Piloting is the art of navigating on coastal and
inland waters. It traditionally relies upon landmarks
and navigational aids as well as monitoring your
own course and speed. Today, everyone wants to use
modern electronics such as GPS, but you still need
to know how to use charts and have techniques to
check your navigation, so you can navigate in the
event of a GPS failure.
This chapter of America’s Boating Course provides
an overview of Piloting to get you started with
navigating your boat. Should your boating take you
beyond a local small lake, pond, or bay, you should
seriously consider taking the USPS Marine Navigation
Course to gain more experience with practical
navigation skills.
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Chapter 5
Section 17: Introduction to Navigation
Inside this Chapter:
How GPS Works 186
Basic Navigation 188
Concepts
Chart Basics 191
Chart Characteristics 206
Plotting on a Chart 210
The Mariner’s Compass 210
Calculating a Steering
Course 212
Distance, Speed, Time 213
The 24-Hour Clock 214
Supplement 215
Digital Charts 215
Introduction to
Advanced Marine
Navigation 216
Inland Near Shore
Exercises with
OpenCPN 225
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