Navigation: Piloting Small Boats

As a Naval Officer I learned a navigation protocol that says do not rely on one method of navigation. So that would mean we should not rely heavily only on our GPS devices. Let's look at a couple of scenarios.

Scenario 1: You are just starting out in boating. Maybe you are a little unsure how to navigate to a port a short distance away and you plan on using your GPS to get there. You don't plan on using a paper chart since a chart is loaded onto your GPS. The problem with this scenario is that you are depending 100% on your GPS to get where you want go. If the GPS fails you will be in a dilemma. Once you leave port it is difficult to look at a surrounding shore line to determine your position.

Scenario 2: Maybe you have many years of boating experience. You plan to go to a destination in Open Ocean that is 30 NM away. You plan to use your GPS to navigate all the way. You do have charts and probably have them open on your navigation table, but you haven't been using the charts to correlate and verify your position with the GPS. You may have a very good idea where you are on the chart, but if the GPS batteries die, you are stuck with getting your positon updated on the chart.

In this course I will show you how to plot a course to your destination. Take the Lat/Long coordinates from your GPS and mark them on your plot. Take sights on landmarks to confirm your location on the plot. Use depth sounder data to confirm your position. Be able to dead reckon your progress on the plot.

The course will use charts from the New England coast. The skills I will show you will be easily adaptable to lakes and rivers of the USA and also to other international waters of the world. I will mention areas where differences may be an issue.