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sailFar.net  |  People, Boats, and Stories  |  Book Locker  |  Topic: Celestial Navigation (Books You Would Recommend) « previous next »
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Pablo
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« on: January 07, 2009, 10:55:59 AM »
I am looking to pick up a book that will explain the principles of Celestial Navigation and would like some recommendations.  I did a search and didn't find a similar thread.
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« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2009, 12:23:44 PM »
There are quite a few out there, ranging from simple to arcane.  There is also a very good video on Celestial done by William Buckley, who happened to be an excellent sailor. He explains how to DO the math, without going into the excruciatingly detailed stuff about how it works. Much simplified and he details a "cookbook" or "Worksheet" method you might like.

The video is called- "Celestial Navigation Simplified" and is available on DVD also. It's listed on Amazon
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Charlie J
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« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2009, 06:08:18 PM »
I tried to watch WFB's video but fell asleep. Smiley
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« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2009, 06:14:36 PM »
Pablo and all:
  Check out Celestaire at celestaire.com. They sell books, sextants and all kinds of celestial navigation and conventional navigation stuff. They are a wealth of info. I've bought several books on cn including "Practical Celestial Navigation", "One Day Celestial Navigation", and "Celestial Navigation for the Clueless". One day will certainly get you started and Clueless is written for the the...well, ahh- clueless!
   Don't be intimidated...it's not as hard as some folks make it out to be.
Bob23
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captain cajun
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« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2009, 06:44:44 PM »
Thanks for the post, I like the DVD idea, however up here, I am surrounded by shoreline.  But love the learning.
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« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2009, 06:27:51 AM »
Two books I'd highly recommend are:

Celestial Navigation in the GPS Age, by John Karl.


The Complete On-Board Celestial Navigator, 2007-2011 edition by George C. Bennett.

The second book has everything you need to learn and use celestial navigation, except the sextant, through the end of 2011. Smiley
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Pablo
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« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2009, 09:38:57 AM »
I found a free guide from Henning Umland, A Short Guide to Celestial Navigation that seems pretty through.
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Paul
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« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2009, 07:35:10 PM »
Celestial Navigation for Yachtsman by Mary Blewitt was very very good, I would recommend it. It was 5 dollars on amazon.   
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Auspicious
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« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2009, 08:19:09 PM »
Bowditch: http://www.irbs.com/bowditch/
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« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2009, 01:41:38 PM »
How to Find Where You Are From the Sun by George Buehler is a great place to start. Its really more of a pamphlet but it nails doing noon sights! Once you can do noon sights shooting stars becomes much less of a steep learning curve.

On the downside it is hard to find in stores so you may have to buy it direct from George himself http://georgebuehler.com/books.html
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dnice
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« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2009, 02:13:12 PM »
Davis Marine has this celestial quick-ref card. I don't have one (yet) but it looks pretty helpful.
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