Boaters University

There are docking skills and then there are these skills. And as they say around the Chesapeake, "It's an Eastern Shore thing, you wouldn't understand."

Mario Vittone, Soundings and PassageMaker contributor, and Safety and Rescue at Sea instructor, goes over how to pack your life jacket to survive falling overboard.

Good luck is a bad safety plan for boating, here is why you need to be prepared.

Soundings contributor Mario Vittone explains why "Always Wear Your Life Jacket" is terrible advice, in order to actually get you to wear your life jacket more.

Improve your docking and boat handling skills with this course from Boaters University.

Plus, Chris Parker's 'Weather 101' Is Now Accepting Students

Understand weather and make safer decisions onboard your boat.

The importance of having a plan

Knowing how to confidently dock your boat is essential to boat ownership, here are some tips from Bob Sweet.

Unregulated AIS fishing beacons are most likely illegal and pose a hazard to navigation

A great article from Mario Vittone's Sounding Magazine Lifeline Blog on the best device for being found.

Mike Diaz, a kayak fisherman, describes spending 17 hours treading water and fighting the tides of Long Island Sound after his kayak capsized in October of 2017. Diaz credits his life jacket with his survival.

It's important to know the rules because safety is not an option

Bob Sweet, TrawlerFest presenter and Boaters University instructor,  talks about what makes a good boat handler and how to become one.

Check out this course from Boaters University on safety and how to prepare for rescue at sea.

Learn the basics of saltwater fishing from John Brownlee of Anglers Journal TV through this course at Boaters University.

Understanding how your EPIRB works and how to operate it is better to do before disaster strikes.

Understanding our responsibilities for operating in narrow channels with large ships

A followup to Mario Vittone's "Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning" article from Soundings Magazine.

Are you captain material? Take our quick quiz on Navigational Rules to find out.

Mention drowning and we all tend to envision a person in the water waving his hands, splashing and screaming for help. That’s not even remotely close to what a drowning person looks like, writes Mario Vittone in this week’s Lifelines: Safety And Rescue At Sea blog.

An important Seamanship article from our friends at Soundings Magazine regarding COLREGS Rule 5.