Coastal Navigation

Basic Coastal Navigation

This clear and accessible introduction to coastal navigation outlines most of the techniques of piloting that are still fundamental to safe navigation even with modern electronic aids. Step-by-step, the reader is guided from simple to more complex piloting solutions. In addition to dead-reckoning techniques, the author covers tides and currents and explains how to use LORAN C and GPS. There are numerous illustrations throughout the text and practice problems at the end of each chapter. Key Advantages: fully updated new edition, perfect for sail and power, clear layout and instructions, comprehensive overage of all aspects of coastal navigation, review questions and answers, and suitable for self-study and Coast Guard or other similar courses.

Coastal Navigation

Coastal Navigation for Class and Home Study is based on the notes prepared for students by the author during some 20 years of teaching navigation, initially to private or commercial pilots, and then to sailors and professional mariners. The book is copiously illustrated with graphics which explain chart projections, scales and symbols, and describe lights and other navigation aids. It demystifies the True, Magnetic and Compass Norths as well as problems of time, speed and distances, and explains how to plot courses and take bearings, or draw regular and advanced Lines of Position using the international system of labeling. The book further clarifies the use of vectors to easily determine the impact of a current on the boat speed and direction, and goes on to show how to evaluate tides and currents. The final sections describe the use of GPS and electronic charts, highlighting their limitations. Additional notes and explanations are given in the areas where students traditionally experience difficulties, as well as supplementary examples and exercises. The companion book, Coastal Navigation Exercises, offers all the exercises needed for practice.

Coastal Navigation