Navigator
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Le Navigateur | The Navigator
"Prince Henry the Navigator", drawing by Charles William Jefferys, Library and Archives Canada
The navigateur, or navigator, was the person on board a ship responsible for its navigation — a set of tasks to determine the position of a boat or ship and the route to follow. The navigator's primary responsibility was to be aware of the ship's position at all times. Near coastlines, he had to avoid hazards by determining optimal routes depending on the shoals, the state of the tide, and the channels to follow. On the high seas, he had to be skilled in long-term forecasting in order to make the best possible decisions depending on the weather.
Source: “Navigateur”, Portail lexique du Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales, https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/navigateur.