Coastal Navigation
Home Study
(ASA - 105)

Coastal navigation - the art and science of traveling near or within sight of land - consists of two parts.  The first part is preparation, the second is operation.  Many people do well at the operation part, especially with the assistance of a GPS-enabled chart plotter.  However, the devil, as they say, is in the details and that where good preparation comes in.

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Our Coastal Navigation course, which you can do at your own pace, as quickly or as leisurely as you prefer, is designed to give you the theoretical basis and the practical skills to plan a coastal cruise of anywhere from an afternoon to several days.  It focuses on the how and why of using paper charts to determine your desired route from your current location to your ultimate destination.  It will also teach you how to use the additional resources available to you to update the information provided to you by the government and other sources, how to create your own charts of the cruising grounds and when and how to coordinate this information from your planning phase to your operational one.

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​Once you have completed the course and feel comfortable in your knowledge, you can take the final exam at home, at your own speed.  After completing the test, you will send it, and your American Sailing logbook, if desired, in a prepaid envelope, directly to Captain Tursi, who will grade it and send it back to you with detailed feedback on anything that you did not quite master.

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If you feel, after getting the material, that you would be better served by being in an actual instructor-led class, you can upgrade into our regularly-scheduled course, taught in January and February of each year.  That class, taught by Captain Tursi, will provide more structure and the ability to ask questions as they arise, rather than by sending an email to the school.  If you choose this option, the cost is $160 - the difference between the two course.  If you would like more information about the classroom course, it is available here.

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Many people ask why they should take a course in "paper charts" when "everyone is going electronic".  The answer is personal, but can be summed up as this - the skills that this course will provide form the basis for all electronic navigation and knowing what is going on "inside the black box" will benefit you if and when you need them.  Whether you do the course for personal enjoyment, as a foundation for learning more advanced navigational techniques or simply for peace of mind, just in case..., you will come away with a set of skills and a depth of knowledge that will serve you well as you go further in your cruising endeavors.