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Sailing Directions

A sample Sailing Directions page.
Purpose:	Describe features of ocean basins, coastlines, ports, and harbors
Publication Frequency:	Irregular
Published by:	Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic Topographic Center (DMAHTC)
Available Online:	Some volumes [1]

Sailing Directions is a 47-volume American navigation publication published by the Defense Mapping Agency Hydrographic/Topographic Center. Sailing Directions consists of 37 Enroute volumes and 10 Planning Guides. Planning Guides describe general features of ocean basins; Enroutes describe features of coastlines, ports, and harbors.

Sailing Directions are updated when new data requires extensive revision of an existing text. These data are obtained from several sources, including pilots and Sailing Directions from other countries.

One book comprises the Planning Guide and Enroute for Antarctica. This consolidation allows for a more effective presentation of material on this unique area.

The Planning Guides are relatively permanent; by contrast, Sailing Directions (Enroute) are frequently updated. Between updates, both are corrected by the Notice to Mariners.

Figure 403. The 8 ocean basins as organized for Sailing Directions (Planning Guides).

Planning Guide volumnes assist the navigator in planning an extensive oceanic voyage. Each of the Guides covers an area determined by an arbitrary division of the world’s seas into eight ocean basins. This division is shown in Figure 403.

A the first chapter of each Planning Guide contains information about the countries adjacent to the applicable ocean basin. It also covers pratique, pilotage, signals, and shipping regulations. Search and Rescue topics include the location of all lifesaving stations.

The second chapter contains information on the physical environment of an ocean basin. It consists of Ocean Summaries and descriptions of local coastal phenomena. This gives the mariner meteorological and oceanographic information to be considered in planning a route.

The third chapter lists firing danger areas not shown in other DMAHTC publications. A graphic key identifies Submarine Operating Areas. This chapter also identifies publications listing danger areas and gives pertinent navigation cautions.

The fourth chapter describes recommended steamship routes. To facilitate planning, the publication shows entire routes to foreign ports originating from all major U.S. ports. This chapter also includes all applicable Traffic Separation Schemes.

The fifth and final chapter describes available radionavigation systems and the area's system of lights, beacons, and buoys.

Appendices contain information on buoyage systems, route charts, and area meteorological conditions.

Figure 404a. Sector Limits graphic.

Additional chart coverage may be found in CATP2 Catalog of Nautical Charts.
Figure 404b. Chart Information graphic.

Each Sailing Directions (Enroute) volume contains numbered sections along a coast or through a strait. Figure 404a illustrates this division. Each sector is discussed in turn. A preface with detailed information about authorities, references, and conventions used in each book precedes the sector discussions. Finally, each book provides conversions between feet, fathoms, and meters.

The Chart Information Graphic, the first item in each chapter, is a graphic key for charts pertaining to a sector. See Figure 404b. The graduation of the border scale of the chartlet enables navigators to identify the largest scale chart for a location and to find a feature listed in the Index-Gazetteer. These graphics are not maintained by Notice to Mariners; one should refer to the chart catalog for updated chart listings.

Other graphics may contain special information on local winds and weather, anchorages, significant coastal features, and navigation dangers.

A foreign terms glossary, an appendix of anchorages, and a comprehensive Index-Gazetteer follow the sector discussions.

The Index-Gazetteer is an alphabetical listing of described and charted features. The Index lists each feature by geographic coordinates and sector number for use with the graphic key. Features mentioned in the text are listed by page number.

The text of this article originated from sections 402 to 404 of The American Practical Navigator, a document produced by the government of the United States of America.

Nautical Portal

• American Practical Navigator
• Coast Pilots
• Light List
• List of Lights
• Local Notice to Mariners
• Notice to Mariners

• Chapter 4: Nautical Publications - from the online edition of Nathaniel Bowditch's American Practical Navigator