navigational charts
Maritime route guides
Navigational charts are maps designed for plotting courses over water or through airspace.
They show depths, hazards, coastlines, channels, and aids to navigation like buoys and lighthouses.
Mariners and pilots use them to plan routes and avoid danger: The captain consulted the navigational charts before entering the harbor.
Now largely digital, they remain essential for safe passage.
- mapSpatial representation of terrain
- latitudeGeographic or personal freedom
- portolan chartsMedieval coastal navigation maps
- longitudeEast-west angular distance
- chartsVisual data displays
scale · nautical mile · cartography · nautical charts · paper charts · compass · magnetic north · pilotage · lightships · astrolabe · tidal currents · course · maritime · tide · harbor · atlas · passage · sea routes
navigational chartsroad maps
Printed route diagrams
road atlases · street maps · highway maps · topographic maps · trail maps
navigational chartsflying blind
Acting without guidance
intuition · guesswork · getting lost · blank pages · dead reckoning
navigational chartsterra incognita
Unexplored or unknown region
uncharted waters · uncharted territory · the unknown · here be dragons
chart, navigate, navigator, navigation, navigating, navigable, navigated, navigates, circumnavigate