Sailing Navigation – Three Reasons to Purchase and Use Nautical Charts

 

The Office of Coast Survey produces sailing navigation charts for United States waters. This is an office within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is the oldest US scientific organization, dating back to 1807 when it was established by Thomas Jefferson to promote safe and efficient commerce. Here are three reasons why these charts are essential to safe navigation.

 

Artificial aids to sailing navigation may be altered at short notice, and the nature of a waterway may change unexpectedly. Every producer of nautical charts also provides a system to inform mariners of changes that affect the charts. A good way to keep track of corrections is with a Chart and Publication Correction Record Card system. You should obtain a new chart if you haven’t kept track of corrections and your chart is several months old.

 

In addition to its basic elements, the chart is a working document used by the mariner both as a road map and a worksheet. Recreational sailors need charts just as much as commercial ship operators – the US Coast Guard receives numerous distress calls each year from recreational boaters who don’t know where they are. Even if you have a GPS system, you should use the charts for backup on your sailing trips. Most sailing schools or even a good sailing class will teach you how to use the charts.

 

In order to give sailing navigation guidance to boaters, the Coast Guard manages the national Aids to Navigation System (ATONS) made up of buoys, lights and bells that have precise shapes and colors. ATONS should be used in conjunction with the charts published by the NOAA, since the numbers, bells and flashing light sequences on the ATONS are hard to decode without a chart.