As a boat operator, you should always be interested in advancing your knowledge of boat navigation and safety.
These days, most boaters and sailors rely on their modern on-board equipment to guide them, including radar or GPS, but navigating on your own can be a rewarding experience, especially for a seasoned boater who wants to become more independent on the water.
The fine art of boat navigation will allow you to set a proper course and arrive at your destination using just a compass, nautical charts and your common sense.
The aim of online navigation courses is to teach you safe navigation using methods that have been used from the Middle Ages until now.
If you take an advanced boat navigation course, it can help give you the feel an insight of a more seasoned navigator. The earth may be regarded as an object that is spherical, so navigators need coordinates that are more helpful than the normally-used x- and y-axes.
Another type of coordinate system covers the planet with lines of an imaginary nature, known as parallels and meridians.
All of those lines work together to provide this grid, which allows you to describe any position on the earth in terms of latitude and longitude.
This is quite helpful in terms of effective boat navigation.
Boat navigation courses divide the hemispheres at the equator.
But the Western and Eastern hemispheres also need a division, which was once a source of turmoil on the political level.
Greenwich ended up winning the battle, placing The Netherlands in the Eastern hemisphere and Ireland in the Western.
The meridians of boat navigation converge at the North and South poles, but parallels run next to each other and never intersect.
The equator, which is the largest parallel, and the meridians form two huge circles, while the rest of the parallels form smaller circles.
The greatest circle divides the earth into two precise halves. Operators use this knowledge for effective boat navigation.
