A Guide to Navigating Your Boat

The state of Florida provides endless opportunities for boaters to explore numerous waterways. From the Atlantic Coast to the Gulf Coast and all the lakes and rivers in between, you have plenty of options for where you can take your boat.

Wherever you go, you’ll need to chart your course and figure out how to get around the area. As your Florida boat dealer, Jet Ski of Miami has the information you need to learn about boat navigation.

Equipment You’ll Need

To navigate your boat the old-fashioned way, you’ll need a chart or map of the waterway you’re in, a compass, a stopwatch, and parallel rules. Today, we tend to use GPS systems that take information from satellites orbiting the Earth and transform it into digital maps. You can use both old-fashioned and modern means of navigation to learn how to steer your boat.

How to Dead Reckon

The main way that navigators of days past got around was via the process of “dead reckoning,” which needs an initial fixed position from which the general course of the boat can be determined. 

“Knots” are the standard nautical unit of measurement, equivalent to a nautical mile, which is approximately 1/60 of a degree of latitude. Boat navigators used the speed in knots of the boat, along with a compass’ direction, to determine how they would steer their boats to get to their final destination.

You may find that dead reckoning is challenging, as it has a somewhat high degree of error. If you fail to take currents, winds, and tides into account, the minor shifts they cause your boat to take can send you miles and miles off-course. The best thing to do is to combine dead reckoning with your GPS’ information to get a more accurate course.

Seeking boats for sale in Florida? Come see us at our Miami, FL, location to take a look at our wide stock of new and used boats for sale. Jet Ski of Miami is proud to be your Florida boat sales headquarters, serving Hialeah, FL.