If you’re looking to find your way on the ocean, Seabreeze Books and Charts in Point Loma is the place to go for the navigation charts you need – and the books to go along with them.

Seabreeze’s skipper, Capt. Ann Kinner, a USCG-licensed master, has the credentials and know-how to help guide you on your journey. She is the custodian of the nautical shop at 1254 Scott St.

Promoted as the best-stocked nautical bookstore on the West Coast, Seabreeze, for the past 45 years, has sold new and used nautical books and navigation supplies along with charts and license study guides as well as seafaring gifts and decor.

Since its earliest days, Seabreeze has been an official chart agent for all charts developed by the U.S. government. These include all NOAA charts for U.S. waters and also NGA charts for select international waters. NOAA charts are now print-on-demand and corrected when Seabreeze orders them. The company’s website at seabreezebooks.net states, “We work with NOAA authorized chart printers, and all NOAA charts are available in waterproof materials as well as traditional paper stock. If your chart is not in stock, we can usually have it within a day or two.”

And Point Loma, with its storied nautical tradition, is the perfect spot for a shop catering to mariners. “It’s a boater’s place,” said Kinner of her brick-and-mortar business in the heart of the coastal community with a sizable Portuguese population and a longstanding fishing tradition. “If you’re a boater, this is your tourist place.”

Of her market niche, Kinner said: “We are the only place, for a long way, where the maritime community can get official publications, navigation charts, study books for licenses, maintenance books for the boats that they’ve already got, books about places they might want to go to, and cruising guides and charts and how tos to go from here to Mexico or wherever. There’s no other place in San Diego like this, and we have been here since 1980. I am the fourth owner.”

Kinner, who owns and lives on a boat, previously was a real estate analyst in Orange County. After moving to San Diego, she started out working for Seabreeze part-time, which ultimately led to her owning the business.

Walking into her Chart Room with rolled-up paper chart maps in slots taking up an entire wall, Kinner noted: “That’s the core of the business. That is what drives us.”

Kinner pointed out the biggest thing that’s changed with Seabreeze over the past 10 years is that “with everything digital, the nature of charting has changed and continues to change. Everybody’s running around with their iPads loaded with charts for the whole world. That’s very nice as long as you have juice. But the minute your battery is dead, what are you going to do?”

Of managing her extensive nautical book collection, Kinner said: “What I do is curate. I look to see what’s been written. What of it is useful in a positive way? What if it is just fun? And then I’ve also created a (new) section now because I’ve found more and more books about things that have to do with oceanography, with sea life, with weather, and with the environment. There is a lot of interest in that.”

Kinner points to a section she describes as “very unglamorous dark blue books,” which she notes are strictly “for the professionals.” She adds, “And then I have all the cruising guides, like how to go down to Mexico and what to do when you get down there, because we send people all over the world.”

Kinner extended an open invitation for people to drop in and check out all “the fun stuff in here.” She added, “Folks can come in and find a gift for whatever, for kids, decorative things, etc.”

SEABREEZE BOOKS AND CHARTS

Where: 1254 Scott St.

Info: seabreezebooks.net, 619-223-8989.