Navigation Resources

[scamlin]

As the main paddling season nears and people are thinking about trips, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Coast Guard (CG) have some valuable resources online that can aid in planning. NOAA focuses on charts and related ocean information, the Coast Guard on Aids to Navigation and current navigational information. CG information is provided according to CG Districts: the northeast from NJ to Maine is District One.

Below are descriptions and links for useful resources on line and in pdf format (you'll need the Acrobat Reader):

Learn about Charting Products. For an overview of NOAA resources see the list at the link below. In particular, check out the links under "Learn About Charting Products" for good information on what NOAA offers.

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/chartspubs.html

NOAA Charts. A few years ago, NOAA made its charts available online for free. They are in the BSB format and require separate software to view and use. NOAA offers a free reader, but you may be better off with a commercial product. Downloading charts is not simple: you need to find the charts, "order" them (which involves compressing them into a zip file), downloading them, unzipping them and then opening them with your software. However, they are free.

See http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/index.htm to get started. Note at the bottom of the page are links to demo versions of chart readers.

Chart No. 1. If you are reading charts, it helps to know what the symbols on the chart mean. The comprehensive guide is NOAA's Chart No. 1 which can be downloaded as one document (85 Mb) or section by section. Essential for chart reading, but you will need a color printer if you want to use them in printed form.

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/chartno1.htm#toc

Tide and Currents. Links to the familar tide and current predictions.

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tides09/

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/currents09/

Radio Marine Forecasts. Radio broadcasts of marine forcasts by the National Weather Service may make more sense if you know which stations cover which sections of the coast. See first link below for a Service Chart showing station location and frequency and much useful info on the reverse side (though note the caution that this chart is no longer updated). Select "Front" and "Back" for the Eastport to Montauk chart. A chart listing the fequencies for common channel designations (WX1, WX2, etc.) is on the second link with additional general information on the NWS's radio offerings.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/pub.htm

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/wxradio.htm

Coastal Pilot. A cruising guide with all sorts of local information along the coast. It is a supplement to nautical charts, providing info not easy to show on a chart. You can download the entire pilot or just the section of the coast of interest. Note Coast Pilot 1 covers Maine down to Provincetown; Coast Pilot 2 covers south of the Cape to NYC. Don't forget to check the Critical Corrections page which shows the current edition of the pilot and corrections for each volume. This reference is particularly valuable on unfamiliar coasts.

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpdownload.htm

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpilot1-3.htm

Light List. A master list of all aids to navigation, though large at 384 pages. The first 31 pages alone are worth the download as they show color diagrams of bouys, signals, etc. Note this document is published annually. They occasionally publish a corrections list as a summary (see link). For completely up to date information, you need to check the Local Notice to Mariners to get any changes since the last annual publication (see below). You will need to click on the pdf for District One. If you are going to depend on bouys and lights, you need this one as the aids on your chart may be moved, missing or out of operation.

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pubs/LightLists/LightLists.htm

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pubs/LightLists...ons/default.htm

Local Notice to Mariners (LMN). Besides weekly bulletins on changes to bouys and lights, it reports other activities of concern to boaters such as bridge and channel status, construction, exclusion zones, etc. Very good to check when planning travel in unfamilar waters. (See examples of notices at end of this email).

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/lnm/d1/default.htm

Navigation Rules. You may have heard of the "Rules of the Road": here's the official version and if you're wondering, yep, every one of them applies to you in a kayak.

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/rotr_online.htm

There are many other resources on the NOAA and CG sites, worth an evening's browsing if interested. For instance, there is the list of all VHF marine radio channels, current listings of regions where the military is deliberately scrambling GPS signals, and lots of other info on advanced GPS services.

The good folks at NOAA and the CG are trying hard to use technology to make their tax supported information easy to access. They're even experimenting with podcasts, MP3 files, and pushing buoy and weather info to cellphones and PDAs, etc.

Enjoy.

Best Regards,

Scott

Examples of noticres in Local Notice to Mariners:

ME - CAPE NEDDICK HARBOR TO ISLES OF SHOALS-CAPE NEDDICK HARBOR

The Coast Guard has established a safety zone 100 yards on either side of the Cape Neddick Harbor Bridge, also known as the Shore Road Bridge in Cape Neddick, Me. No vessel traffic is allowed to move within 100 yards of the bridge without permission from the Captain of The Port, Sector Northern New England. Affected mariners are requested to contact Coast Guard Sector Northern New England on Channel 16 VHF-FM for further information.

Chart 13283

MASSACHUSETTS – NEWBURYPORT HARBOR AND PLUM ISLAND SOUND – PARKER RIVER – Bridge Construction and Vertical Reduction – Construction of the new Route 1A (High Street) Bridge at mile 1.8, across the Parker River at Newbury, Massachusetts, is underway and will continue through 2010. Containment netting has been installed under the bridge reducing the vertical clearance by pproximately one foot or less. Work barges will be located a various locations and will move upon request. Working hours are from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Mariners should exercise caution while transiting the area.

Chart 13282 LNM 09/09 (CGD1)

[jason]

Thanks for the post you have a lot of great resources listed.

Thanks -Jason

[EEL]

Scott:

Great stuff and much appreciated. Just to augment, I have found the following sites worth exploring.

The Gray and Caribou Maine NOAA sites are useful for weather related information including WX VHF radio station coverage maps.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/gyx/

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/car/

And the Gulf of Maine site:

http://www.gomoos.org/

There is a free BSB/NOAA chart reader with navigation/ trip planning tools.

http://www.sping.com/seaclear/

Ed Lawson

[spuglisi]

Scott:

Great stuff and much appreciated. Just to augment, I have found the following sites worth exploring.

The Gray and Caribou Maine NOAA sites are useful for weather related information including WX VHF radio station coverage maps.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/gyx/

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/car/

And the Gulf of Maine site:

http://www.gomoos.org/

There is a free BSB/NOAA chart reader with navigation/ trip planning tools.

http://www.sping.com/seaclear/

Ed Lawson

Thanks Scott and Ed. What a wealth of information. How did we ever muddle through our lives before there was the internet?

[B]

As usual........YOU ARE THE MAN! Thank you for all of your hardwork.

B

As the main paddling season nears and people are thinking about trips, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Coast Guard (CG) have some valuable resources online that can aid in planning. NOAA focuses on charts and related ocean information, the Coast Guard on Aids to Navigation and current navigational information. CG information is provided according to CG Districts: the northeast from NJ to Maine is District One.

Below are descriptions and links for useful resources on line and in pdf format (you'll need the Acrobat Reader):

Learn about Charting Products. For an overview of NOAA resources see the list at the link below. In particular, check out the links under "Learn About Charting Products" for good information on what NOAA offers.

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/chartspubs.html

NOAA Charts. A few years ago, NOAA made its charts available online for free. They are in the BSB format and require separate software to view and use. NOAA offers a free reader, but you may be better off with a commercial product. Downloading charts is not simple: you need to find the charts, "order" them (which involves compressing them into a zip file), downloading them, unzipping them and then opening them with your software. However, they are free.

See http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/Raster/index.htm to get started. Note at the bottom of the page are links to demo versions of chart readers.

Chart No. 1. If you are reading charts, it helps to know what the symbols on the chart mean. The comprehensive guide is NOAA's Chart No. 1 which can be downloaded as one document (85 Mb) or section by section. Essential for chart reading, but you will need a color printer if you want to use them in printed form.

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/chartno1.htm#toc

Tide and Currents. Links to the familar tide and current predictions.

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/tides09/

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/currents09/

Radio Marine Forecasts. Radio broadcasts of marine forcasts by the National Weather Service may make more sense if you know which stations cover which sections of the coast. See first link below for a Service Chart showing station location and frequency and much useful info on the reverse side (though note the caution that this chart is no longer updated). Select "Front" and "Back" for the Eastport to Montauk chart. A chart listing the fequencies for common channel designations (WX1, WX2, etc.) is on the second link with additional general information on the NWS's radio offerings.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/pub.htm

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/wxradio.htm

Coastal Pilot. A cruising guide with all sorts of local information along the coast. It is a supplement to nautical charts, providing info not easy to show on a chart. You can download the entire pilot or just the section of the coast of interest. Note Coast Pilot 1 covers Maine down to Provincetown; Coast Pilot 2 covers south of the Cape to NYC. Don't forget to check the Critical Corrections page which shows the current edition of the pilot and corrections for each volume. This reference is particularly valuable on unfamiliar coasts.

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpdownload.htm

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/cpilot1-3.htm

Light List. A master list of all aids to navigation, though large at 384 pages. The first 31 pages alone are worth the download as they show color diagrams of bouys, signals, etc. Note this document is published annually. They occasionally publish a corrections list as a summary (see link). For completely up to date information, you need to check the Local Notice to Mariners to get any changes since the last annual publication (see below). You will need to click on the pdf for District One. If you are going to depend on bouys and lights, you need this one as the aids on your chart may be moved, missing or out of operation.

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pubs/LightLists/LightLists.htm

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pubs/LightLists...ons/default.htm

Local Notice to Mariners (LMN). Besides weekly bulletins on changes to bouys and lights, it reports other activities of concern to boaters such as bridge and channel status, construction, exclusion zones, etc. Very good to check when planning travel in unfamilar waters. (See examples of notices at end of this email).

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/lnm/d1/default.htm

Navigation Rules. You may have heard of the "Rules of the Road": here's the official version and if you're wondering, yep, every one of them applies to you in a kayak.

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/rotr_online.htm

There are many other resources on the NOAA and CG sites, worth an evening's browsing if interested. For instance, there is the list of all VHF marine radio channels, current listings of regions where the military is deliberately scrambling GPS signals, and lots of other info on advanced GPS services.

The good folks at NOAA and the CG are trying hard to use technology to make their tax supported information easy to access. They're even experimenting with podcasts, MP3 files, and pushing buoy and weather info to cellphones and PDAs, etc.

Enjoy.

Best Regards,

Scott

Examples of noticres in Local Notice to Mariners:

ME - CAPE NEDDICK HARBOR TO ISLES OF SHOALS-CAPE NEDDICK HARBOR

The Coast Guard has established a safety zone 100 yards on either side of the Cape Neddick Harbor Bridge, also known as the Shore Road Bridge in Cape Neddick, Me. No vessel traffic is allowed to move within 100 yards of the bridge without permission from the Captain of The Port, Sector Northern New England. Affected mariners are requested to contact Coast Guard Sector Northern New England on Channel 16 VHF-FM for further information.

Chart 13283

MASSACHUSETTS – NEWBURYPORT HARBOR AND PLUM ISLAND SOUND – PARKER RIVER – Bridge Construction and Vertical Reduction – Construction of the new Route 1A (High Street) Bridge at mile 1.8, across the Parker River at Newbury, Massachusetts, is underway and will continue through 2010. Containment netting has been installed under the bridge reducing the vertical clearance by pproximately one foot or less. Work barges will be located a various locations and will move upon request. Working hours are from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Mariners should exercise caution while transiting the area.

Chart 13282 LNM 09/09 (CGD1)

[djlewis]

Thanks for the great nav sites, Scott. To augment it, here are two of my favorite weather/conditions sites, both of which address the common issue of translating the NOAA offshore forecasts (to 25 miles out) into actual conditions near shore where we kayakers usually hang out.

This one shows the actual sea and sky conditions near shore, taking into account the effects of land masses and swell direction as well as pure swell height and period. For example, how many of you have read a forecast of 4-6' seas, only to learn later than conditions off Gloucester were more like 2-3' and would have been just fine. The problem, of course, is that if the 4-6' swells are coming from the S, they will be shadowed by the Cape and S. Shore. The interactive maps at this site show such effects very clearly.

http://bit.ly/3V5Gyb

Then there are the surfer sites, which do the same thing, and show swell direction and period as well. Knowing swell period helps you predict the intensity of the surf and shore surge, although the range of variation in NE is not generally all that big. Some prefer Magic Seaweed. But I really like the new version of WetSand that you see here.

http://bit.ly/2NsUbI

[nancysan]

Whoa. Something to do in/with my spare time. Thanks.

[JohnHuth]

A slightly better site than the surfer sites is oceanweather:

http://www.oceanweather.com/data/

It gives you a much more global picture about developing fronts and wind patterns associated with the fronts.

If you want to learn how to find your longitude with a wristwatch and a shadow-stick, check out:

http://huhepl.harvard.edu/~huth/Primitive%20Navigation.html

(shameless plug)