Has anyone attending this seminar in the past? I'm debating whether to make the trip up from NJ.
Celestial Navigation Seminar
Event Location: Yarmouth, ME
Landing Boat Supply
106 Lafayette Street (Route 88 ) Yarmouth, ME 04096
Event Description:
LEARN CELESTIAL NAVIGATION ON A GET-AWAY WEEKEND
Introduction to Celestial Navigation
February 7 & 8, 2009
Cost: $295 per person
More info at the link:
http://oceannavigator.com/ME2/dirmod.as ... 78CE695B5B
Has anyone attending this seminar in the past? I'm debating wethar to make the trip up from NJ.
FYI-Ocean Navigator Celestial Navigation Seminar
Moderator: bobdugan
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tartansailor
- Posts: 1523
- Joined: Aug 30th, '05, 13:55
- Location: CD25, Renaissance, Milton, DE
Celestial Navigation
The subject is is such that it takes a mediocre intellect like me
3 years to master.
I fear that you will spend big bucks to get a snow job.
Recommendation would be to get Bowditch or Dutton.
Then when you thoroughly understand:
*Assumed Position
*Identify an object
*Take a site
*Determine the Geographical Position of that object.
*Solve the Navigational Triangle (GP, Elevated Pole, Your AP)
calculator for spherical geometry, or
HO 229 or
HO 241 or
HO 209 or
Nautical Almanac site reduction method (recommended)
*Calculate back from the Assumed Position to plot your position
Then take a survey course such as above, and then determine which method you feel most comfortable with.
The Devil is in the details
Dick
3 years to master.
I fear that you will spend big bucks to get a snow job.
Recommendation would be to get Bowditch or Dutton.
Then when you thoroughly understand:
*Assumed Position
*Identify an object
*Take a site
*Determine the Geographical Position of that object.
*Solve the Navigational Triangle (GP, Elevated Pole, Your AP)
calculator for spherical geometry, or
HO 229 or
HO 241 or
HO 209 or
Nautical Almanac site reduction method (recommended)
*Calculate back from the Assumed Position to plot your position
Then take a survey course such as above, and then determine which method you feel most comfortable with.
The Devil is in the details
Dick
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John Vigor
- Posts: 608
- Joined: Aug 27th, '06, 15:58
- Contact:
Try Mary Blewitt
I taught myself celestial navigation. I was told three months before an ocean race from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro that I was to be the boat's navigator. Nobody else had time to learn.
I bought a 59-page book by a British sailor called Mary Blewitt, published by Yachting World. Half of those pages were illustrations.
The book was called Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen, and is still available today.
I am no mathematical genius, believe me, but this simple, easy-to-understand book, gave me the confidence to set out on an ocean race and find our destination after 33 days at sea without any problems.
In those days, yacht navigators (and, especially, teachers)deliberately built a hedge of mystique around the dark art of finding your way at sea. They loved to walk around the yacht club grounds with a sextant box and a roll of charts under their arm, so we groundlings would fawn and admire them.
Celestial navigation is dead simple. If I can do it, anyone can. The biggest hurdle is not learning how to do the navigation, but how to take a sextant sight in big seas from the heaving deck of a small yacht. And that just comes with practice.
Try Mary Blewitt, and in no time you, too, will be strolling around with your sextant box under arm, waving to the admiring crowds.
John Vigor
http://www.johnvigor.com/blog.html
I bought a 59-page book by a British sailor called Mary Blewitt, published by Yachting World. Half of those pages were illustrations.
The book was called Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen, and is still available today.
I am no mathematical genius, believe me, but this simple, easy-to-understand book, gave me the confidence to set out on an ocean race and find our destination after 33 days at sea without any problems.
In those days, yacht navigators (and, especially, teachers)deliberately built a hedge of mystique around the dark art of finding your way at sea. They loved to walk around the yacht club grounds with a sextant box and a roll of charts under their arm, so we groundlings would fawn and admire them.
Celestial navigation is dead simple. If I can do it, anyone can. The biggest hurdle is not learning how to do the navigation, but how to take a sextant sight in big seas from the heaving deck of a small yacht. And that just comes with practice.
Try Mary Blewitt, and in no time you, too, will be strolling around with your sextant box under arm, waving to the admiring crowds.
John Vigor
http://www.johnvigor.com/blog.html
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Neil Gordon
- Posts: 4367
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 17:25
- Location: s/v LIQUIDITY, CD28. We sail from Marina Bay on Boston Harbor. Try us on channel 9.
- Contact:
John's right
The book is simple and practical. It eliminates much of the complex math and theory and just tells you how to do it.
I've not sailed offshore and I don't get much practice with my sextant. On the rate occasions when I'm on the water and I have a clear horizon to the south, I'll do a noon sight and reduce it to caclulate latitude. Results within 3 miles or so of my GPS position are typical. (I'm thinking maybe I should get the GPS checked out.
)
I've not sailed offshore and I don't get much practice with my sextant. On the rate occasions when I'm on the water and I have a clear horizon to the south, I'll do a noon sight and reduce it to caclulate latitude. Results within 3 miles or so of my GPS position are typical. (I'm thinking maybe I should get the GPS checked out.
)Fair winds, Neil
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167
Boston, MA
CDSOA member #698
s/v LIQUIDITY
Cape Dory 28 #167
Boston, MA
CDSOA member #698
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Joe Myerson
- Posts: 2216
- Joined: Feb 6th, '05, 11:22
- Location: s/v Creme Brulee, CD 25D, Hull #80, Squeteague Harbor, MA
Another nice book
Another book that's worth a look is Hewitt Schlereth's "Celestial Navigation in a Nutshell.
"Learning to use a sextant," he says in the introduction, "is a lot like learning to shoot a rifle, and the obvious analogy is the reason sights are usually called shots."
That said, I have yet to practice taking shots myself. I studied celestial navigation more than 40 years ago, passed the exams but never took a sight at sea.
--Joe
"Learning to use a sextant," he says in the introduction, "is a lot like learning to shoot a rifle, and the obvious analogy is the reason sights are usually called shots."
That said, I have yet to practice taking shots myself. I studied celestial navigation more than 40 years ago, passed the exams but never took a sight at sea.
--Joe
Former Commodore, CDSOA
Former Captain, Northeast Fleet
S/V Crème Brûlée, CD 25D, Hull # 80
"What a greate matter it is to saile a shyppe or goe to sea."
--Capt. John Smith, 1627
Former Captain, Northeast Fleet
S/V Crème Brûlée, CD 25D, Hull # 80
"What a greate matter it is to saile a shyppe or goe to sea."
--Capt. John Smith, 1627
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mahalocd36
- Posts: 591
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 10:51
- Location: 1990 CD36 Mahalo #163
- Contact:
Re: FYI-Ocean Navigator Celestial Navigation Seminar
Thanks for posting the link. We are considering taking the class. One thing you don't get from just reading a book is the ability to ask questions.
Melissa
Melissa
Melissa Abato
www.sailmahalo.com
www.sailmahalo.com
Remember that celestial navigation is an art as well as a science. Learning to use an almanac and doing the math to reduce the sights is relatively easy - the calculations are either right or wrong, and very straightforward once you learn how to do them. This you can learn on your own, or with a friend as a mentor.
It's the actual physical observation that's the tricky part, and that just takes practice. Learning to deal with the motion of your ship, the sun poking in and out of the clouds, finding the max altitude at local noon, getting a round of evening stars between when the stars show up and the horizon disappears into dark... this is where the art comes in.
I'd give it a try on your own - the $$ you'd spend on the course could buy you a basic sextant (like a Davis) to practice with, with money left over for an almanac, tables, plotting sheets and everything else you'll need.
It's the actual physical observation that's the tricky part, and that just takes practice. Learning to deal with the motion of your ship, the sun poking in and out of the clouds, finding the max altitude at local noon, getting a round of evening stars between when the stars show up and the horizon disappears into dark... this is where the art comes in.
I'd give it a try on your own - the $$ you'd spend on the course could buy you a basic sextant (like a Davis) to practice with, with money left over for an almanac, tables, plotting sheets and everything else you'll need.
On the other hand
Learning Celestial is a satisfying way to spend the winter. It helps beat off the "lack of being on the boat" blues. Later it can be enjoyable on the water, even more so when someone sees your sextant.
Taking a sextant through airport security will also provide some excitement, I would never allow my sextant to be sent as checked luggage. Then at sea, on someone elses boat, and after taking a round of stars, look at the owner and calmly tell him his mega-thousand chartplotter is off by five miles.
I have been using celestial for way too long, but not as seriously as before and find it relaxing and fun to take sights while sailing.
Schlereth and Blewitt are both good. I personally prefer to use the Air Tables (H.O. 249) and the Nautical Almanac for my sights. I find the Marine Tables (H.O. 229) take up too much room and work to a ridiculous degree of precision. At sea on a small boat under good conditions the best one can hope for is about three miles, so tables that give "tenth of a mile" answers is a bit of overkill.
As has already been mentioned the real key is paractice, practice and more practice. It is like target shooting and requires the same steady hand.
Taking a sextant through airport security will also provide some excitement, I would never allow my sextant to be sent as checked luggage. Then at sea, on someone elses boat, and after taking a round of stars, look at the owner and calmly tell him his mega-thousand chartplotter is off by five miles.
I have been using celestial for way too long, but not as seriously as before and find it relaxing and fun to take sights while sailing.
Schlereth and Blewitt are both good. I personally prefer to use the Air Tables (H.O. 249) and the Nautical Almanac for my sights. I find the Marine Tables (H.O. 229) take up too much room and work to a ridiculous degree of precision. At sea on a small boat under good conditions the best one can hope for is about three miles, so tables that give "tenth of a mile" answers is a bit of overkill.
As has already been mentioned the real key is paractice, practice and more practice. It is like target shooting and requires the same steady hand.
Jim Davis
S/V Isa Lei
S/V Isa Lei
HO 249...
I agree, Jim. HO 249 is easier to work with and more than accurate enough for small boat navigation. Rather than buy a complete set for learning and practice at home, one can download a pdf of HO 249 (broken up into segments for easy download) at http://164.214.12.145/NAV_PUBS/SRTA/Pub249/ This way you can just print the pages for the latitudes you need...
Volume 2 is for latitudes 0-40 and Volume 3 is for latitudes 39-89. Both are used to reduce sun sights. Volume 1 is for Selected Stars, a <slightly> more advanced topic.
Volume 2 is for latitudes 0-40 and Volume 3 is for latitudes 39-89. Both are used to reduce sun sights. Volume 1 is for Selected Stars, a <slightly> more advanced topic.
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tartansailor
- Posts: 1523
- Joined: Aug 30th, '05, 13:55
- Location: CD25, Renaissance, Milton, DE
Here is an Easy One John
Fill in the blanks
V[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/t ... 0_0255.jpg[/img]
V[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j19/t ... 0_0255.jpg[/img]
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tartansailor
- Posts: 1523
- Joined: Aug 30th, '05, 13:55
- Location: CD25, Renaissance, Milton, DE
