About The Practical Navigator
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Practical Navigator Training is designed to present useful navigation topics for professional and recreational mariners in a no-nonsense way.
The organization is run by Capt. Christopher D. Nolan, a former Coast Guard cutterman and cutter commanding officer. Chris holds a 1600-ton USCG merchant mariner license upon ocean routes and a 3000-ton STCW license, having served in command of both military and civilian ships. The Practical Navigator project began in 2010 when Chris was the commanding officer of USCGC Jefferson Island in Portland, Maine. Recognizing a deficiency in Coast Guard navigational prowess as technology grew to dominate the bridge, Chris decided to combine his three hobbies of film-making, training, and maritime navigation to create funny and educational training videos for his crew and friends. |
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After posting these early videos on YouTube and receiving positive feedback, Chris grew the program over the next several years while he was on sabbatical on his 34-foot sailboat in the Caribbean. There, he wrote, filmed, and edited the 11-part "Celestial Navigation" video series and wrote a navigational textbook called "The Cutterman's Guide to Navigation Problems."
After returning to the USA and expanding his own merchant mariner license, Chris recognized that many Coast Guard approved courses were overpriced and of poor training quality. So, he set out to expand the Practical Navigator project to include USCG-approved training courses from 100-ton master to higher license levels. In 2015, Chris left the Coast Guard to pursue a career in maritime education, and has since recognized that as technology improves and the next generation of mariner advances up the hawsepipe, there is a significant need for high quality, low cost training: especially navigation training and USCG license preparation for navigation exams. Now, Chris and a small team of part-time instructors and proctors help Practical Navigator Training to assist mariners throughout the country through Coast Guard approved courses and license preparation materials. |
Meet the Crew
Chris Nolan, School Chief
Instructor (All) Proctor 
Erin Chlum
Proctor 
Russ Melin
Instructor (Marlinspike) Proctor 
Sydney Lynch
Proctor |
Kate Enright, Deputy School Chief
Instructor (100T, Sail, Tow) Proctor 
Nick Romano
Proctor 
Owen Gibbons
Instructor (E-Nav) 
Rob Cole
Instructor (E-Nav, Military to Mariner) |
Kathy Berube
Shipping/Receiving Proctor 
Ted Hubbard
Instructor (Military to Mariner) 
Sophie Donnellen
Proctor 
Jen Smola
Instructor (100T, Sail, Tow) |
Keeper
Boat Dog Morale Officer 
Kellee Nolan
Proctor 
Luis Cabrera De La Mata
Tutor/Proctor (San Juan PR) 
Olivia Dean
Instructor (Mathematics Review) Proctor |
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