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.

Practical knowledge for Inland, Coastal, and Ocean waters that makes your sailing safer and more efficient. Special topics in navigation and weather from the "Burch at the Helm" column in Blue Water Sailing magazine.

In the spirit of early Bowditch editions, we offer navigation details of a full ocean passage as an excellent way to learn the ropes of practical celestial navigation. With your own tables and plotting sheets, you can analyze 224 timed sextant sights of sun, moon, stars, and planets to obtain 26 position fi xes to fi nd your way along a 2,800-nmi voyage lasting 17 days. Solutions are provided by computation, workforms, and detailed plots using universal plotting sheets. After completing this passage you will be prepared to navigate by celestial navigation on your own, whether you need to or choose to. Also includes notes on optimizing sight analysis, hurricane tracking, DR error analysis, ocean currents, and use of visible light ranges for nighttime arrivals.

For all radar users, recreational and professional. Covers the use of radar for chart navigation, blind pilotage, and collision avoidance. This Workbook is designed to be used in classroom or online courses in radar, or for individual study outside of the classroom. The lesson structure follows that used by several schools in the US, based on the background reader Radar for Mariners by David Burch. The Appendix on advanced radar plotting is included for professional mariners who seek more practice on interpreting ARPA output by working out the vector solutions themselves. The ability to manually interpret the radar interactions seen on the screen, independent of electronic solutions, is in keeping with the fundamental tenet of good navigation and seamanship that we should not rely on any one aid alone.

Sextants are used to measure angular heights of celestial bodies above the horizon to find the latitude and longitude of the observer. They can also be used on land with artificial horizons. Sextants can also be used to find the correct Universal Time by measuring the angular distance between the moon and another body along its path across the zodiac. In coastal waters or on land, sextants can be used for very accurate piloting by measuring the horizontal angles between charted landmarks. The vertical angle of a peak above its baseline determines the distance to it, which, combined with a compass bearing, yields a position fix from just one landmark. The angular dip of an object (island or vessel) below the visible horizon can also be used to determine the distance to it. This booklet explains how to get the best results from plastic sextants, and presents numerical comparisons with similar data from metal sextants. Sextant piloting techniques are also reviewed as they are an ideal use of a plastic sextant.

This Book compliles Current Charts and Tide Prints for Puget Sound. Current Charts show the values of the currents at each reference station. There is one chart for every hour throughout the cycle. They are indexed to the tidal current at Admiralty Inlet. Tide Prints show the flow patterns and how they evolve throughout the current cycle. There is one print for every 3 hours throughout the cycle. They are indexed to the tide height in Seattle. Comparing Tide Prints and Current Charts shows the locations of eddies and bands of current, and how these bands and eddies move and interact as the current cycle evolves. These are both perpetual publications, good for any year.

The barometer remains the most important tool for evaluating and predicting the weather. This book explains why knowing accurate values of the atmospheric pressure can improve this process and benefit all applications. Ways to evaluate and calibrate aneroid and electronic barometers using readily available data by Internet or telephone are clearly described. Tactical applications to marine navigation are covered. The book also includes worldwide average monthly pressures and their standard deviations. With the exception of trained meteorological crews, barometers in the past were used at sea primarily to learn if the pressure was going up or down, and whether it was doing this rapidly or slowly. And from this we made an educated guess of a likely consequence, usually in conjunction with other observations. Outside of professional marine use, little effort was made to know the true pressure for several reasons. We did not know what to do with it if we had it, and more often we could not get it if we wanted it, because most barometers were not calibrated. This has changed. We now have many valuable applications of accurate pressure, and we also have affordable ways to get it, and we have convenient ways to prove our instruments work properly. The main goal of this book is to show how all this comes about, and to give more insight into this fascinating, venerable instrument that has been with us for 150 years. Another goal is to introduce users to the new breed of electronic devices that are in the process of revolutionizing how we do weather at sea. We also re-introduce mariners to several classic aneroid instruments that are highly accurate and tested at sea for over 70 years, and why we benifit from having both a calibrated aneroid and an electronic barometer on board.