Coastal Navigation and Tidal Planning

This course is aimed at all paddlers who journey along the coast or in large inland water ways such as Lough Erne, Strangford Lough and would like to develop and expand their navigation skills and knowledge. The course is generic in nature and applies to all disciplines of canoesport who journey in this environment. The sessions will be spent in the classroom but will be both practical and theory based.

Our aim is to show you practically how to apply coastal navigation theory so that it meets the needs of canoeists.

The coastal navigation module is a pre-requisite of the Sea Kayak Leader Training.

There is no formal assessment however the success of the course greatly depends on the input of all course members.

Skills Covered:

• Weather: cause and effect, understanding synoptic charts, Beaufort scale, sources, shipping forecast, and terminology
• Tides: sources, springs and neaps, rule of 12ths & thirds, cause and effect, tidal ranges, overfalls and tidal races, and effect of wind
• Sources of information: understanding maps and charts including symbols, orientation, taking bearings, fixes, transits, measurement, latitude and longitude. Understanding the application of pilots and sailing directions and transferring information on to a map
• Trip planning: including timings, logistics, environmental factors, tidal planning tables, etc
• Application of navigation: taking a bearing afloat, calculating group speed, relating map information to the coastal environment, use of transits, dead reckoning and estimated position

Paddlers at all levels who wish to learn or further develop their coastal navigation.

Paddlers wishing to attend their Sea kayak Leader Award Training.