Compass field notes

Sailing Knowledge & Practical Guides

Source-reviewed explanations of seamanship, navigation, weather, buoyage, COLREGs, and life on board from Compass Revision.

Editorial library

Start with the decision in front of you

Learn why wind against a tidal stream can produce short, steep waves, where the effect becomes most important, and how to plan around it.

Understand what shorebased Day Skipper theory teaches, what practical training develops on the boat, and how independent revision supports both.

Turn club sailing, crewing and supported practice into a deliberate progression plan instead of collecting disconnected days afloat.

Compare shelter, depth, swing room, holding, seabed sensitivity and escape options before treating an anchorage as suitable.

Record miles, days, night hours, vessel, route, role, conditions and decisions in a log that supports honest progression planning.

A practical checklist for comparing course format, boat, teaching time, inclusions, prerequisites, weather policy and total cost.

Understand what a clearing bearing protects, how to plot its safe side, and how to use it with depth, position fixes and an abort plan.

A sailor's guide to Beaufort Force 7, gale force, 56-knot winds, and the passage-planning factors that matter beyond a forecast number.

How navigation sector lights display different colours by bearing, how charted sectors guide pilotage, and why colour alone never proves safe water.