CHAPTER 1

About This Book

In the fog-shrouded past of a generation ago, navigation was still done as ithad been for centuries. A navigator would set forth on the wide waters armedwith his (or her) charts, dividers, course plotter, compass, eyes, and wits.Along unfamiliar coasts or through bad weather, he "felt" his way from port toport. Any charted navigation buoy or landmark was a valued reference; withbearings and distances from these, he could fix a point on a chart and say withconfidence, "I am there!"

But such confidence would be tested if those charted objects ever slipped fromview. In darkness or thick fog, the navigator could calculate only hisapproximate position. This calculation, this dead reckoning,worked when done well, but it wasn't dead on. Without precise fixes, thenavigator could only strain his eyes and ears to hear the reassuring peal of abell buoy or (heaven forbid) to see the foaming white surge of breakers overlurking rocks in the mist ahead.

But all that has changed.

Just prior to the close of the last millennium, GPS (the Global PositioningSystem) was born. Within a few years, GPS receivers had become popular andaffordable. Nowadays, if you have a hundred bucks and two AA batteries, you canbuy a handheld GPS and use it to plot your location anywhere on the Earth'ssurface. Just one glance at the GPS screen will tell you your precise location,your speed, your heading, and the direction and distance to your nextdestination. It will even give you the time of day.

GPS has made navigation easy. Within hours you can learn enough to get out onthe water. But those AA batteries won't last forever, and neither will your GPSreceiver, for that matter. Sure, the quantum leap in technology is impressive,but no one has yet invented electronics that won't eventually break down.Therefore, it's important that you also learn the techniques from a generationpast. You should know how to plot courses on a chart with dividers and parallelrules, steer them by compass, fix your position with visual bearings, and deadreckon when no bearings are possible. In short, you should know how to navigateby your wits.

The Weekend Navigator will teach you how to navigate in the digital age,but it will also teach you the time-honored techniques that never go out ofstyle and never lose their usefulness. You'll learn how to use a GPS receiver aswell as a handful of other modern electronic navigation tools, and you'll learnwithin a context that will strengthen your overall understanding of navigationconcepts. Despite all the new technologies, nautical charts remain the singlemost essential tool of the navigator, and unlocking their language stillrequires practice. So, it's important that we learn about navigation's pastbefore we can fully understand its future. After all, a straight line mayrepresent the shortest path between two points, but it isn't always the safest.

But here's the good news: with GPS on your side, you can safely do a lot more ofyour learning while you're boating, not before. Round up the recommendednavigation tools and spend a weekend with The Weekend Navigator, andyou'll be ready to start putting your navigation skills into practice.That's the GPS revolution.

Navigating This Book

This book can be considered both a "quick start" guide to navigation and areference guide. The early chapters will quickly get you up to speed and out onthe water. The later chapters will provide you with the advanced techniques andtools that only old salts know.

Part I gives you an overview. Using a sample cruise as an example,Chapters 2 and 3 help you see the important differences betweentraditional piloting and modern-day navigation. You'll learn the key concepts ofwaypoint navigation, and you'll be introduced to "The Three Steps ofNavigation." Chapter 4 introduces the necessary tools, both traditionaland digital.

Part II deals with prevoyage planning—the first of the three stepsin navigation. These chapters show you how to plot safe courses on both paperand digital charts and how to enter waypoints into a GPS.

By Part III, we've plotted courses and are ready to follow them acrossthe water. Navigating underway is the second step in navigation, and thesechapters teach you how to use a GPS, a computer, and a chartplotter from thehelm.

The third and final step in navigation is to confirm your electronics throughindependent means. Double-checking is the focus of Part IV. Thesechapters...