Boating Navigation

"Everyone, of course, is more or less familiar with some form of navigation. It’s what you do every time you travel, whether you’re jogging through a park or driving into town. But on the water, navigation takes on a new level of complexity. First off, there are no roads to follow. Secondly, visibility may be restricted by fog, rain, haze, and darkness. And thirdly, paths that appear to be safe to the naked eye may in fact be filled with hards such as shallow zones, underwater obstructions, piers or pilings, commercial fishing gear, and more. So, how will you navigate through these treacherous waters? We’ll take a close look at two methods: traditional navigation and electronic navigation. Traditional Navigation Just a few short decades ago we didn’t have electronics like GPS and chartplotters. And going back for thousands of years, mariners have been studying how to safely get across rivers, bays, and oceans. No matter where you’re navigating or what type of boat you’re on, the number-one tool you use while navigating is your own eyes. Beyond that, standard navigation tools include: A compass and/or hand bearing compass: A compass tells you which direction your boat is heading in, north, south, east, or west, as measured in degrees relative to magnetic north. There are 360 degrees representing a full circle, with 0 degrees to the north, 180 degrees to the south, 90 degrees to the east, and 270 degrees to the west. A hand-bearing compass can be utilized to quickly take multiple “bearings” (the direction of a course, or the direction to an item or place) of multiple visible landmarks."