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Kayak Navigation
The Basics
by Adam Bolonsky
At its most basic, kayak navigation
boils down to a handful of skills
most anyone can learn in a day or
two. To begin, you’ll need a chart, preferably of
a place you like to paddle or one you’re thinking
of exploring, a deck-mounted or hand-held
compass, a sharp pair of eyes and a course-plotting
tool.
Charts
Published by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOA A) in the
US and the Canadian Hydrographic Service
in Canada, charts come in a variety of sizes that
range from gorgeous 46” x 44” to 11” x 23” government
printings that contain a deep level of
detail (they make beautiful wall hangings) to
11”x17” commercial reproductions, printed in
folio form at somewhat lower levels of resolution,
yet with no less detail, available from outfits
like MapTech.
Important to remember about charts is that
they are drawn in a variety of scales and offer
different levels of detail. They always include a
distance and latitude scale and, no matter their
size, always include the names of islands, capes,
peninsulas, etc., as well as the color and number
of navigational buoys. Just keep in mind that
no matter what scale the chart, one minute of
latitude (a chart’s horizontal increment) equals
one nautical mile—or about the distance an average
paddler can cover in 15 minutes or so.
You can purchase government-issue charts
from any full-service marine supplier in numbered
series for around $18 each. Also you can
download and print them yourself or have a
designated reseller print them for you. They’re
also available on cd-rom or in regional portfolios
from any number of commercial publishing
concerns. With practice, their startling wealth
of information and high levels of detail can be
read in just a few moments. The key is to learn
a few symbols.
Rocks, Shallows, Lighthouses
Take a look at the detail section of a chart,
showing the outer wilds of Boston Harbor, a
place as good as any to look for adventure a few
miles from home.
Among the excerpt’s myriad details, you’ll
note that the excerpt indicates all of outer
Boston Harbor’s significant submerged rocks,
each of its islands, all of its sandbars and shoals.
Digging a little deeper, you’ll also find that
it describes the topography of the Brewster
Islands: the nature of their shoreline (rocky,
sandy, boulder-strewn, etc.); their wrecks; their
lighthouses (two) and the wide range of navigational
buoys which surround them (about a
dozen). The excerpt also shows the major shipping
channel, The South Channel, where the
length of football fields slip by at speeds of eight
knots or more.
To depict the wealth of meaning and detail,
charts use a wide variety of numerals, letters,
colors and codes. Outer Brewster Island, for example,
is 60 feet tall in its southeast corner and
rises to 103 feet at an overlook. It sports a sandspit
that snakes out of the island’s southwest
corner for nearly a mile. Great Brewster also
has a wharf on its southwestern shore and is
surrounded by a deep thicket of large boulders.
Where would you choose to land if you wanted
to explore Great or Outer Brewster? Now have
a look at The Graves to the northeast and Little
Brewster to the southeast. You’ll note that each
has a lighthouse.
A chart graphically describes everything you
can expect to encounter when you paddle within
its territory: channel markers, navigational
buoys, lighthouses, wharves, wrecks, shoreline
contours, beach slopes, etc.—landmarks
and features which will help you keep track of
where you are. The chart will likewise help you
assess good places to duck out of bad weather or
hunker down in a tent to wait out a storm.
Take a few moments to review the excerpt
more carefully. You’ll note a code printed
beneath the lavender exclamation point that
marks Graves Light (the outer harbor’s northeast
corner):
42 WaveLength Magazine july–september 2008