A graphic from the Navigating Mid Coast Maine course. Submitted graphic

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 2-5, based in Boothbay Harbor, has created Navigating Mid Coast Maine, an online course based entirely on local National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration navigation chart No. 13293.

This course is for those who have been planning to explore the local coast but have been hesitant, according to a news release from Ted Chatham, Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Those who attend can learn how to decipher all the information on a nautical chart while also learning about the local area.

For more information about the class — scheduled to begin Tuesday Oct. 4, and run for five nights, two hours per night — and how to sign up, email David Eastwood at cgaux.fl25@gmail.com.

The course costs $30 per person; there are associated costs if the students need a chart and plotting tools. Assuming a student needs all the add-on items the total would be $88, but the tools and the newest edition of the chart are exactly what is used in the real world and is good for many uses going forward, Chatman noted.

Couples taking the course can usually purchase just one set of the add-ons to share, making the cost $74 per person.

The flotilla activities are 95 percent funded by the auxiliary’s public education classes and 5 percent by dues.

Check out other upcoming area events!