Down the Ottawa and up the St. Lawrence. The author of The Rideau and The Timiskawa Navigators shows us how to cruise these two waterways in a safe, enjoyable and seamanlike fashion. The ice may still be on the water when Doug starts us off with the planning and preparation phases. He has us studying the charts, laying off distances, figuring our time lines, making our lists and checking our gear. Then he takes along the rivers, telling of their histories, what to see and do and what to watch for. He describes the great ships plying the Seaway, and what they mean to us in our little craft and he does it all in his own unique style. Serious advice is lightened by his wry sense of humour.

Each chapter ends with a Rumrummer Tale, a story of those fascinating characters who freighted booze across the water every means, conceivable and otherwise.

Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings is for people who like to work with their hands and who appreciate traditional nautical craftsmanship. You dont have to be the master of any craft to undertake any of these projects--from a simple kamal or latitude hook to the more complex pelorus or octant--just a careful and enthusiastic worker.

These 18 projects fall roughly into three categories: decorative, useful, and somewhere in between. Some, such as the astrolabe, are mainly for display. On the other hand, the sounding line is an important and practical tool for small-craft navigation, particularly in the absence of an electronic sounder. The cross-staff falls somewhere in between, equally at home in the den or the ditch kit.

Each of the devices discussed here--with simple, proven building instructions complemented by clear illustrations--has at one time or another been used for the practical business of navigation, and each is worth reviving for its beauty, historic value, or sheer usefulness.

Dennis Fisher has designed these projects with an emphasis on simplicity and reasonable cost. Everything can be scratch-built using easily obtainable materials and tools, and each is true to the spirit and function of the original instrument.

Ancient Ocean Crossings paints a compelling picture of impressive pre-Columbian cultures and Old World civilizations that, contrary to many prevailing notions, were not isolated from one another, evolving independently, each in its own hemisphere. Instead, they constituted a "global ecumene," involving a complex pattern of intermittent but numerous and profoundly consequential contacts. In Ancient Ocean Crossings: Reconsidering the Case for Contacts with the Pre-Columbian Americas, Stephen Jett encourages readers to reevaluate the common belief that there was no significant contact between the emerging civilizations of Eurasia and Africa and peoples who occupied the terra incognita beyond the great oceans. More than a hundred centuries separate the time that Ice Age hunters are conventionally thought to have crossed a land bridge from Asia into North America and the arrival of Columbus in the Bahamas in 1492. Traditional belief has long held that earth's two hemispheres were essentially cut off from one another as a result of the post-Pleistocene meltwater-fed rising oceans. These oceans, along with deserts and mountains, formed impermeable barriers to interhemispheric communication. This viewpoint implies that the cultures of the Old World and those of the Americas developed independently. Drawing on abundant evidence to support his theory for significant pre-Columbian contacts, Jett suggests that many ancient peoples had both the seafaring capabilities and the motives to cross the oceans and, in fact, did so repeatedly and with great impact. His deep and broad work synthesizes information and ideas from archaeology, geography, linguistics, climatology, oceanography, ethnobotany, genetics, medicine, and the history of navigation and seafaring, making an innovative and persuasive multidisciplinary case for a new understanding of human societies and their diffuse but interconnected development.

Attuned to a world of natural signs—the stars, the winds, the curl of ocean swells—Polynesian explorers navigated for thousands of miles without charts or instruments. They sailed against prevailing winds and currents aboard powerful double canoes to settle the vast Pacific Ocean. And they did this when Greek mariners still hugged the coast of an inland sea, and Europe was populated by stone-age farmers. Yet by the turn of the twentieth century, this story had been lost and Polynesians had become an oppressed minority in their own land. Then, in 1975, a replica of an ancient Hawaiian canoe—Hokule‘a—was launched to sail the ancient star paths, and help Hawaiians reclaim pride in the accomplishments of their ancestors. Hawaiki Rising tells this story in the words of the men and women who created and sailed aboard Hokule‘a. They speak of growing up at a time when their Hawaiian culture was in danger of extinction; of their vision of sailing ancestral sea-routes; and of the heartbreaking loss of Eddie Aikau in a courageous effort to save his crewmates when Hokule‘a capsized in a raging storm. We join a young Hawaiian, Nainoa Thompson, as he rediscovers the ancient star signs that guided his ancestors, navigates Hokule‘a to Tahiti, and becomes the first Hawaiian to find distant landfall without charts or instruments in a thousand years. Hawaiki Rising is the saga of an astonishing revival of indigenous culture by voyagers who took hold of the old story and sailed deep into their ancestral past.

The TransNav 2011 Symposium held at the Gdynia Maritime University, Poland in June 2011 has brought together a wide range of participants from all over the world. The program has offered a variety of contributions, allowing to look at many aspects of the navigational safety from various different points of view. Topics presented and discussed at the Symposium were: navigation, safety at sea, sea transportation, education of navigators and simulator-based training, sea traffic engineering, ship's manoeuvrability, integrated systems, electronic charts systems, satellite, radio-navigation and anti-collision systems and many others. This book is part of a series of six volumes and provides an overview of International recent issues about ECDIS, E-Navigation and Safety at Sea and is addressed to scientists and professionals involved in research and development of navigation, safety of navigation and sea transportation.

The TransNav 2011 Symposium held at the Gdynia Maritime University, Poland in June 2011 has brought together a wide range of participants from all over the world. The program has offered a variety of contributions, allowing to look at many aspects of the navigational safety from various different points of view. Topics presented and discussed at the Symposium were: navigation, safety at sea, sea transportation, education of navigators and simulator-based training, sea traffic engineering, ship's manoeuvrability, integrated systems, electronic charts systems, satellite, radio-navigation and anti-collision systems and many others. This book is part of a series of six volumes and provides an overview of Problems in Maritime Navigation, Transport and Shipping and is addressed to scientists and professionals involved in research and development of navigation, safety of navigation and sea transportation.

Instant answers for your boat handling, navigation, and seamanship questions

"The Instant Handbook" uses a dynamic new quick-reference format to cover the critical aspects of piloting, seamanship, and boat handling under sail or power more accessibly and effectively than has ever been done before. It puts at your fingertips all the information you need about: Boat Handling Under Power--Bob Sweet Sail Trim and Rig Tuning--Bill Gladstone Using Nautical Charts--Bob Sweet Using GPS--Bob Sweet Using VHF and SSB Radios--Bob Sweet Rules of the Road and Running Light Patterns--Charlie Wing Knots, Splices, and Line Handling--Charlie Wing Anchoring--Peter Nielsen Onboard Weather Forecasting--Bob Sweet Heavy Weather Sailing--John Rousmaniere Diesel Engine Care and Repair--Nigel Calder Emergencies On Board--John Rousmaniere Emergency First Aid On Board--Richard Clinchy

A companion volume to Ocean Yachtmaster for those taking the Yachtmaster Ocean Certificate, and for navigation revision.

Electronic navigation, although still relatively new, is becoming increasingly more common, particularly on commercial vessels. This handbook offers a wealth of detailed information about how different charting systems operate and answers the most commonly asked questions regarding electronic charts (ENC, RNC, DNC) and electronic chart systems (ECDIS, RCDS, ECS). The first resource to provide so much detail on all facets of ECDIS and Electronic Charting Systems, it is certain to serve as the bible for ECDIS users for years to come. It not only provides information for training programs but also for engineers maintaining ECDIS Systems in the field.

The book will be of specific interest to those who need to know about selection, implementation, operational use, benefits, and management of these systems, without getting into the technical details of how ECDIS/GIS actually works.

Celestial navigation is an essential tool for those who do not wish to be caught short when modern technology fails. The basic process is simple - take a sight with a sextant, establish a secondary reference or benchmark sight, compare the two sights and plot the result of the comparison on a chart. Schlereth demonstrates how to take sight by the sun, moon, stars and planets, discussing the advantages of each method. The reader is taken through several examples and situational illustrations.