| FAQs |  |
Inland & Coastal Nav |
The course includes the chart and all text and reference materials. The only thing else that you need are basic plotting tools. See separate discussion of plotting tools in navigation. Index
... Yes, indeed we do. All of Chapter 10 is devoted to electronic navigation, including a detailed discussion of the use of various derived functions such as: course over ground (COG), speed over ground (SOG), speed of advance (SOA), etc. Although the bulk of the course materials deals with more traditional chart, log, and compass navigation, the reality remains that we have GPS, and thus should know how to use it. A good way to start the course is to read through the 4-part series of articles (included in the course) called "The Role of Traditional Skills in the Satellite Age" by David Burch, which were first published in Cruising World magazine. These summarize how to combine the old and the new for safe efficient navigation in all conditions. The final article of the series has to do with navigation in the fog using radar. We cover this particular subject in most detail in our Radar Trainer software tutorials. Index
... Yes, you can. For some time now we have experimented with the best way to accommodate this (balancing cost and convenience), since each requires a chart to record plotting problems, plus there is reading necessary from various parts of the book. Since one person may need the book when the other has it, we have tried selling extra parts separately, binding the book in two sections, and so forth. The results have been a bit confusing. Also, there was no similar way to do this for our celestial course. We have concluded that the best way to provide materials for two is simply offer a big discount for the second course and then send two complete courses. Hence the "couples" package now includes two complete course sets, the first at full price and the second at 40% off. This way each person will have their own serial number which also simplifies calling in with questions if they should arise. Index
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It does not matter from a content point of view. Both start from the basics with no pre-requisites. There is some plotting work in the celestial course, which might be a bit easier after doing plotting in the coastal course, but this is not crucial — it would equally help coastal taking celestial first. The techniques are fully explained and illustrated in both courses. Also we must do speed-time-distance problems in the celestial course work, but again, this can be learned on the wing if it is not known. In short, you could do either course first. But most definitely one needs both courses for an ocean passage, not just the celestial for offshore. It is the coastal parts of the voyage that offer the biggest navigation challenges, not the celestial part, offshore in the ocean. Celestial nav is easier and requires less new knowledge than good coastal nav does. Celestial is the same from day to day, season to season, ocean to ocean, now and 10 years from now, but coastal nav problems are always different and usually more dangerous if done wrong. There are many many examples of vessels which have safely navigated an ocean crossing and then went lax on the nav and ran a foul on the coast, or on a river bar, or tropical reef. Never relax the navigation till the vessel is securely moored or anchored. The main issue in selecting course sequence is what you are doing right now. The inland & coastal course will provide immediate benefit for your daily sailing near shore. The celestial, on the other hand, is rewarding to learn and can be practiced inland, but its limited accuracy (about 1 mile) and time it takes for a fix (about 30 minutes) is not often of any practical value for inland or near shore navigation. Hence if you don't plan to go offshore for some time, it is likely best to start with the inland course because you can use what you learn right away. Index
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The home study course materials are the same ones we use in our classroom course. The classroom course is six 3-hour classes and we figure homework and reading take up about the same time. Hence the classroom course takes up some 36 hours. We assume the home study course goes a bit faster on average, so if you figure 30 hours or so that should be close. Variation will occur because there are numerous articles in the course materials and you may not choose to read then all in your first pass through the course. Also, there are many practice problems and you may not choose to work all of them once you are convinced you got the technique down. So, if you do all the problems and read all the articles you may be at some 30+ hours, but we suspect that most people get what they want from the course is some 20 hours or so. Needless to say, you can take as long as you like. Our invitation to call us with questions is an open one. Call while you are first working on the course, or call a year later. It does not matter. We have been doing this for many years and will be many years more. Index
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Yes, but this must be organized by the host location. Typically we do our regular courses at the regular fees, plus travel expenses, but we do them in a more compressed format, often over a long weekend. We have a minimum of 15 students, but typically if the organizers have a committed core of just 5 or 6, the rest can be found by local advertising. We leave it to the organizers to provide an adequate teaching space. We have done these in hospitals, high schools, law offices, and yacht clubs around the country. |
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