One fun activity in Cooperative Charting is getting out on the water to inspect navigation aids. When conducting an Aids to Navigation survey, you receive 15 credits for each verification and 25 credits if you find a discrepancy. A verification indicates that the aid is in its correct position and has no issues, and a discrepancy could include that the aid is out of position or needs attention.
To do a verification for individual credit, you will need to get reasonably close to the aid, whether it is a day beacon or a floating aid. Most day beacons are not in deep water, so be careful. If you determine that there is nothing wrong, take a time/date/GPS stamp photo of the aid using an app like Solocator, and then move on to the next one.
If you find problems, such as missing boards or numbers, or the aid is missing altogether, you need to report the discrepancy to the U.S. Coast Guard by VHF radio, phone, email or the USCG website. Be sure to get a receipt from them showing that you were in contact, and attach the receipt to the report that you submit to the Cooperative Charting Committee. You also need to take a photo of the defective aid or, if it is missing, of the area where it should be.
Check the Local Notice to Mariners lists to see if your finding has already been reported. Once you have collected your information, go to the America’s Boating Club Cooperative Charting website under the Executive Department, where you will find the necessary form to report your verifications or discrepancies plus a link to the NOAA site to report any discrepancies to them. Make sure that you access the Light List to identify the number for each aid that you are reporting on. Apps like AV Assistant can help you find this information. Once you submit your report, a Cooperative Charting Committee member will review it and award your credits. You should get an email acknowledging that your report has been reviewed.
The committee is also developing a program for reporting navigation issues like shoaling or other chart discrepancies to NOAA. Note that this is only for reporting discrepancies in the charts, not general items or ATONs.
If you have questions, please reach out to a Cooperative Charting Committee member. We are always glad to help.
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE SIDE LIGHTS NEWSLETTER OF AMERICA’S BOATING CLUB OF CHARLOTTE/27.
