How To Read A Nautical Chart

Chart Number One is essential to correct and accurate use of nautical charts. More than a chart, it is a book that defines the symbols, abbreviations and terms used on charts. It also provides important information about buoys, light visibility (range) and aids to navigation. This new and improved edition from Paradise Cay is a complete and accurate high quality reproduction of information provided by NOAA and NIMA.

The essential reference tool for reading maps, published by the Coast Guard, is now available to boaters in an attractive, colorful edition that includes important supplementary information about navigation. A must-have for all mariners, the first half of the manual reproduces the U.S. Coast Guard book, with coverage of basic chart concepts, the anatomy of a chart, how to read a chart, symbols and abbreviations associated with National Ocean Service and Defense Mapping Agency charts, and the chart numbering system. In addition, for extra value, the USCG version has been expanded to include navigation tips and techniques from Chapman Piloting and Seamanship, 64th edition, including details on positioning procedures, dead reckoning, and river piloting.

As in previous editions, the symbols used on paper nautical charts produced by NOAA and the NGA and digital raster representations of those charts, such as NOAA Raster Nautical Chart (NOAA RNC's), are presented in lettered sections organized in categories, such as Landmarks, Depths, and Lights.

Improve your understanding of charts and you will navigate with increased safety and confidence. First explaining how charts are compiled, this guides you through the elements that make up these vital navigational tools. In addition to the wealth of practical advice the book contains the Symbols and Abbreviations Used on Admiralty Charts in full.

A fearless Spanish crew embarks on a search for a lost ship, swallowed by the Indian Ocean centuries ago, in a novel by “a master of the literary thriller” (Booklist, starred review). Manuel Coy is a suspended sailor with time on his hands, a mariner without a ship. While attending a maritime auction in Barcelona, he meets Tánger Soto, a captivating beauty who works for the Naval Museum in Madrid. A woman obsessed with the Dei Gloria, a famed Jesuit ship sunk by pirates in the seventeenth century, she now hopes to find it and unearth its mysteries, rumored to be buried the bottom of the sea off the southern coast of Spain. Quickly drawn into the search, Coy accompanies Tánger Soto, and a wise old man of the sea whose sailboat will carry the crew into the middle of nowhere in search of a fortune. But more than treasure is rising to the surface—secrets are, too. And from these depths will also come danger, and an adventure no one is prepared for. From the acclaimed author of The Queen of the South, The Nautical Chart is “a swashbuckling tale of mystery” (The Washington Post Book World).

We all rely on charts to navigate at sea – but are we missing essential information? A mass of data is included on each chart and deciphering the many symbols and abbreviations can be complicated. The accuracy of some charted depths can be trusted entirely while others should be treated with caution. This book will tell you where to find and how to understand this vital knowledge. This updated second edition explains how charts are compiled before guiding you through the elements that make up these vital navigational tools. Improve you understanding of charts and you will navigate with increased safety and confidence. Understanding a Nautical Chart offers superb value as, in addition to a wealth of practical advice, there is a key to all the recently updated chart symbols and abbreviations from Symbols and Abbreviations Used on Admiralty Charts (5011). It includes information on electronic charts, explains how to update a chart and how to establish the accuracy of each chart. It is ideal for professional mariners and leisure sailors.

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.