Practical Boat Training & Coaching
Got your boat licence but still not confident with your boat?
Your licence is the beginning. BOS practical coaching is designed to help you become comfortable operating your own boat, trailer, equipment and electronics in the real world.
Passing a licence assessment doesn't necessarily mean you've had much experience launching your particular boat, retrieving it at a busy ramp, handling wind and current, anchoring, using your electronics or dealing with the practical responsibilities of being skipper.
This is post-licence practical coaching; not a BoatSafe course, licensing assessment, or replacement for required licensing training. It is also not fishing instruction or a guided fishing trip.
Your boat. Your trailer. Your equipment.
Your boat handles differently from the one you trained on. Your trailer is different. Your electronics are different. Your local ramp is different.
Rather than generic classroom advice, BOS works through the things you actually need to know with your own boat and equipment.
🚗 Getting the Boat to the Water
- Trailer preparation
- Reversing and ramp positioning
- Launching and preparing the boat
- Ramp etiquette
- Retrieving, winching and securing
- Managing a busy ramp
🛥️ Handling Your Boat
- Getting underway
- Low-speed manoeuvring
- Pontoons and confined spaces
- Turning and stopping
- Getting on/off the plane
- Wind and current
- Approaching vessels and structures
⚓ Anchoring & Mooring
- Choosing an anchorage
- Deploying, setting and retrieving an anchor
- Using public moorings
- Approaching and picking up a mooring
- Securing the boat
🧭 Navigation
- Marine charts
- Channel and lateral marks
- Depths, contours and hazards
- Trip planning
- Tides and currents
- GPS/chartplotter basics
- Local restrictions
🌊 Being Skipper
- Pre-departure checks
- Weather and sea conditions
- Fuel and passenger safety
- Safety equipment
- Weight distribution
- Engine failure/loss of propulsion
- Emergency situations
🛠️ Real-World Boat Ownership
- Day-on-water setup
- Launching/retrieving solo
- Passenger organisation
- Loading and unloading
- Basic maintenance
- Saltwater washdown
- Trailer care
- Recognising when something isn't right
Questions are part of the session.
Bring your questions with you. New boat owners nearly always have a list of things they're unsure about, and this is your opportunity to ask them in person while we're standing next to your actual boat and equipment. No need to save the questions for another appointment.
First Boat Session
A practical run-through of your own boat from trailer to water and back again.
- Boat and trailer walk-through
- Launch and retrieve
- Basic handling
- Equipment and electronics
- Safety and skipper responsibilities
- Ask anything you've been wondering about.
Ramp Confidence
Focused coaching for owners who are fine on the water but dread the launch and retrieval process.
Boat Handling
Practical manoeuvring, low-speed control, wind/current and getting comfortable around ramps, pontoons and confined areas.
Navigation & Equipment
Work through your chartplotter, GPS, marine charts, trip planning and the equipment actually installed on your boat.