information around - but without the critical followup scrutiny.) The single brief paragraph they used to present Sailboats was technically incorrect and - as anticipated - the one vessel shown with oars was put in the "Paddle Sports" category.
6 - More significantly, those who used the new book said there was little or no "Rules of the Road" content - an omission with real potential for harm, in my opinion.
7 - I was surprised to see some editorializing in the books - raving about how wonderful waterskiing and jetskis are - but criticizing anglers and duckhunters (I would provide an exact quote IF I had been able to keep the book.....)
8 - Although hands-on/operation is not a part of this course, our instructor had DVDs and PowerPoints available but opted not to use them. I think most professional educators recognize that different students learn in different ways - and so employing all available media would likely be more effective. Certainly anything about actually operating a boat would be helped by motion pictures.
9 - The test was fair. There were only 2 of the 50 multiple-choice questions that I thought were poorly worded. I must have unraveled them correctly, though, because I got the first 100 that this instructor has given in his 10 years of presenting the course.
I think I will explore local opportunities for further training - perhaps through a Power Squadron. I would especially like to learn more about navigation.
So, now I can operate my Sneakbox in any state - best to just stay out of my way!
All the best,
SJS
1 - The 8-hour course was given over 2 days. By coincidence, most of the students were operators of survey boats that are part of GE's cleanup of Hudson River PCBs. That cleanup was an important part of my own professional responsibilities once I moved to Albany (our DEC's Central Office) in 1994. They were a great bunch of guys, with varying levels of boating experience, skills and knowledge - but all fine classmates.
2 - The instructor was a professional captain, mostly tugs, with a 200-ton Master License - for about 45 years. I wish the course allowed for more free discussion so that I could have learned more from him.
3 - The cost was $82 - that was for the instructor. I just mailed an additional $10 to NYS Parks to get my permanent Boating Safety Certificate. I do not think this will be a recurring fee. I could - but decided not to - send an additional $12.50 to NYS Motor Vehicles so they could print an Anchor on my Drivers License right away. Instead, I will wait until my next license renewal - in 2020 - and get it printed for free. (We duck hunters tend to be both patient and cheap....)
4 - The significant deficiency of the course was the materials. Although the new training manual is available on-line, the supply did not reach the instructor in time for this class. So, 8 of us used the old book and 4 used the new. Since we read from the books in class, it made teaching a challenge for the instructor and students alike. There were a few instances where the information conflicted between the books. And, we did not get to keep the books - even after spending a total of $92....(Loath to print an 84-page document on my own printer, I will try to get one from Parks.)
5 - The little (~10 pp) I read of the new manual on-line was disappointing. I noted significant amounts of misinformation about boats - mostly in definitions. I am guessing this is the result of a chief editor who was not a subject matter experrt ("boat person") - and probably the result of the general dumbing-down of all media which we Old School guys observe across all sectors of society - but especially in media and communications. Even the "old" manual - prepared by a firm from Virginia and used by numerous states - had problems (beyond just grammar). For example, the "study questions" at the ends of the chapters more than once asked for information that was presented only in later chapters. (Looks like an obvious "word processing" error - because it is so easy to move information around - but without the critical followup scrutiny.) The single brief paragraph they used to present Sailboats was technically incorrect and - as anticipated - the one vessel shown with oars was put in the "Paddle Sports" category.
6 - More significantly, those who used the new book said there was little or no "Rules of the Road" content - an omission with real potential for harm, in my opinion.
7 - I was surprised to see some editorializing in the books - raving about how wonderful waterskiing and jetskis are - but criticizing anglers and duckhunters (I would provide an exact quote IF I had been able to keep the book.....)
8 - Although hands-on/operation is not a part of this course, our instructor had DVDs and PowerPoints available but opted not to use them. I think most professional educators recognize that different students learn in different ways - and so employing all available media would likely be more effective. Certainly anything about actually operating a boat would be helped by motion pictures.
9 - The test was fair. There were only 2 of the 50 multiple-choice questions that I thought were poorly worded. I must have unraveled them correctly, though, because I got the first 100 that this instructor has given in his 10 years of presenting the course.
I think I will explore local opportunities for further training - perhaps through a Power Squadron. I would especially like to learn more about navigation.
So, now I can operate my Sneakbox in any state - best to just stay out of my way!
All the best,
SJS
