Module 16 - Pilotage
Pilotage Plans
What you will learn
Build a cockpit-ready arrival or departure plan from current publications, tidal and weather data, local controls, vessel limits and crew capability.
A Yachtmaster pilotage plan makes the next decision and its evidence legible at a glance. It is a selective execution aid backed by the current chart and publications, not a copied waypoint list.
Start with corrected, suitable-scale charts and the relevant Sailing Directions, List of Lights, notices, tide data, weather, harbour instructions and traffic information. Test the plan against the actual vessel, crew and likely fatigue. The MCA requires a proportionate voyage assessment that considers navigational dangers, weather, tide and crew competence; pilotage is the detailed execution layer of that assessment.
For each stage record track or course, distance and expected time at a stated speed, marks and lights in sequence, transits, clearing limits, minimum expected depth and the next decision gate. Add speed limits, VHF or signal requirements, traffic pinch points, no-go areas, and a place where the vessel can wait, turn away or re-plan.
Keep the cockpit version selective. Long prose creates heads-down workload at the worst time. Use a compact sketch or table supported by the chart, brief closed-loop reports and challenge ambiguous calls. Recheck the plan whenever actual tide, visibility, traffic, equipment or crew readiness differs materially from the assumption.
Worked example
The entrance leg is 0.8 NM at a planned 4 knots. The least charted depth is 1.2 m, predicted height of tide at arrival is 1.8 m and the yacht draws 1.7 m.
- 1Calculate the leg time: 0.8 NM ÷ 4 kn = 0.2 hours = 12 minutes. This is a monitoring expectation, not a slot to chase.
- 2Calculate predicted water depth: 1.2 m charted depth + 1.8 m height of tide = 3.0 m.
- 3Calculate predicted under-keel clearance: 3.0 m water depth − 1.7 m draught = 1.3 m before allowances.
- 4Test the result against the planned allowance for prediction uncertainty, pressure and wind effects, waves, squat, heel, silting and sounder offset; state the depth trend or gate that triggers an abort.
Sense check: Twelve minutes and 1.3 m are expected values, not guarantees. A late cue or shallower-than-expected depth is evidence to slow or abort, not a reason to defend the arithmetic.
Turn an approach into command gates
The route crosses a bar, follows a lit leading line and then turns between port traffic signals and a ferry berth.
1. Sequence the evidence
List the landfall light, bar depth check, leading lights, turn cue and berth hazard in the order the crew should observe them.
2. Allocate reports
One crew member reports depth trend and another identifies lights; the helm repeats changes and the skipper retains the full picture.
3. Name the escape
State the last safe holding or turn-away point and the conditions that trigger it.
Sense check: The plan is cockpit-ready when a crew member can state the next cue, limit and response without reading a paragraph.
Common mistake or limitation
- A waypoint list is not a complete pilotage plan because it omits confirmation, depth, traffic and failure responses.
- Predicted tide and charted depth are planning inputs, not guarantees of the water actually under the keel.
Recap
- Prepare from current authoritative information and actual vessel constraints.
- Compress the route into short stages with observable evidence and limits.
- Brief the crew and keep a safe response ready for changed conditions.
Optional quick check
Section 2 of 12
What has the worked entrance calculation actually established?
Sources and factual review
Reviewed 2 September 2026 - Compass Revision editorial review.
Continue studying Pilotage
This public lesson is part of Revision Module 16. Full revision access adds the guided Learn, Practise and Test flow, flashcards and revision progress.