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Sea Kayak Navigation - Tacoma - 2026

Sea Kayaking Course

Sea Kayak Navigation

Sea Kayak Navigation using traditional charts and compass.

Contacts

Michael Everett
Michael Everett
Leader

Consists of both lecture and classroom sessions, one day each. You will not get "credit" unless you complete both. Formerly this was titled Trip Planning and Navigation, but with only one day in the classroom we are limiting the trip planning to that which comes hand-in-hand with navigation.

The classroom session (Saturday) will be all day at the Tacoma Clubhouse.  We will cover tides, currents, a bit of weather,  compass use, navigational tools, and chart reading in much more detail than the Basic Class. We will show you how to plan a trip involving currents. We will teach the concepts of piloting and dead reckoning but not cover electronic (GPS) navigation.

The on-the-water portion is likely to be held at Owen Beach in Tacoma but may move if weather is an issue.

You need to either be a sea kayaking student or have the basic sea kayaking badge to sign up. Preference is given to those who are already or in the "pipeline" to be a trip leader.

Open to Mountaineers members only.

Course Requirements
Course Activity Date Availability Leader
Sea Kayak Navigation - Lecture
Tacoma Program Center
Sat, May 30, 2026
Registration closes May 28
10 participants
1 instructor
Michael Everett
Navigation and Trip Planning Field Day
Commencement Bay
Sun, May 31, 2026
Registration closes May 28
9 participants
0 instructors
Michael Everett
Roster
Required Equipment

For the lecture you will need;

  • Chart(s) of Puget Sound. You may use pre-printed charts like Maptech chart 100, which is waterproof and covers the south sound, or a print on demand NOAA chart 18448 (South Puget Sound) option on waterproof paper (need to request it). You can find it from several dealers but you can buy them locally from Captains Nautical Supply. These are 1:80,000 scale and suitable for both planning and on-the-water navigation. The issue with non-waterproof charts is they need to be kept in a waterproof chart case, and you need to fold them to see the area of interest and the left or right edge of the chart.
    1. A hand-held compass- do NOT purchase an orienteering compass with a mirror.  You also don't need a declination adjustment. (If you already have one and want to use it, remove the correction.) A baseplate compass is suitable, such as a Brunton 7DNL. This should be on a lanyard that is maybe 20" long.
    2. String- maybe 18" or so
    3. Smartphone with tide/current app (or a laptop or tablet to access this data on a website)
    4. A basic calculator (or smartphone). For the on the water portion, a deck compass will be exceeding beneficial but if you don't have one you can make do with a hand-held compass.

For the on-water day; this will be conducted like a typical day paddle in the south sound.

  1. If you do have or get a deck compass, make sure you can read it from the cockpit; you may need the strap-on variety mounted closer to the cockpit than the ones installed in the boat's compass mount. 
  2. A long billed baseball style cap
  3. Typical stuff for a day paddle, including your chart, compass, Listo 1620 grease pencil, something to write on (1 gallon zip lock bag, vinyl sheet, vinyl chart case etc.)
Course Materials

You must register for this course to see course materials.