Advanced Courses

In addition to its Public Education and Elective Courses, America's Boating Club of the Pamlico (ABC-Pamlico) teaches a series of Advanced Courses for those who wish to continue building their boating skills. We invite you to  become a member and indulge your love of boating. There are Five Advanced Grade Courses offered by ABC-Pamlico. They are designed to be taken in the listed sequence because each builds on skills taught in the previous course.

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  • Boat Handling (formerly Seamanship) covers basic deck seamanship, marlinspike (knots and ropes), anchoring and rafting, basic boat care and maintenance, and nautical and USPS customs and etiquette.
  • Marine Navigation (formerly Piloting) is the first and most basic navigation course, covering chart reading, course plotting and basic coastal or inland navigation, including basic GPS usage. This course goes into more detail than the charting information covered in the public courses.
  • Advanced Marine Navigation (formerly Advanced Piloting) covers more advanced coastal navigation techniques, navigation in tides and currents, and more advanced GPS usage.
  • Offshore Navigation (formerly Jr Navigation) teaches the basics of offshore navigation, planning and monitoring your vvoyage, electronics, including basic celestial navigation and offshore course planning.
  • Celestial Navigation (formerly Sr Navigation) is the most advanced navigation course taught by USPS, covering more advanced celestial navigation techniques using the sun, emergency navigation, and additional sight reduction techniques.

America's Boating Club® continues to develop and revise meaningful advanced courses and, as they are released, the ABC-Pamlico will fit them into our Educational Program. To learn more click on All ABC Boating Courses.

Remember, your input helps the Education Department provide the courses that meet our membership’s interests.  Let us hear from YOU!  Feel free to contact Bob Vecchi, Education Officer at 252-948-0552 or simply email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Visit our Calendar for dates and locations of the courses planned for 2024.