ASA 105 Study Guide

ASA courses are taught only at ASA schools.  

Follow along with an ASA 105 Coastal Navigation lecture.  You will need navigation tools and a copy of the training chart 1210 TR and a copy of the current edition of Eldridge Tide and Pilot.  This work is based on lecture notes of the author an ASA Instructor Evaluator.  This study guide is designed to help prepare students for the class work and ASA 105 test.

Students are encouraged to gain experience underway as well as in the classroom.  

The author recommends that students own several books in addition to the prescribed teaching materials.  The first book is essential to the course.  The others are a logical addition to any navigator's bookshelf.

    1. Eldridge Tide and Pilot 2022.  This book is essential for cruising the US East Coast and New England in particular.  It contains hourly current vector charts and coastal piloting tips not easily found elsewhere.

    2. Boat Navigation for the Rest of Us by Captain Bill Brogdon.  Brogdon's book is the refresher course in navigation and belongs in your boat's area.  It is helpful for advancing your crew's skills, too.

    3. How to Read a Nautical Chart by Nigel Calder.  Calder helps anyone get more information from a nautical chart.

    4. Chapman's Piloting and Seamanship is a magnificent book in its 69th printing.  It covers a great deal of the material needed by small boat operators.  It can be used in place of Brogdon and Calder.

    5. Annapolis Book of Seamanship by John Rousmaniere is a comprehensive work focusing on sailing yachts and the issues unique to them.

    6. International Marine Book of Sailing by William H Robinson is a comprehensive sailing-oriented work.  Many of the images were taken in the British Virgin Islands and will be particularly interesting to charterers.

Coastal navigation is not particularly difficult.  It does require constant attention to what you see and correlating that to what's on the chart.  Electronic aids have made all this much more immediate but have not reduced the need for constant attention by the navigator.

The principal navigation tools are the navigator's eyes and ears.

Please note:  

The author has no financial relationship with any of the companies referenced in this work.







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