Narragansett, RI– October 11, 2000 — Confidence, skill, and safety are the attributes of a seasoned sailor. To help boaters reach the next step in their ability to navigate in any kind of sea, Friends of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography is offering a short course in Advanced Navigation, conducted by avid sailor Arthur (Mac) Cuddy, president of West Bay Sailing, Inc., and former navigator for the Annapolis-Newport, Marblehead-Halifax, Newport-Bermuda, and Bermuda-Copenhagen races. The three-session course will be held on Wednesday evening, October 25, November 1, and November 8, from 6-9 p.m. in the Coastal Institute Building on the URI Bay Campus in Narragansett. Cuddy will review the U.S. buoyage system navigation charts and tide and current charts. The class will then advance to plotting courses, determining approximate positions using dead reckoning, and taking and using bearings and electronic navigational tools. Participants should bring their own parallels, dividers, and Narragansett Bay Chart #13221. Cost for Advanced Navigation is $75 for Friends of Oceanography members and $100 for non-members. Preregistration is required. For information or registration call Friends of Oceanography at 874-6602. Friends of Oceanography is a community-based membership organization established in 1986 to support the educational and public programs of the URI Graduate School Oceanography. Friends provides financial support of fellowships for GSO students, and other research, education, and outreach activities. The organization also helps sponsor a variety of special events such as The JASON Project, oceanography lectures, Bounty on the Bay Day, the Annual Friends of Oceanography Auction, open houses, and the Narragansett Bay Classroom. x-x-x Visit the URI Graduate School of Oceanography website: http://www.gso.uri.edu/ Lisa Cugini, 874-6642, lcugini@gso.uri.edu