Sailing Directions
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Sailing Directions are volumes published by various National Hydrographic Offices or Coast Guard Agencies which provide essential information to support port entry and coastal navigation for all class
Portolan Chart by Albino de Canepa, 1489.
Part of the Catalan Atlas by Abraham Cresques, 1375, National French Library.
Portuguese Portolan by Jorge de Aguiar (1492), Yale University.
The American Practical Navigator, originally written by Nathaniel Bowditch, is an encyclopedia of navigation. It serves as a valuable handbook on oceanography and meteorology, and contains useful tabl
Sailing Directions
…Sailing Directions are contained under the M-3 Resolutions of the IHO publication. 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 and amended by marine analysts at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency…
Frontispiece of 1802 first edition
Nathaniel Bowditch
In celebration of Nathaniel Bowditch and his work writing the American Practical Navigator, in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts there is the Salem ferry, named after Bowditch, a high speed catamaran takes people to Boston and is pictured as it is approaching its dock off Blaney Street, Salem Maritime National Historic Site.
Title page, first edition