As a trader I often try to make the beeline between two port to save time and avoid pirates. I regularly get confused on even get lost and have to teleport somewhere. Here are some idea I had that I think respect realism and improve imersion. These are a collection of tools all available to sailor of the time. I also think that it would reward good sailor versus people who rely sailing near the coast. Wo here are a collections of my ideas. Let me know what you think. I think 2 and 3 would be very simple to add (just a better map image) and would greatly help.
A compass on the open world view where you can aim and get the bearing of your aim:
press shift and aim at something like in combat view for the scope
example
Alignement lines on the map:
with wind roses as they had at the time
help a lot with guessing what bearing to take
example
Topographical data on the map:
position and height of main mountain on each island
other landmark data
the idea is to be able to recognize and island based on it's topographical feature from far away at take bearing and alignment measurement
example (see only the peaks?)
A captain's log with regular data input:
every 15 minutes the log inputs the time, the current bearing of the ship, the speed, the weather
reading back the log and looking at the map you can make a better estimation of your position
Possibility to take note on your own map:
with all the above, the possibility to draw lines and stuff on the map, so I can mark my position of where I think I am and make estimation based on it