11. Learn to read nautical charts
12. Buy charts for your area or trip route.
13. Have a straight edge and a protractor and know how to use them.
14. Have a working compass on board - electronics sometimes fail.
15. Check that all your electronics are in top shape before you leave the dock or harbor.
16. Know what red and green lights mean on approaching vessels in the dark.
REMEMBER THE BURDENED VESSEL ALWAYS HAS THE RIGHT OF WAY.
Your kayak, row boat, sailfish, skiff, powered Tupperware, or sail boat does NOT have the right of way over a container ship; NEVER cross between a tug and tow - you will not make it. The tow line will catch your boat’s keel and quickly overturn your boat and the barge or log tow will finish you off.
Just because you have bought an expensive boat, have taken courses on boating, and you are able to successfully cross open water and return, do not imagine you are ready to tackle the open ocean.
About number 7: not only avoid alcohol but do not use it at all. Things happen just when you least expect them; being befuddled with alcohol will make simple tasks in an emergency impossible or plain tragic. Have a qualified non-drinker, like a designated driver, run the boat.
Boating can be fun, but it also can quickly turn deadly and tragic.
Not that hard to do. GPS is fine but you don't need electronics for manual navigation.
Most are lost arts to the chart plotter commandos.
“16. Know what red and green lights mean on approaching vessels in the dark.”
Port wine is red, and so is the port running light.