Using PILOT CHARTS on a sailboat

Introduction.

Today, there are many computer programs that aid navigation and provide weather forecasts, which are very useful and which we will discuss in future chapters. However, in this chapter, we will look at a more traditional tool that, in my opinion, remains relevant and important for sailors planning an ocean crossing: pilot charts.

The “Atlas of Pilot Charts” is a set of five volumes (or publications) of charts, each volume covering a specific region of the world; that is, an ocean or a part of it.

Pilot charts are designed to help sailors select the safest and fastest route, taking into account climatology, meteorology, and ocean conditions. They are not charts intended for navigation itself; rather, they are a planning aid for a voyage, providing information on winds, currents, and other conditions that can be expected at different times of the year.

The five (5) volumes of the Pilot Charts Atlas are as follows:

– Pub. 105. Atlas of Pilot Charts South Atlantic Ocean.

– Pub 106. Atlas of Pilot Charts North Atlantic Ocean.

– Pub 107. Atlas of Pilot Charts South Pacific Ocean.

– Pub 108. Atlas of Pilot Charts North Pacific Ocean.

– Pub 109. Atlas of Pilot Charts Indian Ocean.

Each of these publications has one page for each month of the year (12 in total) and presents statistical information for each area; this information is invaluable as it has been compiled over decades.

In this chapter, we will look at the most important information provided by the Pilot Charts (prevailing winds and currents, wave height, data on storms, cyclones and hurricanes, ice limits, etc.) with some practical examples.

The Pilot Charts are published in both print and PDF formats. The PDFs are free, and we will first see how to download them from the website so that we always have them readily available on our onboard computer.