by Margaret Mair

Created on: January 09, 2008

It is impossible to cover all the basics of navigation in one short article - if we could there would be no need for the multitude of articles and books and courses that exist to help you really understand the subject. What an article can accomplish, however, is to provide you with a quick guide to the kinds of things you need to know - so here they are in a nutshell.

Out on the water buoys, compass and charts replace maps and roads. Navigation buoys are your signposts; they tell you where to go and where to avoid, mark channels along waterways and into and out of harbours. Channels markers are either red or green; some are lit, but those that are not can be recognised by their shape. Green buoys have odd numbers on them and flat tops, red buoys have even numbers and pointed tops. Daymarks sit on pilings instead of floating in the water, and green ones are square, red ones triangular. Coming into a harbour, red markers are kept to starboard and green ones to port; leaving is opposite - red to port and green to starboard. Other basic markers indicate safe waters (white with a vertical red stripe), or danger or areas to be avoided (yellow), or give information including speed limits and no-wake zones (white with orange border, diamond, circle or square). Keep in mind that you should never tie up to a navigation buoy - that may cause someone to misread the situation and run into danger.

Your chart is your water road map. It shows you what is below you - depths, bottom material, hazards like rocks and shipwrecks. If you are in tidal waters, it tells you about tides and currents. It shows you conspicuous buildings and bridges and lighthouses on shore, landmarks you can use to help you figure out where you are if you need to. It gives the location and types of navigation buoys. It is marked with latitude and longitude, so that you can find your own position (necessary if you ever need help) and check the co-ordinates for waypoints and hazards. It has a compass rose printed on it to show where the compass points lie in relation to the charted area.

Latitude and longitude are best thought of as lines that circle the globe. The lines of longitude circle the earth vertically from pole to pole; the lines of latitude circle it horizontally. Together they make a grid that covers the earth's surface, and wherever you are you are somewhere on that grid. By making the grid finer and finer you can create a more and more accurate measure of your position, or the position of waypoints

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