Coastal Navigation For Yachtsmen

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

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.

Traditional Yacht Navigation combines two of Jeff Toghill's most popular books, Coastal Navigation and Celestial Navigation, making this the essential handbook about small boat navigation. Most small boats are fitted with electronic navigation systems. But electronic gear is notoriously problematic in a damp or wet atmosphere and in the sometimes hazardous environment of a big seaway. Dependence on their accuracy in such conditions can lead to life-threatening situations. With traditional navigation systems using compass and sextant, these problems do not arise so a skilled navigator needs to be familiar with both systems. The book deals with electronic navigation, but covers the basic aspects of the traditional systems in depth. Using numerous charts, diagrams and photographs, Jeff Toghill explains the naval chart, how to use a marine compass and all the details of coastal sailing, including: lights and lighthouses; planning the voyage and plotting the track; understanding winds and currents, tides and streams; the harbour pilotage system and weather and weather forecasting. The complex subject of celestial navigation is made simple enough for even the most non-mathematical sailor, with details on: plotting position by sun, planets and stars; related navigational routines, such as checking the compass by using heavenly objects; taking radio time signals and adjusting the sextant for day-to-day corrections.

Written primarily for those who navigate their own vessels around the coast or across the seas. The book does not go deeply into abstruse problems of nautical astronomy or spherical trigonometry, but sufficient explanation of these subjects has been given to enable the reader to work his sights with a proper understanding of the principles involved

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 Exercises is based on the notes and exercises prepared for students during some 15 years of teaching marine navigation to sailors and professional mariners. The data tables needed to do the exercises are given in the Appendix of this manual. Most of the exercises require the Canadian marine chart CHS 3463, Strait of Georgia, Southern Portion, published under the authority of Canadian Hydrographic Services and available through chart retailers. A list of over 500 CHS retailers in Canada, the US, the UK, and Japan is available from www.charts.gc.ca/charts-cartes/dealerdepositaire-eng.asp. The exercises are grouped in six sessions corresponding to the six sessions of the Power Point presentation. This presentation can be freely downloaded from the web site www.MarineNavigationBooks.com, and reproduces the images illustrating the course book (Costal Navigation for Class and Home Study) as well as the exercises in this manual. Each question is on one slide, and the answer on the next one.