2.11 Navigation Publications

Navigation Publications

A chart alone does not tell the whole story of a coastline. The U.S. government publishes a family of navigation publications that supplement the chart, and the exam expects you to know which book answers which question and who keeps charts current.

The core publications

A closer look

The U.S. Coast Pilot runs to nine volumes covering the U.S. coasts and Great Lakes. It is the narrative companion to the chart: it describes channels and their peculiarities, tells you where to anchor, lists marine facilities and repair services, and quotes the local regulations - speed zones, regulated navigation areas, bridge and lock operating rules - that a chart cannot carry.

The Light List (seven volumes) expands on the chart's terse light symbol, giving each aid's full characteristic (the flash pattern), its height above water, its nominal range in clear weather, and a description of the structure. When you need more than the chart shows about a light or a lighted buoy, this is the book.

U.S. Chart No. 1 is not a chart at all but the legend - the master key to every symbol, line and abbreviation used on NOAA and NGA charts. When a strange symbol appears - a magenta line, an obstruction mark, a colored sector - this is where you look it up.

Charts themselves come in a range of scales. A small-scale chart (say 1:80,000) covers a large area with little detail for planning a passage; a large-scale chart (say 1:20,000) zooms in on a harbor with every buoy and depth. The rule is "large scale, large detail." Each chart also carries an edition number and date and a title block stating the projection, the units of soundings (feet, fathoms, or meters), and the datums - always confirm those before you trust a number off the chart.

Keeping charts corrected

Charts go stale the moment they are printed: buoys are relocated, shoals shift, wrecks appear, lights change character. Two publications keep them current:

• The Notice to Mariners (weekly, NGA) covers ocean and foreign waters.
• The Local Notice to Mariners (LNM) (weekly, from each USCG District) is the primary source inshore. It reports temporary and permanent changes to aids to navigation, dredging projects, new hazards, and discrepancies (an aid off station, a light extinguished).

A prudent mariner hand-corrects paper charts from these notices and dates each correction. NOAA now issues print-on-demand charts corrected to the day of printing and has moved toward electronic navigational charts (ENC), which are updated digitally.

Choosing the right book - the exam trap

The test loves to ask which publication supplies a given fact:

• Need the full characteristic, height and range of a light in more detail than the chart? -> Light List.
• Need the rule for a local speed zone, a port's facilities, or a narrative of a channel? -> Coast Pilot.
• Need to decode a symbol or abbreviation? -> Chart No. 1.
• Need to learn that a buoy was moved or a light is out? -> Local Notice to Mariners.

Carriage requirement and the legal edge

Vessels 12 meters (about 39.4 feet) or more in length must carry a copy of the Inland Navigation Rules aboard on U.S. inland waters. Beyond that specific rule, a six-pack captain is not legally forced to carry every publication - but operating without adequate, corrected charts for the waters transited can be cited as negligent operation if something goes wrong. The professional standard, and the safe practice, is to carry corrected charts, the Coast Pilot, the Light List, and current tide and current data for your cruising area, and to report any aid-to-navigation discrepancy you find to the Coast Guard.