Piloting

Begins February 20, 2012
Prequisites: Seamanship
Member Cost: $85 (Covers the cost of materials)
Non-Member Cost: $170

Textbook Cover

Supplimental Text Cover

 Piloting is the first of a two-part program of study of inland and coastal navigation. Focus is on the fundamentals of basic piloting — keeping track of your movements on the water, determining where you are at any given moment, and laying out a course to your planned destination. Included are a thorough study of charts and their use, aids to navigation, mariner’s compass, variation and deviation, bearings, dead reckoning, and developing skill at plotting and labeling.

Table of Contents

1. Finding Your Way

A Brief Preview
Types of Data Plotted on Charts
Responsibilities of the Skipper

 6. Bearings

Instruments for Observation of Nav Aids
Hand-bearing Compass
Pelorus
Angles off the Bow
Bow-on Bearings
Plotting a Bearing
Danger Bearings
Run of Soundings
Electronic Positioning
2. Charts and Publications

The Earth, Coordinates, Directions
Chart Development, Projections, Features
Navigation Publications

 7. Plotting and Labeling

Decimal Places (Rounding)
Limits of Accuracy
Standard Abbreviations
Definition of Standard Terms
Plotting and Drafting
Using the USPS Course Plotter
Labeling
Plotting Rules
3. Aids to Navigation

Buoyage Systems
The U.S. System
Variations to the U.S. System
Other Lights Used by the Navigator
Lighthouses
Lighting
Recognizing Chart Symbols
Light Lists
Navigational Aids in the Great Lakes
The Cooperative Charting Program

 8. The Art of Positioning

The 24-hour Clock
Distance, Speed, and Time
The Fix
Estimated Position
Positioning (Getting Started)
4. The Mariner’s Compass

Compass Construction, Selection, Installation
Direction
Compass Corrections, Variation, Deviation

 9. A Weekend Cruise

Variation
Deviation
Plotting and Labeling
The Deck Log
Determining Deviation
Constructing the Deviation Table
5. Determining Deviation

Zeroing a Compass
Compensating a Compass
Determining the Remaining Deviation
Napier Diagram
Trust your Compass and Deviation Table

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