NAVIGATION: Piloting Small Boats

Name: NAVIGATION: Piloting Small Boats
Rating: 3.8 (37 reviews)

Learning small craft navigation techniques for use on ocean coasts, lakes, and rivers

Created byLarry Prucha

Last updated 9/2015

English

What you'll learn

Pilot a small boat on coastal waters, lakes or rivers
Use navigational tools
Read Charts
Plan a route
Plot a position on a route
How to be safe while boating

Course content

8 sections • 24 lectures • 1h 28m total length

Piloting Small Boats - Introduction1:16
Introduction to the course and instructor.
Objectives and Outline1:15
Course objectives and outline.

Sign Posts2:27
Description of shore side features and description of buoys marking channels and danger areas.
Walk Through - Woods Hole 22:13
Walking through Woods Hole again describing features along the shore. Also describing buoyage and approaches to the hole. Again danger areas are highlighted.
Buoys & Beacons6:12
Description of the different types of buoys and how they are used.

See attached CoastGuard 486 that has lots of additional decsriptions.
Buoy Detail Usage5:52
Description of how buoys are used to mark channels and show safe and dangerous areas.
Channel Buoyage4:40
Description of complex channels showing day time and night time considerations.
Other Types of Buoys4:03
Description of Safe Water, Regulatory and other types of buoys.
Charts Summary2:47
A wrap up of other chart artifacts and chart organization.

See attachment that has descriptions of additional resources and where to obtain them.
Charts - Sign Posts Quiz

Piloting Tools1:12
General description of the tools and usage to be described in the section.
Compass6:07
More description of using magnetic variation and deviation.

There are several attachments that show how to calibrate your compass using various methods. These were obtained from the Ritchie Compass Co (with permission).

Attached also is a description of the adjustments to a compass from Ritchie Compass Co (with permission).

Note the difference between calibrating your compass and creating a compass deviation chart described in the video.
Speed Discusson2:24
How to create an engine speed chart if a knot meter is not available.
Navigation Tools1:49
Identifing the navigation tools.
Tool Use5:55
To begin a list of tools and then a demonstration of how to use them.
COURSE - Plot and Usage2:13
Using dividers to measure distance on chart plot.
Navigation Tools

Planning a Course4:01
How to plan a course and layout a plot.

How to account for currents and use them to advantage.

This video shows how to do a detailed plot plan.
Navigation Notation6:08
Learning and using Navigation notation.

Attachment: Chart from Newport RI to Cuttyhunk MA.

Piloting along shore attachment from ELDRIDGE (with permission).

Demonstration of fix, estimated position, dead reckoning and bearing line.

Rules of the Road6:11
Describes usage of rules of the road and navigation lighting systems.

Coast Guard Nav Rules http://navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=navRulesContent

I could not attach the above link. It has a lot of great Nav information.

See attached Rules of the Road from ELDRIGE (with permission). As mentioned in the video.
Safety Essentials3:48
Description of must have essential safety items.

This is a long list but I would not go out on a boat for an afternoon without them.

Weather precautions and responsibilities to crew.
Safety and Rules of the Road

Requirements

No special skills are required
Students will need to acquire navigation tools (dividers, compass, protractor, parallel ruler) at a marine store

Description

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.

Who this course is for:

Any one needing navigation skills for small boats on open water

NAVIGATION: Piloting Small Boats

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Small Boat Navigation2 lectures • 3min

CHARTS - Underwater2 lectures • 8min

CHARTS - Sign Posts7 lectures • 28min

Navigation Tools6 lectures • 20min

Piloting – Planning and Notation2 lectures • 10min

Piloting - Point to Point2 lectures • 7min

Safety Essentials2 lectures • 10min

Wrap Up1 lecture • 4min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: