When you start sailing, you’ll navigate by looking where you want to go, and keep going there. Some people spend their whole sailing careers that way. But it’s a good idea to learn basic navigation – to be able to read a chart, plot a course and steer accurately by compass. It’s easy to learn, and you don’t need much in the way of math skills. If you take a sailing course, the curriculum will include all of the above, and more.

Once you start sailing on your own, you should assemble a kit with essential navigation tools, especially if you’re going to rent boats. Few rentals have any thing in the way of navigation equipment other than a compass, and sometimes not even that,so you’d better bring your own. Here’s what you need and it’s all available at any marine store.

• A chart of the area where you’ll be sailing. Buy a waterproofchart in the largest scale you can find: A large-scale chart covers a smallergeographical area, with lots more detail, than a small-scale chart. (Thesalesperson at the store can help you with this.)

• Parallel rules, which is two rulers, hinged together in such away that they remain p
arallel when the distance between them is adjusted. Before sailing, use yourparallel rules to determine the latitude and longitude of key locations whereyou’re sailing from, places you might want to go, etc. and write them on thechart. Draw lines between key points, too, with the magnetic bearings, in bothdirections, written on the lines. It’s easier to do this ashore than on theboat; you’ll learn how to do it in your learn-to-sail program.

• A hand-bearing compass, is a simple compass fitted with asight. You point it at a lighthouse, landmark, etc., and read the direction the“bearing” to that object off the compass. Take bearings of two or more objects,plot them on your chart and where the lines cross is where you are. You won’tbe doing this if you carry a GPS (see below), but if your rental boat has nocompass, the hand-bearing compass can serve for steering, too.

• A simple hand-held GPS. Old salts say you should learn topilot with chart, parallel rules and dividers (an instrument used for measuringand transferring distances), and that’s true but on a small boat, with no placeto lay out the chart, the wind blowing and the spray flying, the GPS makes alot more sense. It will tell you where you are, what course you’re sailing and,if you input the latitude/longitude co-ordinates of a destination (you can dothis ashore), how far away it is and in what direction. It works at night andin the fog, too! Carry the GPS in a waterpr
oof case, and bring spare batteries.

• A hand-held marine VHF radio. If you get into trouble, the VHFis the fastest way to s
ummon help; the Coast Guard, marine patrol, ha
rbourmaster and other authorities all monitor VHF channel 16. You can alsoreceive weather repo
rts and forecasts. Buy a basic waterproof model, and charge the batteriesbefore each sail.

All of the above will fit in a small bag, and weigh less thanyour lunch. Carrying it will make your sailing trips safer and more fun. A&W

Source: discoverboating