Bowditch - American Practical Navigator

[Grampian]

Hay Yawl,

First a caveat: I looked in the lists and did not see the book I am writing about here. If someone has already brought it up, my apologies. No stepping on toes intended...

Small boats - Long distances - Minimalist approach.

This defines sailing to many people. Some get by with using their engines to wend their way up and down the ICW following the seasons and the only navigation they need is directions to the next Snowbird stop. Some actually sail. This thread is for them. And you. And you over there by the chart table wondering what to do now that the gps is not working for the fifth time this week.

Nathaniel Bowditch edited and then wrote the seminal navigation work American Practical Navigator in 1802. It was taken up by the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office that has taken care of its followon editions since the late 19th Century. Bowditch's notion about teaching navigation was: "to put down nothing in the book I can't teach the crew."

In that regard, I would like to nominate the American Practical Navigator for the bookshelf. It is available from Amazon (do a search there on "Bowditch") for about $40 or you can get the pdf version at http://www.marineplanner.com/bowditch/bowditch.cfm which I have done and am in the process of reading. I am going to order the book after the first of the year because I don't have enough doorstops.

If you really want to learn navigation beyond the horizon, this is the book to get. There is nothing in there that cannot be taught to the crew. In fact, according to one of the reviews on the Amazon site, it is required reading and required to be in the possession of certain U.S. Navy navigation people. Being a Marine, I cannot see how giving a swab a book will help him or her navigate but I suppose there is always hope...

Take care and fair winds...

[AdriftAtSea]

One book I do like is a revised version of Bowditch, which was written specifically for the small boat navigator.  It is called:  "Boater's Bowditch:  The Small Craft American Practical Navigator".  It is fairly comprehensive and a good deal lighter than the original. I keep one copy on the boat, and one at the house. :D

[Grampian]

I saw this one advertised in Amazon - question: How well is celestial navigation handled?

[Captain Smollett]

Grampian,

Beeee careful bringing up broken GPS's and the HORROR that we might actually have to do some of the math outlined in Bowditch.  You might get brought up with a round turn.   ;D ;D

http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php?topic=571.0