A professional who commands yacht cruising on oceans, bays, lakes, and coastal waters. Responsibilities include:

• Sets course of yacht, using navigational aids, such as charts, area plotting sheets, compass, and sextant, and steers yacht to avoid reefs, outlying shoals, and other hazards to shipping.
• Determines geographical position of yacht, using loran or azimuths of celestial bodies.
• Signals passing ships, using whistle, flashing lights, flags, and radio.
• Calculates landfall (sighting of land), using electronic sounding devices and following contour lines on chart.
• Approaches land, utilizing aids to navigation, such as lights, lighthouses, and buoys.
• Relinquishes command of yacht to pilot, ship to guide yacht through hazardous waters.
• Maintains yacht's log.
• May be licensed by U.S.
• Coast Guard for steam or motor yacht according to waters navigated and tonnage of yacht.
• May be designated according to waters licensed to navigate as Master, Coastwise Yacht; Master, Ocean Yacht; or according to yacht commanded as Master, Steam Yacht.