ASA 105 Advanced Navigation
ASA Class Description
Learn to apply the navigational theory and practices for safe navigation of a sailing vessel in coastal and inland waters. On-water coastal navigation skills elements are contained in the ASA 103 Basic Coastal Cruising, ASA 104 Bareboat Cruising, and ASA 106 Advanced Cruising & Seamanship, in progressively increasing levels of detail.
Prerequisites
None.
ASA Recommendations
None.
Class Duration
This is a classroom only class. You should plan to spend 60 - 80 hours studying the materials and 4 - 6 hours for the written exam. We allow for a week in between the classroom training and the written exam to help you work through all the practice problems and prepare.
OS Sailing Pathways Curriculum
ASA 105 is an advanced sailing class in Level III of the OS Sailing Pathways. This is a challenging class that requires attention to the details and precision. Once you pass the written exam, we sign your logbook, and you receive the ASA 105 certification.
As this is a classroom-only class, there are no required hours on the water. The skills you learn in ASA 105 will aid you in the navigation portions of ASA 103, 104, and 106.
Not Included In ASA Standard That We Teach
American Sailing's version focuses on Classical navigation primarily using analog methods (paper charts, dividers, parallel rulers, etc.).
OS teaches Captain Tim Taylor's Practical Navigation which covers the ASA 105 classical navigation standard but goes way beyond and also covers modern electronic methods. Here is an excerpt from Captain Tim Taylor's forward:
At the other end of the spectrum is the modern mind which immediately says "there’s an app for that". That is absolutely true and unfortunately, they buy one of the many available apps, install it on their phone, and off they go “navigating”, much to their peril.
I developed my Practical Navigation course to address this problem: On the one hand you have extremely important information in classical navigation that is very difficult to put into practice. On the other hand, today it is frighteningly simple – get a phone, a nav app, and a captain’s hat, and presto chango, you’re a navigator. There is a huge gap here, and I’m afraid many boaters will fall into it.
Next Class After ASA 105