This course, taught by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, will help you unravel the mystery of charts. When navigating on land, you use a map, but when at sea, you must use a nautical chart, as there are no landmarks or routes as with terrain. And, if you are far offshore, with no land on the horizon, everything looks the same.

Indeed, nautical charts give us the landmarks of the sea -- buoys, markers, shoreline features, water depth, bottom type, magnetic compass variation, and latitude/longitude. By knowing latitude and longitude, we can locate our position anywhere on Earth. Nautical charts also warn of dangerous zones to the boater. Anyone who wishes to interpret a chart's contents in order to safely navigate a vessel should take this course. A practice chart is included, and the class will review practical problems that one might encounter.