How to Plot a Course to Steer

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

This is a short video to illustrate how you calculate a course to steer. In this video, I stick to True, but to apply to Compass, apply variation and deviation. Check out that video, here; kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5i2eoieqN2pl7s

[@davidreid4647]

As you have said you apply true to compass why not skip true altogether and just plot in magnetic it's what you are going to steer. There is only one time i have to use true and that's when i am doing celestial navigation and that will only give me position not course to steer.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

​@@davidreid4647 Because variation is different on different charts, dependent on where in the world you are and deviation varies dependent on the vessel you are on and the heading you have. The tidal information (ie direction from the diamonds and/or almanac) are also in true. Hope that clarifies.

[@davidreid4647]

@@FreeSailingTutorials yes variation differs in all areas of the world and 90% of the charts around the world have two plotting rings on them one is true and one is magnetic the magnetic One automatically has the variation counted for the true does not if you use the magnetic it will give you the magnetic course without any calculations simply add the deviation and you're ready to go.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

@@davidreid4647 I'd disagree with your comment on 90% of charts having magnetic rings on them. And, of course, variation changes annually, so you have to allow for that too, on a ny chart that is not current. Then deviation has to be applied for compass course. Of course, you can do it whatever way works for you, but The RYA teach their candidates to do it this way.

[@davidreid4647]

@@FreeSailingTutorials the question is why teach it that way they are using true to find magnetic but in reality you need magnetic to find true. You can't steer using true you must use magnetic. When I was a very young kid I learned to navigate using dead reckoning and celestial they would only give you position you could not steer by them you had to plot a course magnetically. Then loran came in using time distances to determine position but you could not steer by it you had to plot a course magnetically. Then satellite navigation you had to be very rich to own it and it only gave you position you had to steer a compass course magnetically. Then finally GPS and chart

[@terrydickinson7252]

These videos are great. I recently passed my day skipper theory online and I understand it more clearly after watching this!

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Congratulations! And thanks.

[@richardpace9818]

Really good.Clearly spoken,well articulated A rare set of skills these days!!

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Very kind. Thanks, Richard.

[@justinf1343]

Thanks for this very helpful video. I did my Day Skipper theory over 10 years ago and having not sailed in that time. As a result I’ve become rather rusty and this was a great refresher.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thank you. Exactly my 'target market', so to speak. 😉

[@arianaras]

Great clear instructions. Just passed day skipper theory.

[@NearlyNativeNursery]

Great teaching video. The calm way of speaking is superb. Wonderful in instruction and aiding our learning.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thanks Jim. Very kind.

[@josephlai9759]

Thank you. It is also good to know how sailors make sense of wind and tidal direction of flow, i.e., where we are on a boat, we can sense which direction the wind is coming 'from', and see where the tidal flow is going 'to'.

[@dutchglobetrotter4513]

I absolutely love your explanation, it is very clear and very useful on longer passages. However on a short passage like this I wouldn't make the hassle and just point the boat where I want to go and make course corrections while sailing. Don't get me wrong I see a point in doing this on a 500m+ passage just not on a short hop like this. Also with modern day electronics you barely need this on short notice 50m sails. Yes Electronics can fail and it is good to know how to do this, I've been sailing for almost 40 years and haven't used this once. Not in the Caribbean, not on the Atlantic and not on the North Sea. Like I said it is good to know but not essential. Just point the boat where you want to go and offset + or - accordingly to the tide. Just my 5 cents.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

I take your point. Of course, this was for an example. If sailing, say 3 hours or so in one direction, a course to steer is a good idea because you can sail one efficient heading. If you keep making alterations as the tide effect changes, you are not getting max benefit from a predictable tidal vector. Thanks for watching 👍

[@user-pi2fj6xs6q]

Deeply informative and useful video, very clearly explained, I appreciate you captain

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thank you.

[@catalin5218]

what pen are u using to write on that notebook? looks pretty nice

[@arkadybron1994]

Since you're going to the Brambles, I wondered if you were on your way to play cricket 😉

[@Boca-do-rio]

I don't get it... Why would we Dutch put the drift calculation before the stream??? We have KK>>>dev>>>MK>>>var>>>WK>>>drift>>>BWK>>>stream>>>GrK .... Is it not the stream you can see at the trace behind your boat, where the stream is flowing to? You see... You can calculate all your drifting on the angles to the wind and its force with your used sails in a fixed table to know your boat, but the drift that changes on multiple spots or tides are way harder to know and for that you watch your boat stream at the back, is it not? When we are inbetween a high and low pressure area, your drifting will change faster, because of lower/higher winds and the changing of direction to your adjusted sails.Or not?

[@harbourdogNL]

Thank you.

[@martinyoung9901]

Very helpful. Thanks very much.

[@NearlyNativeNursery]

A great instructor you are delivering logical description. I duplicated this exercise with an longer ground track and use whole miles. In doing so my course to steer intersected my ground track much closer to my starting point. You mention the drawing the ground track through your destination. Is this because your start to destination is such a short sail?

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thanks Jim. Drawing the ground track through the destination reminds you to cross the ground track with the dividers. Some people commit the rookie error of just connecting the water track vector to the end of the destination, by accident. If the scale of the vectors plotted are not perfect for the length of the tack you are on, you may find that the vector will cross the ground track AFTER the destination. This will mean that you will arrive at the destination earlier than the assumed time vector. For example, if you use an hour of tide and boat speed, travelling at 10 kts and the destination is just 7 miles away, you might find that an hour of water track takes you past the destination. In other words, you'd get to the destination maybe 15 minutes or so earlier.

[@NearlyNativeNursery]

@@FreeSailingTutorials Yes I am a rookie. Much Thanks for your answering. Mark I understand from your wonderful tutorial. I did not ask the question I intend instead as I mislead you by using bad plotting terminology. If in your video example if ones destination were 12nm instead of 1.5nm is it true that ones boat speed vector would intersect the original ground track way early far ahead of the destination? And I assume we can use this same calculating used for tidal flows also for Ocean current? All the Very Best! jim

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

@@NearlyNativeNursery Yes. Because we always use the same amount of time when plotting a vector. If we plotted one hour of boat speed at 6kts and one hour of tide (or current) at say 1.5kts, then yes, the dividers would transect the desired ground track much earlier. In that scenario, taking say 2 hours of boat speed and two hours of tide would be better and would give you a single CTS for the whole 2 hrs.

[@goaro2007]

Why the arrows and how do they decide how many per course, current etc.?

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

The arrows define each vector. One arrow defines the vessel's required heading and speed through the water, two arrows represents the desired course over the ground and three arrows represents the tidal vector (direction of flow and speed).

[@dalepoulette]

Hi, thanks for the video, I am currently taking my Bridge Watch Rating and I love to learn when I can, what is that chart ruler called?

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

It's called a Breton (or Portland) Plotter.

[@alangoodwin7540]

Once you had your course to steer T,why did you not then adjust bearing for deviation on ship compass and variation for the chart

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Good question. I am trying to keep the videos short and concentrate just on one thing at a time - so as not to confuse the issue with novices. I've done another video here addressing applying variation and deviation. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5i2eoieqN2pl7s

[@doubleblackdiamonddivers934]

Thanks for video. What brand is your chart plotter tool? Thanks

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. I use this one: amzn.to/3zFljQ2 It's a Portland Breton Plotter.

[@mattybthecatalist8991]

Great teacher. Thanks ❤

[@StarTrekOnlineLive]

The disclaimer right on top *Not to be used for navigational purposes* gets me everytime XD

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

The world we live in 😂

[@KingstoneS318]

Hello again I keep watching your useful videos for self study and stumbled upon another can of worms called The Great Circle :D Just want to check with you please when we plot a course to steer on a chart manually how do we know this is the great circle route cos we are using a Mercator chart drawing straight lines? Is it crucial we use a Gnomonic chart? thank you so much

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Hi again. Either use a gnomonic paper chart and then transpose waypoints say every 200 miles or so along the Great Circle Route onto your Mercator chart, or if you have an electronic chart plotter, you will probably have the option to plot a great circle route on that and then overlay waypoints along it, as best you can. I hope that helps? That sort of question is great for our forms at www.freesailingtutorials.com 😉

[@KingstoneS318]

@@FreeSailingTutorials thank you so much l will go right there, yes its becoming clearer to me now 😊 all the best

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

@@KingstoneS318 You can subscribe for free. Im trying to build forums but they haven't taken off as yet.

[@KingstoneS318]

@@FreeSailingTutorials thats wonderful thank you, the resources there are tremendously valuable, l find out the more l learn the more l dont know 😁 in navigation, but will get there eventually...

[@quasimojo7399]

Excellent, thank you!

[@anthonyb8998]

Nice, very clear.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thanks, Anthony.

[@Dreancaidi]

Great video, thanks!

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Thank you.

[@hotsauce1646]

I tried to find books on this but the only navigation chart plotter books ar anything but chart plotting books . Can anybody give me some titles so i can find and buy them ?

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

For a book on how to undertake basic navigation and use and plot on charts, this might be useful for you amzn.to/42DmFWk

[@hotsauce1646]

@@FreeSailingTutorials thanks i will look into this one . The others i bought were about navigation but not how to plot your own cource and how to masure distance and time .

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

@@hotsauce1646 Obviously, you can also check out my videos. Over time I am adding videos with blogs to the website, also.

[@Devon_Dan_Sailing]

Great video thanks 🙏

[@miguelbello6490]

Perfect !

[@mikeymjh]

Nice video thanks

[@lifegaurdmuaythai95]

Great vid

[@ElliotLambert-t7k]

I’ll be paying a visit online later

[@LexLuthor1234]

Thank you :)

[@robertdcardus9889]

under your guidance again😄

[@garryhall9660]

Simplest way to reduce the scale of the plot is to use a relevant scale on the plotter. As you said if the scale is the same for the tide and the boat speed then you can measure the Distance capability in one hour. then you can model for the full hour without dividing and then multiplying to get the DC in 1 hour. and if the boat speed changes then it easy to replot. why oh why does sea schools not teach this method. its simple and if you are weak at maths it does the job.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

More than one way to skin a cat, as you say Garry.

[@garryhall9660]

@@FreeSailingTutorials but everyone i examine uses a decimal the shrink the plot. surely using scale is easier.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

@@garryhall9660 I think it depends on how your brain works. I'm fairly strong at maths so I'm happy with that. In real life, I interpolate mathematically in my head for secondary ports, also. But for beginners, using a couple of lines tends to help most.

[@garryhall9660]

@@FreeSailingTutorials i get that but if a method such as the scale one, allows you to leave the chart table earier and get you back on deck its got to be good. also it reduces errors and when large scale chart calls for more precise navigation it helps that as well. the final thing i would say that if you shrink the plot down by a decimal and the boat speed changes its back to maths whereby if you do it by scale then all that is needed is the plotter marked off and the new line drawn. many say you cannot get the distance capability on one hour with my method but as you are sing the same scale between the tide and the boat speed (both in knots) then the measuring the DC in one hour will glean the information without multiplying first as you have divided beforehand.

[@davidreid4647]

Why plot in true? Once you have found true how do you steer it we just broke the compass we have no compass we're out of sight of land how do you steer true with no compass?

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Hi David. We generally work in True on the chart. You can then apply variation and deviation to give you magnetic and then compass. (See my pinned comment also). I didn't apply variation and deviation because I try to keep each video short and focussed. Of course, if you lost your compass, having a true or magnetic course to steer would make no difference. Hope that helps.

[@davidreid4647]

@@FreeSailingTutorials thank you for your response. My point is you can't find true with out a compass and once you found it you cannot steer it without a compass. You say you plot in true on the chart, why not simply plot in magnetic that's what you are going to steer. Your out to sea your compass has been broken and is useless how do you steer true?

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

@@davidreid4647 Hi David. Everything on the chart relates to True North. The meridians of longitude run true north to true south. As I assume you know, the difference between true north and magnetic north will vary dependent upon where you are on the earth's surface, so we plot in true and then apply variation and deviation dependent on where we are and what heading we have. We give the compass heading to the helm after we have calculated it. I don't understand your point about losing the compass. If you lose your compass, you can't steer a compass course (or magnetic course) but you can't steer a true course either. Then you are down to things like using the sun, the north star and your watch. Or even a radio (but that's a trick for another time).

[@baptistdiver1474]

@@FreeSailingTutorials Hey thanks for your video. I'm keen to learn how it's possible to fix position using VHF. Do you mean using it to request nearby vessels/coastal stations to fix your position for you via radar etc? Or GPS positional data in a digital vhf? (perhaps display problems with chartplotter, but still receiving the data feed) Or is there a unique method with using a VHF to fix position? Keen to learn more about this. I'm a commercial skipper on boats and small barges less than 12 metres, in restricted limits, in NZ. Cheers.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

@@baptistdiver1474 Hi. Thanks for the question. I can't find where I refer to a radio here, and the video is a year or more old now, but in answer to your question, you could, of course, get a fix asking for a position from nearby shipping, but you can use a MW or LW radio to define a bearing to a specific location by turning it on, tuning to a specific station, for example, Barbados radio (for example), then move the radio around with one end pointing to your outstreched fingers and one to your shoulder. When you get the strongest signal, you've found Barbados. Obviously, this is rule of thumb stuff if you've lost other means of navigation which is, of course, fairly unlikely. I learnt this from the great Ocean Yachtmaster Instructor, Stokey Woodall.

[@ElliotLambert-t7k]

I’ve got a test today this has ruined my mind more than my tutor has all week fml …

[@yesyoga]

Wow!

[@PORFBAGSNORWAY]

im lookin for someone get exam done for me online l pay very good tip

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Sorry - just seen this comment. Unfortunately, I am currently skippering a private yacht.

[@johnstokes9647]

Thank you for a no nonsense factual Video in plain English . God bless our American cousins but they talk too much .

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

🤣Thank you. In real life, I am sometimes guilty of the same.

[@sempertalis1230]

From the US : Bless your heart!

[@cd4222]

Although interesting video to watch, the great majority of people today use electronic charts in their boats. Past are the times of the sextons, charts and the abacus.

[@FreeSailingTutorials]

Paper charts are indeed on their way out. But if you lose power on your yacht in the middle of an ocean, you better have a plan. : )