Coast Pilot, worth a look!

[L124C]

I was recently looking at a nav chart, and decided to actually decipher some of the things I never understood. My search led to me to the "Coast Pilot", a NOAA publication that provides a LOT of local info in conjunction with the Nav Charts. I reviewed the Coast Pilot for my area and found a lot of great info. The site also has real time Charts, and allows you to print book charts. I printed some and inserted them into a plastic page folder from Kinkos. Worked out really well. I wouldn't do any major navigation with them, but they are certainly handy, and have the same info as a chart. Anyway, the Coast Pilot is probably common knowledge amongst cruisers, but is also very useful to bay sailors like me, especially if you go to unfamiliar waters. I did a forum search and found the only reference to the Coast Pilot was mine from another thread, so I thought I would share the site.
Nautical Charts & Pubs

[jrd22]

Glad you brought this to everyone's attention. I don't know how many boats have a copy of the appropriate CPilot(s) on board, but I think it should be required. We consult it all the time while cruising in BC.

[jhorsager]

"Sailing Directions" published by the NGA, along with their other publications, can also come in handy: NGA Publications.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by jrd22

Glad you brought this to everyone's attention. I don't know how many boats have a copy of the appropriate CPilot(s) on board, but I think it should be required. We consult it all the time while cruising in BC.

Not sure about US law; it is a Canadian requirement

USE OF DOCUMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS
6. (1) Subject to subsection (3), the person in charge of the navigation of a ship in waters under Canadian jurisdiction shall use, in respect of each area to be navigated by the ship, the most recent edition of
(a) the reference catalogue;
(b) the annual edition of the Notices to Mariners, published by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans;
(c) the following publications, namely,
(i) sailing directions, published by the Canadian Hydrographic Service,
(ii) tide and current tables, published by the Canadian Hydrographic Service,
(iii) lists of lights, buoys and fog signals, published by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and
(iv) where the ship is required to be fitted with radio equipment pursuant to any Act of Parliament or of a foreign jurisdiction, the Radio Aids to Marine Navigation, published by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans; and
(d) the documents and publications listed in the schedule.

[L124C]

Originally Posted by jackdale

Not sure about US law; it is a Canadian requirement

Wow! you guys take this "Person in charge of navigation" thing far too seriously. In the U.S. you buy a boat and presto....your a Skipper! If we had to read, that might discourage us from buying the boat, and that's bad for commerce!
What's a "Tide table" anyway?

Seriously...of all the equipment we have to have on board, I've never seen publications listed. Certainly seems prudent.

[ottos]

The Coast Pilot is great - I use it, but for some critical information in unfamiliar waters the CG's Local Notice to Mariners is indispensable.

It will tell you where a light is out, that the buoy off Gnarly Shoal has dragged onto the shoal, etc. It is updated weekly.



.

[Omatako]

Anyone planning a coastal trip to new waters is well advised to have a coastal pilot for the area on board. It is affordable, easily carried , easy to get a copy, and it is easily as important as a good chart. A chart tells you where you are and what the ocean floor looks like.

A coastal pilot tells you what to what to expect when entering an anchorage. It talks about currents, magnetic anomalies, weather idiosyncrasies and a whole lot more. Unless you're sailing in areas where every anchorage is properly marked and lit, a pilot can save a whole lot of anxiety.

A good example of this is the east coast of Africa where there are no working lighthouses, no channel markers of any value and a very hostile sailing environment. A pilot of this area can literally mean the difference between life and death in a weather crisis.

Even in the totally benign waters off the east coast of New Zealand, I carry a pilot because it gives me a world of info about my surroundings.

[Boasun]

Originally Posted by L124C

What's a "Tide table" anyway?

That is the table that you put your Tide laundry soap on....

On U.S. Commercial vessels, you are required to carry:
Rules of the Road
Coast Pilot
Light List
Tide & Current Tables
Corrected Charts for the area you are working.
Local Notice to Mariners.

And when I finally have another boat, that is what I will have on board.

[jhorsager]

Originally Posted by L124C

What's a "Tide table" anyway?

Originally Posted by Boasun

That is the table that you put your Tide laundry soap on....

It's a table (brand = Tide), that when rotated 180 degrees, offers a very different functionality to the user. Thus the phrase, "the tides have turned."

It is required equipment in U.S. and Canadian waters for any vessel that plans on pulling the "old switcheroo".

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by L124C

What's a "Tide table" anyway?

We use both tide and current tables.

http://www.lau.chs-shc.gc.ca/2011_pr..._ref/07330.pdf

http://www.lau.chs-shc.gc.ca/2011_pr..._ref/03500.pdf

The highest tides we get on the West Coast are 18 feet, the worst currents 16.5 knots.