Category Archives: Navigation

Historic NOAA Charts

Posted on November 1, 2013 by captnmike

Have you ever wondered what the Seattle Harbor Chart looked like in 1901? NOAA is scanning over 30,000 charts from their 150++ year history and releasing the high quality scans free to the public for Students, Historians, Researchers and anyone … Continue reading →

Posted in Boating Safety, History, Navigation, seattle | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Where Are You In Lake Washington?

Posted on October 3, 2013 by captnmike

This is a chart showing locations in Lake Washington I made to help the Seattle Harbor Patrol train new members on locations in Lake Washington. If a friend asks you to meet them somewhere on Lake Washington and you don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Boating Safety, Navigation, Sailing and Boating Skills, seattle | Tagged | Leave a comment

Free NOAA Charts!

Posted on February 2, 2013 by captnmike

NOAA  now has over 1,000 Free BookletCharts™ available for free  download in PDF format for printing  yourself.  BookletCharts™ are 8.5 by 11 inch reduced scale nautical  charts designed for recreational and small boats.  NOAA has been developing these charts that … Continue reading →

Posted in Boating Safety, Navigation | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

The National Aids to Navigation Museum

Posted on February 18, 2012 by captnmike

The National Aids to Navigation Museum is located in Yorktown, Virginia at the USCG Training Center, in the atrium of Canfield Hall.  The Museum is open to everyone that has access to the base, this sadly limits the access by … Continue reading →

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U.S. Aids to Navigation

Posted on January 7, 2012 by captnmike

Understanding what an Aid to Navigation (ATON) means is a very important part of Safe Boating.  One of the problems understanding what each Aid to Navigation means is visualizing what a specific ATON looks like and match it to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Boating Safety, Navigation, Sailing and Boating Skills, seattle | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

TVMDC – Practice – Correcting and un-correcting the compass

Posted on November 13, 2011 by captnmike

In today’s increasing use of electronic navigation aids, the ability to correct and un-correct a compass heading or bearing seems to becoming a lost art outside of a classroom.  Here are a few TVMDC Practice Problems to help keep your … Continue reading →

Posted in Boating Safety, Navigation, Safety Thoughts, Sailing and Boating Skills | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Sailing Crew Class Resources–Fall 2011

Posted on September 29, 2011 by captnmike

Below are a few links to help the students in the Fall Sailing Crew Class that I helped with.  Links are provided to the Nav. Problems, handouts and additional information on charts, links to PowerPoint presentations and additional practice problems … Continue reading →

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Introduction-to-Marine-Charts-Part 1

Posted on September 29, 2011 by captnmike

A short PowerPoint Introduction to Marine Charts showing different scales and explains some basic information that is found on a chart and a few hints on what to look for on a chart and points out some often overlooked tidbits … Continue reading →

Posted in Navigation, Sailing and Boating Skills | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments