U.S. Chart No. 1: Symbols, Abbreviations and Terms Used on Paper and Electronic Navigational Charts
by NOAA Office of Coast Survey; National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency · NOAA Central Library
This is the reference you need before coastal navigation. Official NOAA and NGA key to every symbol on U.S. paper and electronic nautical charts. Covers depths, seabed, hazards, buoys and beacons, lights, landmarks and tides, including the IHO INT1 and ECDIS symbol sets.
More resources on Sailing
Heavy Weather Sailing (8th Edition)
Study of yacht handling in gales and storms. Covers boat design and stability, storm sails, drogues and sea anchors, heaving-to and running tactics, and first-hand accounts of storm survival and loss, including Fastnet and Sydney-Hobart. This is the top of the dinghy-to-offshore path.
The American Practical Navigator (Bowditch), Pub. No. 9
Two-volume U.S. government navigation reference, free from NGA. Covers charts and datums, piloting, dead reckoning, tides and currents, electronic and celestial navigation, weather and ocean routing, plus navigational tables and a glossary. Use it as a reference for offshore and celestial navigation, not as a cover-to-cover read.
Amalgamated Navigation Rules (International COLREGS and U.S. Inland Rules)
Every sailor needs the rules of the road, and every study guide paraphrases this text: official U.S. Coast Guard text of the 72 COLREGS and U.S. Inland Navigation Rules (33 CFR 83), shown side by side. Includes the downloadable Navigation Rules and Regulations Handbook covering right of way, lights, shapes and sound signals.
How To Sail: Monohull Sailing Basics Video Series
This is a free way to see the maneuvers the Annapolis book describes, and it matches the ASA 101/103 syllabus. Eight short on-the-water videos filmed aboard a cruising keelboat. They cover raising the mainsail, sail trim basics, tacking and gybing, furling a genoa, docking, picking up a mooring, anchoring, and man-overboard drills.
The Annapolis Book of Seamanship (4th Edition)
This one book covers everything from a first sail through coastal cruising. Illustrated reference on sailboat handling covering points of sail, rigging, sail trim, anchoring, docking, piloting and navigation, weather, safety gear, and heavy-weather tactics. Widely used as a textbook by US sailing schools and Power Squadrons.