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 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.

Frank J Larkin is a writer, mariner, and GPS expert.

This book is primarily intended as a companion volume to a shore-based navigation course where there are no extraneous distractions. The pages which follow work towards making you into the sort of small craft pilot who can pick up any boat, anywhere in the world, whatever the conditions, however strong the currents, however large the tides, and operate it with confidence. Learn all this material thoroughly while you have the chance, then take it afloat and put it into practice. With sound ground work, you will find that skilled navigation at sea poses no problems at all, and that confidence in where you are and where you are going will free your mind to concentrate on the great pleasures of skippering your yacht.

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.

This book is an updated and expanded edition of a text that has been used in navigation courses for 30 years. It covers practical small-craft navigation (sail, power, or paddle), starting from the basics and ending with all that is needed to navigate safely and efficiently on inland and coastal waters in all weather conditions. It is for beginners, starting from scratch, or for more seasoned mariners who wish to expand their skills. Topics include: Charts, Chart Reading, and Chart Plotting Instruments and Logbook Procedures Compass Use Piloting and Dead Reckoning Lights and Buoyage Tides and Currents Rules of the Road GPS and other Electronic Aids The GPS tells us where we are and how fast we are moving in what direction, but it can never tell us the safest, most efficient route to our destination. That fundamental task requires the basic navigation skills taught in this book, which we can use as well to check the GPS underway, and then be prepared to navigate without the GPS if we need to. The hallmark of good seamanship is to look ahead and be prepared. The text covers not only the long tested traditional methods of navigation but also the efficient use of the latest technology in electronic navigation and charting.

The 12th International Conference on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation (TransNav 2017) will take place on June 21-23 in Gdynia, Poland. Main themes of this conference include: electronic navigation, route planning, mathematical models, methods and algorithms, ships manoeuvring, navigational risks, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Automatic Identification System (AIS), marine radar, anti-collision, dynamic positioning, visualization of data, hydrometereological aspects and weather routing, safety at sea, inland navigation, autonomous water transport, communications and global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS), port ant routes optimum location and magnetic compasses.