Seamanship_Secrets_185_Tips_-_Techniques_for_Better_Navigation-_Cruise_Planning-_and_Boat_Handling_Under_Power_or_Sail_(Re)_e..

96 seamanship secrets

commercial charts described as chartkits or chartbooks. In Europe, use the
techniques described below to track your vessel along that vast inland water-
way system of rivers and canals (for an overview, see http://www.worldcanals
.com/english/vne_Europe.html).
The small print on these charts makes interpreting the aid to navigation
(ATON) symbols confusing. Small changes in course between aids become
nerve-wracking. But you can simplify things to make your transit of the ICW
(or any narrow waterway) an easy and pleasurable experience by making strip
charts as outlined below.

1. Preparing the strip charts. Lay down three strips of tape along each
   intended route. Use one for the center and two strips on either side of your
   route. Next, draw your channel jogs. Using the felt-tip pen, put a dot where
   one leg begins and another where it ends, and then join your dots.


2. Custom symbols: squares, triangles, and cones. Next, draw silhouettes of
   your ATONs. Draw oversized squares or triangles adjacent to those shown
   along each leg. Perfection isn’t as important as relative position along a leg.


3. Silhouette labels. Simplify the descriptions of beacons and lights. For example,
   if your chart shows a light with the description G “17” Fl G 4 sec, you could
   shorten it to “17” G4. At a glance, you see the number 17 has a green (G) four-
   second (4) light. For an unlighted ATON, put the color of the marker before the
   number like this: R “14” or G “3.”

START

R “32”

G “33”

GPS

Waypoint

R “36” G “35”

R “34”

Annotating your chart with large symbols for navaids and enlarged buoyage numbers will
help simplify a journey along the ICW or any other turning, twisting passage.