Terrestrial Navigation: A Primer for Deck Officers and Officer of the Watch Exams prepares the reader for the Officer of the Watch and Master/Mate certificates required by all officers on commercial seagoing vessels. Revision and self-test guide to all navigation-related elements contained within the Officer of the Watch exams are included. Top tips are highlighted throughout the book. The case studies and checklists have been designed to add context and aid recall.

From basic trigonometry and plane sailings plotting, right through to practice questions with answers, and mock exam papers, this book will provide you with all the reference material you need to pass your exams.

About the Author

Philip M. Smith is a Senior Lecturer at Warsash Maritime Academy. After over 22 years at sea navigating, for the most part in a traditional way, he now teaches Officer of the Watch and Cadets Terrestrial Navigation.

Reviews

Dimitrios Dalakalis is an assistant professor at the World Maritime University who has written a book on electronic navigation equipment, and is currently preparing a proposal for us on maritime security.

Dimitrios no longer teaches at this level, but has done in this past. He sees this book as supplementary reading, and would like to see a series of primer books in the future, each one covering an aspect of maritime studies, all with a lecture notes and exam aid feel to them.

Likes:

• Simplicity and focused content
• Really enjoyed the integration of solved/unsolved problems
• Really liked the top-tips section.
• Style in general is strongly recommended for students by Dimitrios

Dislikes:

• Style not consistent
• Theory sometimes needs to be explained in more detail

Captain Robert Hone is a navigation lecturer at Plymouth University.

Robert uses Nav Basics, a Witherby title, for his courses. We've recently poached the author of Nav Basics - Abdul Khalique, so this is good news.

Bob wasn't as keen on this book as Dimitrios, and suggested that it may be worth adding 'examination' before primer in the title, something I'm putting to Phil at the moment. In spite of all his suggestions Bob would be happy to suggest this book as a supplementary text to his students, or as a primer for their exams.

Likes:

• Modern feel
• Plenty of examples
• Good as a primer but not as a core text

Dislikes:

• Diagrams need work
• Trig section overcomplicated (Phil is working on this at the moment)
• Old fashioned techniques in the age of GPS. However, these techniques are still a must-have for exams - student must show that they can navigate without modern equipment in case it's ever required at sea (i.e. power failure affecting certain parts of the ship but not others)
• Lots of books on navigation out there (this will be our first though and it's a big market)

Improvements required:

• List from Dimitrios - some very useful pointers here
• Simplify text in certain areas and work on the style - Phil is doing this and has a colleague lined up to look through the book once he's done.
• Generalise some of the questions so that they can be used several times (e.g. pick two ports, work out the distance between both of them and ...)

Book Information
ISBN 9781138674721
Author Philip M. Smith
Format Paperback
Page Count 142
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 240g