This book has been used for 30 years, updated periodically as needed. More than 20,000 students have successfully learned ocean navigation from these materials and gone on to cross oceans or circumnavigate the globe. This book covers how to find position at sea from timed sextant sights of the sun, moon, stars, and planets plus other routine and special procedures of safe, efficient offshore navigation. No previous navigation experience is required. The only math involved is arithmetic (adding and subtracting angles and times). This is a practical, how-to-do-it book, which also includes clear explanations of how it works and how to do it well. Plus this book includes other crucial factors of ocean navigation besides just finding out where you are from the stars, such as logbook procedures, dead reckoning, error analysis, route planning, and more.

At the end of this book, you will be ready for ocean navigation. The book includes: text, practice problems, tables selections, detailed glossary, and full solutions. Printable work forms, plotting sheets, and other resources are available at no charge from www.starpath.com/celnavbook.

Our Fit-Slope Method presented in this textbook is cited in the latest (2017) edition of Bowditch:
The common method of averaging sights is the Fit-Slope Method, e.g. Burch, D. 2015, Celestial Navigation, Second Edition (Seattle, Starpath Publications) pp. 176-177.
--Bowditch, American Practical Navigator, NGA Pub 9. Section 1805.

Preface to the Second Edition:

We are pleased to say that after ten more years of using this text we do not find reason to change the basic approach and methods of the teaching. We still use most of the same examples, which are now quite old, but that is the beauty of celestial navigation. It has not changed, so we do not benefit in any way from making all new examples, which would bring with them more chance of error in a book of many numbers.

We have, however, notably improved and expanded the book. Each section has been updated and reformatted for a clearer presentation, often in response to student questions over the years. New graphics have been added and older ones all updated. There is much new content in the text, especially in the In-Depth chapter, including more detailed discussion of the sailings and more background on the principles. New sections were added on general ocean navigation and optimizing the fixes. We have also updated the electronic navigation section, as most ocean navigators will also be using other tools besides celestial.

A comprehensive text on how to take weather into account for the planning and navigation of voyages, local or global, using the latest technologies as well as the time-honored skills of maritime tradition, so that your time on the water remains as safe and efficient as possible. Covers practical applications of GRIB files, ASCAT wind measurements, and other modern resources.

This book has been used for 30 years, updated periodically as needed. More than 20,000 students have successfully learned ocean navigation from these materials and gone on to cross oceans or circumnavigate the globe. This book covers how to find position at sea from timed sextant sights of the sun, moon, stars, and planets plus other routine and special procedures of safe, efficient offshore navigation. No previous navigation experience is required. The only math involved is arithmetic (adding and subtracting angles and times). This is a practical, how-to-do-it book, which also includes clear explanations of how it works and how to do it well. Plus this book includes other crucial factors of ocean navigation besides just finding out where you are from the stars, such as logbook procedures, dead reckoning, error analysis, route planning, and more.

At the end of this book, you will be ready for ocean navigation. The book includes: text, practice problems, tables selections, detailed glossary, and full solutions. Printable work forms, plotting sheets, and other resources are available at no charge from www.starpath.com/celnavbook. Preface to the Second Edition: We are pleased to say that after ten more years of using this text we do not find reason to change the basic approach and methods of the teaching. We still use most of the same examples, which are now quite old, but that is the beauty of celestial navigation. It has not changed, so we do not benefit in any way from making all new examples, which would bring with them more chance of error in a book of many numbers.

We have, however, notably improved and expanded the book. Each section has been updated and reformatted for a clearer presentation, often in response to student questions over the years. New graphics have been added and older ones all updated. There is much new content in the text, especially in the In-Depth chapter, including more detailed discussion of the sailings and more background on the principles. New sections were added on general ocean navigation and optimizing the fixes. We have also updated the electronic navigation section, as most ocean navigators will also be using other tools besides celestial.

This book provides over 700 exercises with answers covering all aspects of small-craft navigation. These are practical problems that all navigators should know how to solve. Topics include: Piloting, Chart reading and plotting, Voyage planning, Dead reckoning, Compass use, Waypoint selection, Special publications, Rules of the road, Route design, Lights and buoys, Tides and currents, Electronic fixes, Depth sounding navigation The level of the exercises is comparable to that used in the USCG 100-Ton masters exam, which in turn is about the same used in the navigation certification programs of US Sailing, ASA, CYA and RYA. These practice problems are, however, designed to be practical and instructive, not just training exercises for certification exams. This Workbook is used by several navigation schools around the country. Selections are provided from each of these special publications along with exercises to insure their full use is mastered: NOAA Tide Tables, NOAA Current Tables, US Coast Pilot, USCG Light List, USCG Notices to Mariners, NOAA Chart Catalog The exercises that require a chart use nautical training chart No. 1210 Tr, available in print at reduced price from NOAA chart dealers and other outlets listed in the Appendix. You can also work the chart problems with an electronic chart (Raster Navigation Chart, RNC) number 1210 Tr. This custom echart is available as a download from www.starpath.com/1210Tr. The echart can be viewed by any of several free echart viewer programs. Sources for free echart viewers and guidelines for their use are included in the Appendix. You can also use any full echart navigation program of your choice. We encourage navigators to solve the chart problems with both traditional paper plotting as well as electronically, using route tools, electronic bearing lines, and range rings.

Nautical almanac data for the sun and selected stars valid until 2050, plus easy to use, concise sight reduction (same tables used in the US-UK Annual Nautical Almanac) and altitude correction tables. Plus work forms to make the process even easier. A concise one-book solution for celestial navigation. It takes a few extra steps to get GHA and dec with the Long Term Almanac, since it does it without the usual 10 pounds of reference books, but with practice it takes just a few minutes longer than normal almanac look up.

Data in this book are no longer valid for navigation. It is preserved in print because many training programs (including USCG and US Navy ) use examples from 1981 to teach celestial navigation. USCG license exams require data from this almanac. These exams also require Sight Reduction Tables, Pub 229, Vol. 2 and a 2102-D Star Finder.

Most navigators have heard of Viking sunstones, but few realize they are more than legend. Leif Karlsen has brought them to life. He shows us how they work--now, and a thousand years ago--and what it was that led the Viking navigators to develop this unique tool for finding the direction to the sun, even when the sun is obscured by clouds or fog.

This book is an updated and expanded edition of a text that has been used in navigation courses for 30 years. It covers practical small-craft navigation (sail, power, or paddle), starting from the basics and ending with all that is needed to navigate safely and efficiently on inland and coastal waters in all weather conditions. It is for beginners, starting from scratch, or for more seasoned mariners who wish to expand their skills. Topics include: Charts, Chart Reading, and Chart Plotting Instruments and Logbook Procedures Compass Use Piloting and Dead Reckoning Lights and Buoyage Tides and Currents Rules of the Road GPS and other Electronic Aids The GPS tells us where we are and how fast we are moving in what direction, but it can never tell us the safest, most efficient route to our destination. That fundamental task requires the basic navigation skills taught in this book, which we can use as well to check the GPS underway, and then be prepared to navigate without the GPS if we need to. The hallmark of good seamanship is to look ahead and be prepared. The text covers not only the long tested traditional methods of navigation but also the efficient use of the latest technology in electronic navigation and charting.

Nautical almanac data for the sun and selected stars valid until 2050, plus easy to use, concise sight reduction and altitude correction tables. Plus work forms to make the process even easier. A concise one-book solution for celestial navigation. It takes a few extra steps to get GHA and dec with the Long Term Almanac, since it does it without the usual 10 pounds of reference books, but with practice it takes just a few minutes longer than normal almanac look up.

All the information you need for:

- Finding your position from timed sextant sights
- Checking your compass by celestial bearings
- Computing great circle routes to your destination

This workbook is designed to accompany the text Modern Marine Weather by David Burch (First or Second Edition). It can also be used by those who have learned marine weather from other sources. It provides questions and answers for all aspects of marine weather. This workbook is used in training programs around the US. These are practical questions that every mariner should know the answer to. It is a through overview of the subject. Anyone who answers all of these questions can be confident that they have a firm and practical grasp of marine weather that will enhance their interpretation and planning around the weather. Sections on weather map reading are included. There are multiple choice questions as well as short essay questions all with complete answers. The section called Points to Ponder along with their answers provide a summary of the key decisions that must be made in practical marine weather, both in planning and underway. The book is designed for all mariners, recreational and professional. The level of training covered exceeds that required for any certification or professional license exam.

This Book compliles Current Charts and Tide Prints for Puget Sound. Current Charts show the values of the currents at each reference station. There is one chart for every hour throughout the cycle. They are indexed to the tidal current at Admiralty Inlet. Tide Prints show the flow patterns and how they evolve throughout the current cycle. There is one print for every 3 hours throughout the cycle. They are indexed to the tide height in Seattle. Comparing Tide Prints and Current Charts shows the locations of eddies and bands of current, and how these bands and eddies move and interact as the current cycle evolves. These are both perpetual publications, good for any year.

This book turns the 2102-D Star Finder into a hand-held planetarium, which will become your most important tool for star ID and for planning star and planet sights. It also includes many unique practical tables not found elsewhere, such as how to tell the best use of the moon from its age, how to compare brightness of stars and planets in an easy way, which stars are reddish, and more.

Includes a general discussion of choosing and optimizing star-planet sights and how to optimize sun-moon fixes during the day, along with general tips on practical celestial navigation. Plus how to use the Star Finder as a solar compass if your magnetic compass should fail.

Extensive realistic examples worked out in full numerical detail. This is definitely a specialized book. But it will certainly tell you all you ever wanted to know about the Star Finder -- and probably more -- but it is organized in a way that is easy to use to find what you need.

We prepared this book in about 1984 when we learned that nearly every yacht gone ocean voyaging carried a Star Finder with it, but that barely anyone ever used it to any practical value. This book will change that situation for those who take the time to read through it.

Computer programs and smart phone apps can do a lot these days to help with star ID, but few are set up to do this job as well as you can do it yourself with the 2102-D Star Finder.

The International Code of Signals is an international system of signals and codes for use by vessels to communicate important messages regarding safety of navigation and related matters. The code covers visual, sound, and radio communications.

For the past 30 years, this book has been the authoritative source for all matters of small-boat navigation. Learn how to find and keep track of your position, adjust to changing conditions, and paddle the seas safely and confidently. Includes how to chart an accurate course and maintain it underway-whether touring locally, on open water, or between islands. This updated text includes everything you need to know, from traditional map and compass navigation through state-of-the-art electronic navigation. Knowledge gained here will enhance the safety and efficiency of any outing.

If you are a sea kayaker or long-distance paddler of any craft, this is definitely a book to have and to study. Most kayak instructors nationwide would agree. It covers the principles of navigation that are pertinent to kayaks in clear practical terms, with special emphasis on the effects of wind and current. Piloting techniques are distilled down to those that can be done from the seat of a kayak.

The treatment of tides and currents is more thorough in this book than in most others on the market, especially when it comes to reading the water to interpret currents and for estimating the effects of wind on progress to weather. There are also convenient tricks included-such as how to quickly predict the current at times between peak flow and slack-that do not appear in other books.

The section on the Navigation Rules is a unique treatment of the subject that applies to all self-powered craft, including canoes and paddle boarders, as it addresses the issues and rules that pertain to all vessels, being every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. This is an important perspective to keep in mind, even for sailors and power boaters, as it brings to the front the basics that underlie the details. Who has right of way in specific circumstances is a detail; evaluating risk of collision is a basic, and so on.

Updates in the Revised Edition include reports on progress of the print on demand charts (gets A+); new developments in echarts and how this affects latest nav apps; and updates on technology, including, believe it or not, an actual AIS receiver the size of two 9V batteries that is perfectly usable in a kayak viewing the live traffic signals on an Android app in a phone. There are also many important developments in external battery packs, which are needed when navigating by a phone or tablet. All of the online links in the book are updated, as well as the rest of the references cited. The online support and resources page at starpath.com/kayaknav has been expanded.

Starpath work forms for sight reduction procedures in celestial navigation have been used by tens of thousands of navigators for over forty years. Designed to make the sight reduction of all celestial bodies flow in the same logical procedure that matches how data are presented in the Nautical Almanac and in the various sight reduction tables. There is always a place for adjusting angles to base values as needed, plus reminders on the signs of the values. Intermediate results are grouped for convenient entrance to the tables and for plotting the resulting lines of position.

Once a few examples have been worked, the forms alone guide you through the process. Even after being away from cel nav for long periods, the forms are a quick refresher that gets you back up to speed quickly.

Detailed instructions are included, with warnings about common errors. Forms included are:

Form 104 -- Sight reduction of all bodies using Pub 249 (Vols. 2 and 3) or Pub 229 (all volumes). The workhorse of the Starpath approach to celestial navigation

Form 111 -- Sight Reduction of stars using Pub 249 Vol.1 Selected Stars.

Form 106 -- Sight reduction of all bodies using the NAO Sight Reduction Tables included in the Nautical Almanac. This form is a unique tool that makes these tables (that every navigator has) as easy to use as any other method.

Form 108 -- A combination of Form 104 and Form 106 for those who choose the NAO Tables as standard,

Form 109 -- For completing multiple solar index corrections and averaging them. This is a high-accuracy method, praised since the formative days of celestial navigation in the late 1700s, but not used as often as it could be these days.

Forms 107, 110, and 117 cover latitude and longitude at noon as well as latitude by Polaris. These are basic procedures, but many new to cel nav find them helpful to get started... and they are instant refreshers after being away from the subjects for some time.

A comprehensive text on how to take weather into account for the planning and navigation of voyages, local or global, using the latest technologies as well as the time-honored skills of maritime tradition, so that your time on the water remains as safe and efficient as possible. Covers practical applications of GRIB files, ASCAT wind measurements, and other modern resources.

The barometer remains the most important tool for evaluating and predicting the weather. This book explains why knowing accurate values of the atmospheric pressure can improve this process and benefit all applications. Ways to evaluate and calibrate aneroid and electronic barometers using readily available data by Internet or telephone are clearly described. Tactical applications to marine navigation are covered. The book also includes worldwide average monthly pressures and their standard deviations. With the exception of trained meteorological crews, barometers in the past were used at sea primarily to learn if the pressure was going up or down, and whether it was doing this rapidly or slowly. And from this we made an educated guess of a likely consequence, usually in conjunction with other observations. Outside of professional marine use, little effort was made to know the true pressure for several reasons. We did not know what to do with it if we had it, and more often we could not get it if we wanted it, because most barometers were not calibrated. This has changed. We now have many valuable applications of accurate pressure, and we also have affordable ways to get it, and we have convenient ways to prove our instruments work properly. The main goal of this book is to show how all this comes about, and to give more insight into this fascinating, venerable instrument that has been with us for 150 years. Another goal is to introduce users to the new breed of electronic devices that are in the process of revolutionizing how we do weather at sea. We also re-introduce mariners to several classic aneroid instruments that are highly accurate and tested at sea for over 70 years, and why we benifit from having both a calibrated aneroid and an electronic barometer on board.

The ship's logbook has been a maritime tradition since ancient times. It is used to document the voyages and movement of the vessel and events that take place on board related to safe navigation and the well being of the crew and cargo. Designed for sailors by sailors. The simple layout of these record sheets has been tested over thousands of miles of offshore and coastal sailing, racing and cruising.

This book provides over 500 exercises with answers covering all aspects of small-craft navigation. These are practical problems that all navigators should know how to solve. Topics include: Piloting, Chart reading and plotting, Voyage planning, Dead reckoning, Compass use, Waypoint selection, Special publications, Rules of the road, Route design, Lights and buoys, Tides and currents, Electronic fixes, Depth sounding navigation The level of the exercises is comparable to that used in the USCG 100-Ton masters exam, which in turn is about the same used in the navigation certification programs of US Sailing, ASA, CYA and RYA. These practice problems are, however, designed to be practical and instructive, not just training exercises for certification exams. This Workbook is used by several navigation schools around the country. Selections are provided from each of these special publications along with exercises to insure their full use is mastered: NOAA Tide Tables, NOAA Current Tables, US Coast Pilot, USCG Light List, USCG Notices to Mariners, NOAA Chart Catalog The exercises that require a chart use nautical training chart No. 18465 Tr, available in print at reduced price from NOAA chart dealers and other outlets listed in the Appendix. You can also work the chart problems with an electronic chart (Raster Navigation Chart, RNC) number 18465 Tr. This custom echart is available as a download from www.starpath.com/18465tr. The echart can be viewed by any of several free echart viewer programs. Sources for free echart viewers and guidelines for their use are included in the Appendix. You can also use any full echart navigation program of your choice. We encourage navigators to solve the chart problems with both traditional paper plotting as well as electronically, using route tools, electronic bearing lines, and range rings.

This book is an updated and expanded edition of a text that has been used in navigation courses for 30 years. It covers practical small-craft navigation (sail, power, or paddle), starting from the basics and ending with all that is needed to navigate safely and efficiently on inland and coastal waters in all weather conditions. It is for beginners, starting from scratch, or for more seasoned mariners who wish to expand their skills. Topics include:

Charts, Chart Reading, and Chart Plotting
Instruments and Logbook Procedures
Compass Use
Piloting and Dead Reckoning
Lights and Buoyage
Tides and Currents
Rules of the Road
GPS and other Electronic Aids

The GPS tells us where we are and how fast we are moving in what direction, but it can never tell us the safest, most efficient route to our destination. That fundamental task requires the basic navigation skills taught in this book, which we can use as well to check the GPS underway, and then be prepared to navigate without the GPS if we need to. The hallmark of good seamanship is to look ahead and be prepared.

The text covers not only the long tested traditional methods of navigation but also the efficient use of the latest technology in electronic navigation and charting.