For those in the Parksville Qualicum area, the Ballenas Power Squadron will be holding a four evening course with examination to provide you with the PCOC card that we all need to operate our boats.

The course will be held February 23, 25, March 2 and 4 at the Kwalicum secondary School on Village Way in Qualicum Beach. The course fee, including the exam and PCOC card, is $65.00.

You can contact me if you want any additional information.

You can pre-register by going to;
http://www.cps-ecp.ca/public.asp?WCE=C= ... CAL=225480

I have noticed that the above link sometimes does not come through completely when you click on it, so you may need to copy the link and paste it into your web browser to get to the registration page.

did you know you can take the test through st. johns ambulance for only $25

Dougfisher, thanks for that piece of information, will give them a call and see where and when they are putting on the class.

Could you please post that information if you can dig it up?
Got pretty well everything else under my belt, but been procrastinating heavily on this one - kinda PO'd they won't accept a Limited Master's License that covers a LOT more ground. But I've finally come to realize there is no escaping this money grab, so...

TIA,
Nog

nogs don't you have svop? An instructor of that course told me you don't need the pcoc if you have it?

Now THAT I'll have to check into. Would be nice to avoid at least one of the overly-redundant Licenses we have to carry. Soon gonna need a bigger boat just to pack the paperwork!!

Thanks for that!

Cheers,
Nog

To compare like items, our Power Squadron will permit someone to challenge the PCOC exam for $25.00 also. That assumes that the person has obtained the study material themselves and are only writing the exam.

Upon successful completion of the Power Squadron PCOC exam the candidate also receives a one year associate membership in Canadian Power Squadron.

The Power Squadron card is the only card that is recognized in the United States by the US Coast Guard.

The $65.00 course fee includes the exam, the CPS Boatpro booklet and instruction for three evenings and the exam on the fourth. Not quite the same thing that ST Johns Ambulance offers. It depends upon what a person needs and knows.

I do not understand. it is the only card acceditted in the US. are they not a Canadian Coast Guard accredited test. what does power squadron have to do with any accredation? do they not just teach the course and give the test?

All of the courses from different providers are Canadian accredited and comply with the Canadian requirements. The CPS exam includes 14 additional questions that meet the requirements of the US National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) and because of this, the card issued by CPS also has the NASBLA certification. This certification is recognized at all state levels.

If you don't boat in the US, this means absolutely nothing. Also, some states permit foreign operators to operate within their waters without a license. The NASBLA certification may or not be important to an individual, but the CPS card includes it.

So, if you are looking just to write the exam and get the card, our Squadron does this for $25.00. If you are looking for instruction and course material, this is provided for $65.00 (the material costs money and we need to rent a classroom for the four nights of the course).

Cheers.