Don't leave shore without this guide. Essential to both novice and experienced boaters, it provides information on all the important elements of piloting and dead reckoning - from understanding charts and using basic navigational tools to computing position, direction, speed, and currents with scientific calculators. Its informal, readable style offers a welcome alternative for those put off by the prospect of wading through formidable textbooks. This basic reference is filled with practical advice, step by step calculations, diagrams, and lots of helpful illustrations. It also introduces the reader to the increasingly sophisticated, satellite-monitoring navigational aids that have become more widely available in recent years.