You asked for a map, and life handed a chart

On land there are maps and at sea there are charts. Very few know the difference.

Almost every inch of a map is covered with information. Roads, buildings, bridges, culverts, hills, rivers, railway lines and whatnot.

On the other hand a nautical chart is mostly an enormous expanse of empty space interrupted occasionally by a depth marking, an island, a navigational hazard or a coastline.

One would imagine that navigating across a largely blank piece of paper should be easier than navigating through a crowded map.

Quite the opposite. On land, we have roads to follow, signboards to read, landmarks to recognise and, when everything else fails, loc-nav (a fancy term for asking someone for directions).

So how do you navigate across thousands of miles of seemingly featureless water?

For centuries, sailors have relied on the sun, moon, stars, accurate timekeeping and mathematics. Today, satellites and electronic navigation systems have made finding our position considerably easier.

But knowing where you are is only a small part of navigation.

You still need to work out where you should go. Winds, currents, waves and weather systems influence your choices. The shortest route is not necessarily the fastest, and the fastest is not necessarily the safest.

Sometimes, to reach your destination sooner, you must first sail away from it.

That is what makes ocean navigation fascinating.

A chart may have very little printed on it, but there is an extraordinary amount of information a navigator must bring to it.

And I suppose life is not very different.

In life, when you ask for a map, you are often handed a chart. There is a lot you have to figure out on your own.

PS: you can see this chart in the Royal Mysore Yacht Club