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Coastal Navigation Tips
Proper Lights for Coastal Navigation
As a licensed sailer, it is your responsibility to ensure your boat lights meet any and all requirements; these requirements are different for different types and sizes of sailboats. Required lighting configurations apply to sailboats from sunset to sunrise and during types of limited visibility, such as fog or bad weather. The U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Rules encompass lighting requirements for every type of watercraft. To determine which lights you need to have for your individual sailboat, you can research these rules online. Here are some examples:
Sailing vessels under 20 meters can exhibit lights along the stern or they can use a single combination lantern at the top of the mast. Sailors in vessels less than 7 meters can carry an electric torch or lantern as long as it can be displayed in enough time to prevent an accident. Anchor lights are also required for sail boats, although in certain situations they are not required on boats under 7 meters. Be careful when obtaining information about lighting requirements as there are punishments for not following such boat navigation rules. Taking a proper sailing course is one way to cover this topic adequately and be safe on the water.
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Picking the Right Coastal Navigation Course
Offshore Sailing School Tip: Have your sailboat all ready to go? Whether you purchased a new or used boat, you probably took your time picking out just the right one for your needs. Even if you can't wait to get out on the open water and give it a try, consider taking a proper coastal navigation course. If you operate a boat, you are required to follow certain rules. If you read books or go online to learn about coastal navigation, you'll soon find that the rules you are required to learn are vast and seemingly complicated. Additionally, boat navigation rules change frequently as new laws are made at the state and federal level.
One way to make learning these rules easy is to take a coastal navigation course. Before you sign up, check them out thoroughly. To learn how they work, choose a school that has a good reputation for teaching coastal navigation courses. That school should have a long history teaching, be operated by certified instructors and have curriculum that go beyond basic minimum standards. Most schools combine some classroom time with on-the-water time but look for a coastal navigation course that gets you on the water as much as possible.
Here are some basic topics that should be covered in any coastal navigation course: GPS navigation techniques, navigational inputs, piloting, plotting set and drift, deviation and variation, log procedures, inshore piloting, navigating in bad weather and fog, and how to handle tides and currents.
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Keep Personal Flotation Devices on Your Sailboat
Carrying the proper flotation devices, or PFDs, on your sailboat won't matter if you can't get to them quickly enough to help a sailor in trouble. Having certain kinds of PFDs are not only required on boats, they are an essential boat safety item. To follow marine navigation rules, you should have one PFD for every person onboard. You should also have one throw-away device on each boat 16 feet or longer, but it is always good to have this type of safety flotation device on board.
It is recommended that you wear PFDs during bad conditions such as rough water, when there is a great deal of boat traffic, or when you are a great distance from shore. Putting on a PFD when the boat is stable is easy, but doing it when it's rocking or when you have been thrust into dangerous water is not.
Different types of PFDs include a near-shore buoyant vest, a flotation aid vest (best used in calm water), an offshore life jacket and a special-use hybrid inflatable device. These safety items should always be in easy reach, not stored below deck or still in the coverings used when you bought them.
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Coastal Navigation Basics: Terminology, Safety and Instructor Certification
Offshore Sailing School Tip: With Offshore Sailing School’s Coastal Navigation course you can learn to navigate in a classroom setting or on board a catamaran during an Advanced Live Aboard course. In this sailing and coastal navigation course, you gain the skills that ensure safe and successful navigation in coastal waters. You will graduate from sailing and coastal navigation training with the confidence to safely navigate through challenging conditions, shallow waters, changing tides, currents and low visibility.
There are coastal navigation standards for different types of boats. These standards are developed and put into law to protect everyone who uses waterways. They are written primarily to assist boaters and avoid collisions. Navigational rules exist for almost every imaginable sequence of events that could lead to such a collision. If you want to learn to sail and skipper a boat, you need to know not only the terminology, but assume responsibility if something unforeseen should happen on the water.
One way to make sure you are ready to sail is to choose a coastal navigation course that has rigorous standards. The US SAILING Certification system requires very high standards for the instructor who will teach you, including two and a half days of grueling qualifications. Though not everyone passes the first time, Offshore Sailing School has one of the highest graduate success rates in the industry. These coastal navigation standards are applied through a third-party system, which ensures they are accurate and thorough.
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Global Positioning Systems and Sailing
There's been a lot of talk lately about Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and its ability to guide us when driving, on foot and even on a sailboat. But, what is GPS and how does it work? Should sailors use it? Are there deficiencies to this new type of technology?
GPS systems use a constellation of Earth-orbiting satellites to determine and plot a location. This type of technology was once only used by the military but has been opened up to the private sector. A GPS receiver can tell you the latitude, longitude and altitude of your current position. To make use of a GPS system even easier, most receivers can download this data into a map format. GPS systems can also trace your path as you move; that's why they are now being used by sailors. If you run into trouble sailing and need to call for help, a GPS system can help rescuers get to you.
But as a sailor, you should be aware that GPS systems can fail. For this reason, some experienced sailors believe that when sailing you should not rely solely on sailing GPS technology. Sailors have been using nautical charts and other sail navigation methods to determine their course and watch out for water hazards for many years. Nautical charts are one of the most fundamental tools available for marine navigation and portray many features of the marine environment not determined by a GPS system such as depth of water, configuration of the sea bottom, rise and fall of the tides, and locations of man-made aids in navigation. If you are going to be an expert sailor, you should know how to use GPS technology effectively along with other traditional sailing methods.
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Learn How to Use Sailing Charts
Today, more than 98 percent of the nation's cargo is carried by waterborne transportation, and a good deal of it is potentially hazardous. In fact, this has always been the case for the U.S. and its foreign trade. For this reason, nautical charts were developed. The sea might look fine on the surface but how is the floor configured? How deep is the water at a particular point? Is there a danger to navigation lurking just ahead?
These charts can now be used by sailors to ensure safe and economic travel by shortest and safest route. A sailing chart is a working document. It is like a road map of the sea. It will indicate the nature and form of the coast, which is absolutely essential if you have planned your own sailing trip. A good sailing chart will also show you characteristics of the Earth's magnetism that might affect your boat navigation.
Sailing charts come in a variety of forms including paper, digital and satellite images. A good sailing chart should incorporate standard symbols that, like sailing lingo, you will have to learn to apply proper boat navigation. Some charts are available online. If you buy a paper chart, get a waterproof one that is laminated. Some special organization tubes are available store multiple maps. You should also buy a chart key so that you can easily determine what you are reading on a sailing map while you are still learning all the new terminology and language of sailing.
