Chapman Piloting & Seamanship, published by Hearst Books [lower-alpha 1] has been a leading reference book for power and sail boaters for nearly 100 years. Known as "the Bible of Boating", more than 3 million copies have been printed.
The 67th edition (2013) has 920 pages, 1,500 full-color illustrations and charts, and exploded views and cutaways and updated with information on federal laws, regulations, and fees. It includes much popular new technology – especially communications and electronic navigation/common surveying equipment: GPS, radar, depth sounders/fish finders, chart plotters. It also reviews most common other marine goods and devices such as engines, solar panels, batteries, pumps and osmosis/treatment units.
It contains authoritative information about boating rules, weather, tide, currents, navigation, seamanship for powerboats, small craft, and boats under sail; anchoring, communications, and navigation; inland boating, marlinspike seamanship, and boating customs. It is often used as the text for private boating schools throughout the U.S.
It is the officially recommended book for the U.S. Coast Guard's boating education classes and many local United States Power Squadrons.
The work originated in 1917. [1]
The original author, Charles Frederic Chapman (1881–1976), was an avid boater, and the editor of Hearst's Motor Boating Magazine from 1912 to 1968. During World War I, the U.S. Government needed to train men in the Navy, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine to become operators of small boats, including landing craft, utility craft, gigs, patrol craft. Then Assistant U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, commissioned Chapman to write a manual that could be used to help provide that training. Chapman did this in three days, drawing largely on articles that had appeared in Motor Boating Magazine.
The result was Practical Boat Handling, the first edition of which was published in 1917 with 144 pages, 5 × 7 in.. From this, the book evolved through many editions into Piloting, Seamanship & Small Boat Handling. The book title has now been shortened to Chapman Piloting & Seamanship. Chapman was one of the original founders of the United States Power Squadrons.
A yacht is a sail or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, so the term applies to such vessels that have a cabin with amenities that accommodate overnight use. To be termed a yacht, as opposed to a boat, such a pleasure vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length and may have been judged to have good aesthetic qualities.
Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water.
A tack is a nautical term both for the lower, windward corner of a sail and, separately, for the side of a sailing craft from which the wind is coming while under way—the starboard or port tack. A boat is on a starboard tack if the wind is coming over the starboard (right) side of boat with sails on port (left) side. Similarly, a boat is on a port tack if the wind is coming over the port (left) side of boat.
A point of sail is a sailing craft's direction of travel under sail in relation to the true wind direction over the surface.
Piloting or pilotage is navigating, using fixed points of reference on the sea or on land, usually with reference to a nautical chart or aeronautical chart to obtain a fix of the position of the vessel or aircraft with respect to a desired course or location. Horizontal fixes of position from known reference points may be obtained by sight or by radar. Vertical position may be obtained by depth sounder to determine depth of the water body below a vessel or by altimeter to determine an aircraft's altitude, from which its distance above the ground can be deduced. Piloting a vessel is usually practiced close to shore or on inland waterways. Pilotage of an aircraft is practiced under visual meteorological conditions for flight.
Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels, focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or waterskiing. It is a popular activity, and there are millions of boaters worldwide.
In navigation, the course of a watercraft or aircraft is the cardinal direction in which the craft is to be steered. The course is to be distinguished from the heading, which is the compass direction in which the craft's bow or nose is pointed.
The bridge is a room or platform of a ship from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is under way, the bridge is manned by an officer of the watch aided usually by an able seaman acting as a lookout. During critical maneuvers the captain will be on the bridge, often supported by an officer of the watch, an able seaman on the wheel and sometimes a pilot, if required.
The ensign of the United States is the flag of the United States when worn as an ensign. International maritime law—see International Treaty on Law of the Sea, articles 91 and 92—provides that vessels have a "national character" and thus should display a flag (ensign) that corresponds to this national character, especially when in international or foreign waters. Vessels that are formally documented under the federal vessel documentation act, vessels owned by government bodies in the United States, and vessels in the U.S. military unquestionably have U.S. national character, and thus properly hoist a U.S. ensign to show their national character. Vessels that are numbered by the states and small, non-registered craft owned by U.S. citizens and not registered in other countries may also hoist a U.S. ensign to show their national character.
The United States Power Squadrons (USPS) DBA America's Boating Club, is a non-profit educational organization, founded in 1914, whose mission is to improve maritime safety and enjoyability through classes in seamanship, navigation, and other related subjects. The USPS comprises approximately 45,000 members organized into 450 squadrons across the United States and in some US territories. It is the largest U.S. non-profit boating organization and has been honored by three U.S. presidents for its civic contributions. Its official publication is The Ensign magazine.
HMCS Prevost is a Naval Reserve unit commissioned Her Majesty's Canadian Ship, of the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve based in London, Ontario.
A Grumman Sportboat, is a 15' 4" long, 43" wide square stern canoe manufactured in America. It, as well as the Coleman Scanoe, are patterned after "Grand Lakers," wooden fishing guide boats built on Grand Lake, Maine for oar power, subsequently modified for the advent of small outboard engines with the addition of more bearing aft and a flat tumblehome transom.
Nautical publications is a technical term used in maritime circles describing a set of publications, either published by national governments or by commercial and professional organisations, for use in safe navigation of ships, boats, and similar vessels. Other publications might cover topics such as seamanship and cargo operations. In the UK, the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, the Witherby Publishing Group and the Nautical Institute provide numerous navigational publications, including charts, publications on how to navigate and passage planning publications. In the US, publications are issued by the US government and US Coast Guard.
Radar navigation is the utilization of marine and aviation radar systems for vessel and aircraft navigation. When a craft is within radar range of land or special radar aids to navigation, the navigator can take distances and angular bearings to charted objects and use these to establish arcs of position and lines of position on a chart. A fix consisting of only radar information is called a radar fix.
Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons / Escadrille canadiennes de plaisance (CPS-ECP) is an organization of recreational boaters with about 26,000 active members. CPS is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Its volunteer instructors train recreational boaters in boating safety knowledge as well as their vessel handling and navigation skills. CPS offers boating safety courses yearly and provides qualification for the Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC). Its patron is HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[2]
The most versatile member of the Coast Guard's operational team is the boatswain's mate (BM). Boatswain's mates are masters of seamanship. BMs are capable of performing almost any task in connection with deck maintenance, small boat operations, navigation, and supervising all personnel assigned to a ship's deck force. BMs have a general knowledge of lines and cables, including different uses, stresses, strains, and proper stowing. BMs operate hoists, cranes, and winches to load cargo or set gangplanks, and stand watch for security, navigation or communications.
The Charles F. Chapman School of Seamanship is a non-profit school of seamanship training located in Stuart, Florida. The school served professional and recreational boaters through "learning at the helm" experiential education.
Charles Frederic Chapman was an avid boater, editor of Hearst's Motor Boating magazine from 1912 to 1968, co-founder of the United States Power Squadrons, co-founder of the Chapman School of Seamanship and author of the standard boating reference work, Chapman Piloting.
Yard Patrol craft are used by the United States Navy for training and for research purposes. They are designated as YP in the hull classification symbol system.
A private signal is a custom-designed flag used to symbolize and identify the owner of a boat. They generally have a swallowtail shape but may instead be rectangular or sometimes triangular. Private signal tradition is drawn from heraldry but typically does not incorporate as intricate designs as a coat of arms.
