This course takes you through the fundamentals of navigation. We’ll take you through the path by planning, and plotting, a practical journey. 

Dates: Tuesday 21st from 6pm to 9pm; Thursday 23rd from 6pm to 9pm and Saturday 25th July 2026 from 10am to 4pm.

Important Information: Make Your Navigation Tools Your Own

Your navigation book and Port Phillip Bay chart are personal tools you'll rely on again and again especially if cruising or ocean racing is in your future. We highly recommend purchasing your own kit so you can mark it up, refer back to it, and build your skills course after course.

Cost of the kit: $185 (including Port Phillip chart, a course plotter, a pair of dividers, a soft pencil and eraser, and a nautical chart learning book). 

If you can't afford the full kit right now, rental is available at $50 for the entire course. If you take your rental kit home to study, please return it afterward. Otherwise, you will be charged the full replacement cost ($185).

You will have the opportunity to choose between the purchase or rental option on the first day of your course, and will be invoiced accordingly afterward.

Duration: This course runs for 12 hours. 

Course Overview:

What is navigation? (A method of getting from one place to another, without mistakes or surprises)

What is Pilotage? (Not running into things or running aground – leaving, travelling and arriving.)

Resources we can use

•      Charts

•      Local knowledge

•      Electronic aids

•      Your senses

•      Weather services (e.g. BOM)

•      Weather apps

•      Navigation plot, and Deck log, templates (will be provided in hard and soft copy).

The sphere we live on

Why nautical miles? Why degrees and minutes? 

We need to know a bit about Buoyage and Rules

•      IALA A, IALA B.

•      Lateral marks

•      Cardinal marks

•      Other buoys

•      Lighthouses

•      Light patterns

•      International Regulations for the Prevention of Collision at Sea (COLREGS)

We need to look closer at Charts

•      Paper, electronic, or both?

•      What does a chart tell us?

•      Electronic – the good, the bad and the ugly

Plotting your course

•      Big Picture

•      Finer detail

•      Tools to use

•      Measuring distance and bearing

•      Preparing a navigation plot

Understanding anchoring

It’s all about technique

Understanding tides and currents, They can be very nice, or very nasty!

Course Prerequisites: No prior knowledge or experience is assumed or required.

Who should do this course?

A stand alone course designed to enable the offshore mariner to safely navigate extended passages using traditional methods. It includes practical navigation exercises and sample chartwork calculations.

Cancellations and Rebooking: Please note that courses cancelled by email with at least 5 days notice will not incur a rescheduling fee. Cancellations made with less than 5 days notice will incur a $75 charge. If cancelling due to illness, this charge may be waived upon provision of proof.

Important Information: Our sailing academy does not offer refunds. However, we will be more than happy to be flexible with any cancellations and find the best solution to reschedule your sailing session.