Online Celestial Navigation Course

[scimitar]

Originally Posted by Teknav

inclination tables

"inclination tables".....what is that..... I do not know any that you need in astro navigation.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by Teknav

Why would anyone take a celestial navigation course is beyond me; there is a gizmo called GPS which does not require you to use inclination tables or adjustments yet will accurately give you your longitude and lattitude with the push of a button. On the other hand, some folks still like to use the Abacus rather than a cheap calculator. And, yet others like to ride a donkey to work, while talking on a cell phone at the same time. If you cannot see any correlation to what I just said, you are a very rare happy person. Mauritz

Hey Tek, I see that your "boat" can fly....

Let me use an analogy that is familiar to you - have you ever heard of a parachute? Or do you know why on some aircraft the pilot has the capability to eject their seat and get out?
Well, when all else fails (and they do!) that is why paper charts and the need for celestial navigation comes in...

[scimitar]

Originally Posted by jeremiason

as someone else stated, GPS provides acurrate position information at a touch of a button.

I bet this guy thought the same....and that "master" of that minesweeper recently in the philippines

[Cruisingoneday]

Originally Posted by Turtle Moon

@Cruisingoneday How did the Starpath Celestial Navigation class work for you?

I would recommend this course as it gives one a good understanding of many things celestial. I was more curious on how to accurately use a sextant and to be taken back a bit in time. I tend to romanticize a bit though for times of yore.

I actually read paper books and sometimes do long division by hand. I have also been known to cook food on an open fire instead of a stove.

If that's your purpose I say go for it!!!

[FruiVita]

"inclination tables".....what is that..... I do not know any that you need in astro navigation.

I suspect the poster meant declination tables? You need to "correct" for magnetic north based on your lat/long. Every chart should state the declination for that area and it changes over time. I dare say I you don't understand how to apply this fundamental nav concept you shouldn't be navigating.

[David M]

You really do need to have your basic navigation down before going on to celestial. Because the fix that you get from celestial needs to be plotted to a paper chart, which of course is one of the reasons for celestial, so you are not 100% reliant on electrons or human created electromagnetic waves.

Please, no troll like responses on why anyone would want to learn celestial. That does not help anything. The purpose of this thread is to help someone learn celestial and not to discourage them. There are plenty of other threads with plenty of people who (I think falsely) believe that GPS has made all other forms of determining a position obsolete.

[jeremiason]

Originally Posted by scimitar

I bet this guy thought the same....and that "master" of that minesweeper recently in the philippines

That wasn't due to GPS failure or inaccuracy, it was do to the inaccurate electronic charts.

The rare times that GPS is not accurate, is still much better that a Sextant's accuracy.

[David M]

If one day GPS goes down there will be tens of thousands of amateur mariners who haven't a clue where they are or how to get to their destinations. Multiply that picture by at least a thousand fold then. I will never be one to put all my eggs in one navigation basket.

[scimitar]

Originally Posted by David M

If one day GPS goes down there will be tens of thousands of amateur mariners who haven't a clue where they are or how to get to their destinations. Multiply that picture by at least a thousand fold then. I will never be one to put all my eggs in one navigation basket.

two summers ago there were austrian couple (on benetau ocenis 34) who stopped me in the middle of "mljetski kanal". probably their gps gave up the ghost or something else happened, i do not know. any way, they asked me where is the island of Vis. I showed them on the "chart"...... they had Croatian ROAD Map..

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by jeremiason

That wasn't due to GPS failure or inaccuracy, it was do to the inaccurate electronic charts.

The rare times that GPS is not accurate, is still much better that a Sextant's accuracy.

Have seen a few times electronics fail for several different reasons and then any bytes stored on the chip or satelites transmitting data doesn't help nobody. Thou one celestial body just ditched to Siberia there are still some left...

[FruiVita]

Originally Posted by David M

If one day GPS goes down there will be tens of thousands of amateur mariners who haven't a clue where they are or how to get to their destinations. Multiply that picture by at least a thousand fold then. I will never be one to put all my eggs in one navigation basket.

As long as you have a functioning compass you're never truly and hopelessly lost. Even in the middle of the Atlantic you can head west and eventually find the Americas. Knowing your last confirmed location and your true course and speed allows you to estimate your current location. The real challenge is in avoiding things hidden under the surface and if you're that close to land I would expect you'd be able to get a fix through cell phone triangulation or radio or some other means. If all electronics are hosed and you have no idea where on the planet you are....well then good luck with that. But then that presumes some sort of electronic armageddon and you'd have bigger problems. Like no ice for your cocktails.

[Turtle Moon]

The sea is hard on all things man made. Electronics, wiring, batteries, engines, solar panels... I have even had gps fail me on land. Unlike the sea, on land I can pull over and find directions with little chance of crashing into the lee shore or never finding a gas station. I do have a handheld gps and spare batteries in my bag. Bought it after years of coastal navigation without it.

But, I will be on the high seas practicing the ways that have guided sailors for millennia, with electronics as a back up! Simplicity. This is true freedom. Truly connecting with nature, the true nature that I have evolved to live with.
If my mind/body or the stars fail me, it will not matter where I am!


Natasha
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by

-------------

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking,

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

John Masefield, from "Sea-Fever", in Salt-Water Ballads (1902)

[Turtle Moon]

And, of course the simple and fantastic compass! Not so old. But, very reliable.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by Cruisingoneday

..... I tend to romanticize a bit though for times of yore.

I actually read paper books and sometimes do long division by hand. I have also been known to cook food on an open fire instead of a stove.

If that's your purpose I say go for it!!!

+1 on that.

Also, one can always add some mod cons to celestial - instead of buying and using the almanacs, reference tables and doing the calculations, you can use the Celesticomp celestial calculator to minimize the time it takes to work a sight. But it is recommended to learn the basics first.

[Celestialsailor]

I might be kinda quirky...but whats wrong with just liking Celestial Navigation. I love the whole boat gig. The self-suffiecency, reading by oil lamps and pulling out my extremely rare C Plath Navigator Classic (only 1600 made and viewed as the best of the best). It's just pleases me to no end living in a time long forgot.

Anyone can go out and buy the latest, greatest plastic 42', bar of soap in the water. Turn on their latest electronics and LED lighting. Roar up and down the anchorage in the latest plastitech inflatable and over-sized outboard but I enjoy seeing the old fart rowing his dink to his old, well laid out vessel with the warm glow of kerosene lamps in the evening...Like I said...maybe I'm quirky...