FLOTILLA 10 - Dunedin DISTRICT 07 DIVISION 11
Important Stuff	Flotilla Staff Officer - Public Education
August 23rd &24th            ABS Course	. IT MEETING July 23, 2008 Attendees: Bob Holden, Bill Clark, Elaine Clark, Charles Gilbert, Jim Ryder, Tom Loughlin, Nicol Nelson, Henry Loscher, Buddy Casale, and Larry O’Brien The meeting convened at 1857.  Larry O’Brien was the facilitator.  There was no agenda for the round table meeting.  The meeting was to be considered as a Workshop. ABS Course Problems Not enough time complete the Chapters Buddy Casale said he couldn’t hold his session to an hour. Bob Holden said there was a need for a Class Outline and this should enable presenters to keep to the session time. Bob Holden asked what are we trying to present? A 7 chapter shortened course o  Larry suggested the problem might be due to it being a week day course o Henry  wanted to know what the Objective of the Course was? Present the             material or achieve high test scores?  Answer – Present the material. o Bill Clark said there was a need to cover the material, but not in depth. o Buddy suggested that the course should include local knowledge.  He went on to say that in the past BOATSMART manual was dropped because the exam was free. Buddy was then informed that there now  is a 25.00 charge to take the test. o A discussion took place about the advantage of presenting the ABS Course, rather then take it online  It was stated that the students could ask questions to the          presenter. o Larry said there was no real problem in running the course on weekends, the problem seemed to be with running the course on week nights. o Bill Gately restated Henry’s point about the purpose of the course? Test or knowledge?  The group agreed on knowledge. o Bob Holden stated that the test is important.  It is possible to teach safe boating in the time Henry said that some material presented doesn’t make them better/safer boaters. Jim Ryder felt that we should not change the course. Larry said each instructor should produce an outline that would enable them to know how long the class is going to take.  He added there should be a balance between war stories and course material. It was agreed that a committee of two people to address the problem of slides for ABS.  Bill Clark and Bob Holden will produce a report to Jim Ryder by 9.30/2008.  Jim Ryder would review and report to Larry O’Brien by 10/31/2008. o Bob Holden reminded Larry that Don Hoge must approve whatever is recommended. o Larry suggested that young people wanted to take the course with parents. Page 2 Following a break Larry focused attention on the BS&S course. · Larry asked where we are going with BS&S?  What direction? · He said the Division 11 emphasis was on the ABS course · Buddy said we can make more money with the ABS course. · 3 Options were identified o Option 1. Bob Holden suggest the original 13 chapters, 2 hours for each chapter plus Florida Law – 7 weeks course o Option 2 6 core chapters plus Florida Law o Option 3 – As option 2 plus Weather · Major concern – How long a course ·      One of the problems was some classes were shortened to 1 hour – Really wrong. ·     Larry suggested we should review topics to see which topics should not be shortened.  ·     It was decided that we will teach Core subjects plus Radio, Weather, Navigation and Florida Law. It was then decided that the core chapters will be expanded to 2 hrs with some exceptions ·     It was suggested our course sets us apart from other Flotillas. · ·     Henry said that one problem was that Instructors do not know what other instructors cover.  It was suggested that for the Oct/Nov BS&S course we go back to the original old timing, 1 hour for trailering, 1 hour for radio, plotting and Weather. ·     It was agreed that BS&S should be a 5 week course. o 1^st night – Orientation - Chapter 1, Which Boat 1 to 1 ¼ hour + Chapter 3 o 2^nd night – Equipment Chapter 2 (2 hours) o 3^rd night – Handling Your Boat, Chapter 4 + Florida Law o 4^th night – Chapter 5, Highway Signs o 5^th night – Chapter 6, Rules of the Nautical Road o 6^th night – Chapter 8, Boating Safety, Weather o 7^th night – Chapter 9, Navigation o 8th night – Plotting o 9^th night – Radio Exercise, Florida Law Revision o 10^th night – Exam, Auxiliary Recruitment Larry O’Brien announced that we have a $500 check that we must spend on educational material.  He suggested buying charts for plotting.  It was stated that we can get charts copied free.  No decision was made regarding what to spend the money on. A new course was suggested, Weekend Navigator.  Elaine Clark will get text material.  A committee was formed consisting of Bob Holden, Bill Clark and Buddy Casale if possible with Bob Holden the Chair to make a decision of yes or no by December at the latest Page 3 A discussion took place regarding what courses should we give next year. Bill Clark suggested 1 ABS course during January/February next year.  Timing and publicity is important factors in having a class and the winter is difficult. Henry offered to supply a pair of walky-talkies and a wireless mouse. The meeting was adjourned at 2050.
last updated: 08/06/2008