MIKCO Fundamental Environmental Skills Checklist
Weather
Wind direction Warm & cold fronts
Wind speed and warnings Thunderstorms
Fog
Wind & Waves
Reflecting & Refracting
Height, Length and Period (Speed)
Charts
NOAA #1 Symbols & depths
Lights and buoys True and magnetic north
Chart preparation
Compass
Orient the chart
Take a bearing
Take a heading from a chart (using compass as a protractor)
Communications
VHF, cell phone
Signals
Whistle, voice, flares, dyes, flags, horns
Coast Guard Requirements
Day and night
Navigation – “The Secret to not getting lost…”
Piloting Dead reckoning
Course, heading, bearing
1 degree of error is ~ 100’ in a mile
Effective Use of Ranges