4.4 Navigation Publications & Notices to Mariners

Publications Turn Charts into a Voyage Plan

A chart shows where. Navigation publications explain what the chart cannot say in full sentences: how the harbor behaves in a northerly, which radio channel the harbormaster watches, the flash period of a light buried in glare, tonight’s tide height under a bridge, and last week’s relocated buoy. Q162 Navigation General tests whether you know which book answers which question. On a Master 100 passenger vessel, the same knowledge keeps you off the mud and out of a deficiency write-up when an inspector asks how you keep charts current.

U.S. Coast Pilot

The United States Coast Pilot (NOAA) is a series of regional volumes of sailing directions for U.S. coasts, Great Lakes, and related waters. Use it for:

• Detailed channel and harbor descriptions
• Local hazards, currents peculiarities, and weather patterns
• Facilities, pilotage notes, and regulated area context
• Commentary that fleshes out charted features (“this entrance is dangerous in onshore swells”)

When the exam asks for narrative local knowledge not fully on the chart, think Coast Pilot. It does not replace the Light List for every light’s nominal range, and it is not a substitute for Tide Tables.

Light List

The Light List (U.S. Coast Guard) is organized by region and lists aids to navigation with:

• Official name and number
• Position
• Characteristic (color and rhythm)
• Height and nominal range of lights
• Structure description
• Fog signals and other remarks

Exam default: light characteristics, nominal ranges, and detailed ATON data → Light List. Charts carry abbreviated light labels; the Light List is the full directory. After storms or construction, verify critical lights against the list and the latest notices.

Tide Tables

Tide Tables give predicted times and heights of high and low water at reference stations, with differences and ratios for subordinate stations. Masters use them to:

• Compute height of tide at a given time
• Estimate depth = charted sounding + height of tide (mind datum consistency)
• Plan under-keel clearance for inlets, bars, and shallow approaches
• Time bridge air-draft problems when clearance is measured from high-water datums

Tide prediction is not the same as tidal current. Height of tide can be high while current is slack, or mid-tide with max flood — do not conflate the two products.

Tidal Current Tables

Tidal Current Tables (or equivalent current prediction products) provide set and drift predictions: direction and speed of the current at reference stations, with adjustments for secondary locations. Use them for:

• Transit timing through narrow channels and bridges
• Estimating set and drift for DR and chart-plot problems
• Passenger comfort and docking planning (flood vs ebb against the pier)

On Q162 and Q163, “current tables” answers attach to horizontal motion of water; “tide tables” attach to vertical rise and fall.

Notice to Mariners and Local Notice to Mariners

Charts and publications are only as good as their corrections.

Local Notice to Mariners is the working document for most Master 100 near-coastal and inland operators. Professional practice:

• Read LNM for your district before the operating week
• Correct paper charts or confirm electronic updates
• Brief crew on temporary buoys, extinguished lights, and channel shifts
• Never assume last season’s mental chart is still valid after hurricane season or a major dredge project

Chart No. 1

As covered in Section 4.1, U.S. Chart No. 1 is the symbol and abbreviation reference. Exam questions that ask “where do you find the meaning of this chart symbol?” point here — not to Tide Tables and not to the COI.

USCG Navigation Rules

The Navigation Rules (International Rules / COLREGS and Inland Navigation Rules, published for mariners and codified including 33 CFR) govern lights, shapes, sound signals, and conduct. They are a rules of the road publication, not a chart catalog. You study them heavily for Q100 (90%); on Navigation General they still matter when questions tie ATON or lights to collision-avoidance context. Keep a current copy aboard as required/expected for the vessel and know International vs Inland applicability by waters.

Matching the Question to the Publication

Use this decision table until it is automatic:

Keeping Publications Corrected

A stack of books with last year’s pages is scenery. Correction discipline:

1. Subscribe to or download LNM for your Coast Guard district every issue cycle.
2. Apply corrections to charts and annotate Light List / Coast Pilot changes (or replace electronic files from authorized sources).
3. Replace volumes when new editions supersede heavily corrected copies.
4. On electronic bridges, maintain update status of ENC/raster and digital pubs; know the date of the last successful update before passenger departure.
5. After any ATON discrepancy you observe, report it and check whether LNM already covers it.

Inspectors and examiners share a favorite question: “How do you know this chart is corrected?” An answer that names LNM/NtM process and last update beats “the plotter looks new.”

Voyage-Planning Mini Workflow (Master 100)

Before an unfamiliar or night passenger run:

1. Select the largest-scale chart for the critical leg; confirm datum and units.
2. Read Coast Pilot notes for the entrance and harbor.
3. Extract critical lights from the Light List; pre-brief characteristics you must identify.
4. Compute tide for under-keel and current for set at the inlet time of transit.
5. Skim the latest LNM for temporary ATON, dredging, and bridge work.
6. Carry Navigation Rules knowledge for traffic, and Chart No. 1 fluency for any odd symbol.

That six-step loop is Navigation General made operational — exactly what Q162 is sampling when it asks which publication holds which fact.

Master’s publications pocket card

1. Coast Pilot = narrative sailing directions.
2. Light List = light/ATON details and nominal range.
3. Tide Tables = vertical tide; Current Tables = set/drift.
4. LNM/NtM = corrections and temporary changes — use them.
5. Chart No. 1 = symbols; Nav Rules = collision regs.

Q162 will hand you a scenario and four publication names. Pick the tool that answers the operational question. That habit is identical to good voyage planning on a Subchapter T boat: the master who knows which book to open is the master who still has water under the keel when the charter party is filming dolphins off the bow.