A SHORT COURSE ON NAUTICAL CHARTS AND BASIC PLOTTING FOR THE RECREATIONAL BOATER

The present manual is mainly intended for the recreational boaters willing to get better understanding of the major elements of the nautical charts that are usually employed by the navigators in order to learn how to properly navigate through new bodies of water and how to perform the fundamental plotting tasks. The author of the publication is a recreational boater. The content of the manual has been arranged in two sections.

The first section is describing the nautical charts looking from the recreational mariner's point of view. In this part the author has described where the navigators shall acquire nautical charts and, what is even more important, where they can obtain necessary reference materials for proper interpretation of the markings. While this part is mainly focusing on the American nautical charts, some general information provided will apply to all nautical charts.

The second part of the boo is describing basic plotting, starting by the explanation of the fundamental definitions and introducing the basic concepts of deviation and variance, followed with a description of the tools required to plot courses. Also note that the manual focuses on printed charts and hand tools and shall be used as a tutorial for the people willing to understand the basic processes behind what is told to us by the modern automated and PC-based instruments.