Affordable 3-hour on-water training courses at Freedom Boat Club Newburyport

Learn boat-handling basics during three-hour on-water training courses at Freedom Boat Club Newburyport on September 14 and 15 © Scott Croft

Want to learn the basics of powerboating or brush up on your skills? The nonprofit BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water together with Freedom Boat Club Newburyport offer a choice of two fun on-water boat training courses taught aboard single-engine powerboats: Intro to Boating and Women Making Waves, Saturday, September 14, and Sunday, September 15, at the club's location at Yankee Landing Marina at 386 Merrimac Street, Newburyport.

Both the Intro to Boating and Women Making Waves courses are three hours long and affordably priced at $149. Intro to Boating covers shifting and steering, basic docking, open-water handling and basic navigation. The ladies-only course, Women Making Waves, offers the same curriculum and is the perfect opportunity to spend half a day learning boat-handling techniques in a supportive environment. Both courses are offered each day at 9:30 a.m.

Class size is limited to four students per vessel, ensuring each student gets sufficient time at the helm under the watchful eye of a U.S. Coast Guard-certified instructor.

The goal of the BoatUS Foundation and Freedom Boat Club Newburyport courses is to address the high costs typically associated with at-the-helm training, making hands-on boating education more accessible. The courses also offer area residents the chance to try out recreational boating and give boaters the opportunity to brush up on their boat-handling skills.

Space is limited. Must be 21 years or older. To sign up for a course or seek out others, go to www.boatus.org/On-Water.