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Ballard Locks All about the government locks (just down the road from Starpath) that connects Puget Sound to Lake Washington via the ship canal. Includes 4 videos and much text that explains procedures for going through the locks and a lot more background info on the park, services, fish ladder and more. Anyone planning to transit the locks for the first time will benefit much from the information and videos there... Also if you plan to go through the Panama Canal, it would also pay to watch the video on the "large locks," since procedures and experience are not much different here. |
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Canadian Light Lists Canadian Light Lists online. Very nice. the full books in pdf format... now changed and presented in multiple sections. save this link. it is hard to find by google or from their own indexes and search options. |
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Defense Navigation Capabilities DOD is Developing Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Technologies to Complement GPS. A 2021 assessment.
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Find magnetic variation Use this site to get accurate variation at an address or lat / lon. Variation is known to land folks as declination. |
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Global Magnetic Variation Includes inclination and field strength... and it works during gov shutdowns when they artificially close down the official US site. |
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Main source for USCG License Info This is the new location of all matters related to USCG license testing. This is a moving target these days as the USCG homes in and changes the rules and procedures. |
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Mother of all compass books This is the definitive reference text on all matters related to the operation and calibration of magnetic compasses. |
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New NWS nowcasting We are not really sure where this new service is going, but it looks interesting and worth watching. If nothing else, it is an interesting source of quick online maps of waterways. |
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NGA Online Pubs There are these days many wonderful resources online at the new NGA (formally NIMA) website. The link is generally hard to find, so we have made a custom link and index to these products. |
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Requirements for Foreign Recreational Boaters In Canadian Waters There is an in-depth explanation here, and other links related to visiting Canadian waters. Some rules are quite different than in the US and they are changing with time as grandfather clauses are expiring. |
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True great circle computations The distance between two points depends on the shape of the earth. With modern high precision GPS, some of these issues raise out of our routine computations in navigation. With this online computer you can compare "old-fashioned" round earth great circle computations with true distances based on the ellipsoid shape. The differences depend on the departure and destination as well as the choice of ellipsoid (we generally use WGS84). We also have a version of the program available for download in the Library, but it is not quite as convenient as this live link. Also included a "DR computer," ie enter lat/lon and a course and distance and you get new lat/lon. |
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USCG Light Lists For a long time we could only look up specific lights and not get the full light list, but now you can. The link is from the main USCG page in their new format. |
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Coast Pilots online All 9 volumes of the US Coast Pilots can now be downloaded in pdf format. Quite a nice resource. We keep the link updated with a redirect from our main publications index page. |
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Download Chart No. 1 Complete version of Chart No. 1 can be downloaded here, for use as ebook or to print. Very good for ebook application, but in the long run buying a printed one for $11 or so (see book catalog) is likely more convenient and even less expensive for this color critical publication. The ones we have in print are nicely spiral bound. |
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Get Charts We have made this link to go directly to NOAA chart both raster (RNC) and vector (ENC) downloads, because their links change so often. Our job now is to keep this one up to date. Essentially all charting services are accessible from this link, as well as a place to order paper charts:
www.starpath.com/getcharts
also links here to free echart viewers. |
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IALA The International Association of Lighthouse Authorities, who set various international stanrdards for aids to navigation. |
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Illustrated history of charting A wonderful illustrated history of charting and related sciences of navigation and oceanography along with an in-depth set of lesson plans and resources for teachers. (Try to overlook the unfortunate distracing background to each page.) |
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Summary of map projections All about the various types of map projections. |
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Update nautical charts A new service from NOAA. Type in chart number and you get all the recent corrections, plus a way to go back to see what corrections might be needed for the version you have if it is not the latest. Can also find chart numbers this way by typing in place name and it will tell charts that cover ther region. |
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Foundation for the Promotion of the Art of Navigation A worthwhile non-profit organization that does just what its title says. Plus they offer good discounts to members on all US charts and navigation publications. One short voyage worth would save much more than the $35 membership fee. Unique and interesting newsletter is included. In Jan 06, Starpath published the complete archive of all back issues in ebook format. See books catalog. As of late 2005, Starpath has become the volunteer editor of the Newsletter. You can read about the Foundation in the books section of our website, on the Foundation Archive page. |
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Navigation Information Center Covers latest in GMDSS, GPS, NAVTEX, notices to mariners, and related information. The primary site for worldwide navigation services. There also several backup sites for this important link. |
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Bowditch online All 900 pages in several pdf files. Not as convenient as our commercial version (which includes dozens of other publications as well), but the price is right! |
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World Port Index — Pub. 150. This is a good way to check lat and lon of various locations as well as info on port facilities (mostly of interest to commercial vessels). |
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Navigation online forum This is an email news forum that covers all aspects of navigation with extensive discussions, started in 1996 and still active. Much discussion of Lunars as well as other details. |
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Canadian Glossary A thorough glossary of terms related to tides, currents, and water levels. IHO standards as adopted by the Canadian Hydrographic Society. |
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Canadian Tides and currents Official Canadian site. Broke last time we looked, but has worked in the past.
also includes a second link with graphic plots for all stations. |
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European tides Collection of worldwide tide precaution web resources |
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NOAA tides and currents This is the official data. There are many sites online using the wonderful program x-tides from David Flatner, but this is the primary source. We include the links to tides and currents via stations or time period. All can be downloaded as pdfs. |
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Stand alone Mac or PC app At one time we referred here to wxtides32 for PC, but that program is no longer a good choice. We now have a much better option for live US tides and current stand alone apps, that is free for both Mac and PC. |
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Deck Exam Questions These questions have been taken offline by the USCG, apparently permanently. We have an interactive copy of all 5 books of questions in our Captains Examiner App |
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License applications Download application packages that can be used at any Regional Exam Center. The first form and the last form would be required for an original license. See also study materials in the Nav Rules and Legal section. |
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US Coast Guard HQ This is a massive site, growing daily, to all aspects of the USCG. Includes links to NavInfo center, and to a list of Local Notices to Mariners. Check out the subheadings under Marine Safety. Communications and frequencies are discussed in the Nav center links below. See especially the High Seas Communications section which has extensive related links. And in particular this page of all NWS weather products. USCG License exam questions are also available — a link that includes a list of certified training schools. You can find many interesting things at the USCG site, for example and excellent page on rules for using marine radios. |
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USCG deck license info This is the new USCG section on deck licenses. It is getting harder to find things nautical now that the Homeland security has taken over the USCG. |
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USCG Local Notices Local Notices to Mariners are the weekly news of chart changes and proposed changed. Should be checked before sailing into unknown waters.
Active page includes NIMA Notices for International Waters and printed Broadcast Notices to mariners and the Canadian Notices. |
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