Celestial Navigation: Learn How to Master One of the Oldest Mariner's Arts

by Tom Cunliffe

Guiding a craft using one of the oldest of the mariner's arts-celestial navigation As romantic–sounding as sailing to Tahiti did centuries ago, using the sun, moon, planets, and stars to guide one's boat on the seas is enjoying a comeback. For those who do not wish to be caught short when modern technology fails on board, knowing how to chart a path with the aid of a sextant is an essential navigating skill. In Celestial Navigation , veteran yachtsman, Tom Cunliffe, reveals how any boat owner can master this seafaring technique, without complex mathematics, using his simplified approach. Readers begin with a sound foundation of basic concepts and definitions, before moving on to the hardware-the sextant and how to use it. Within a few pages, you'll be working out your latitude from a noon sight, and learning how to plot a position from observing the sun, planets, moon or stars-or wherever you may be on the world's oceans. Whether setting out to sea on a short or long journey, Celestial Navigation is an essential guide to using the sun, moon, planets, and stars as your guideposts home.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference

145 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Tom Cunliffe (born 1947) is a British yachting journalist, author and broadcaster.

Cunliffe has been a regular contributor to Yachting Monthly, Yachting World, Sail magazine, Classic Boat and 'Sailing Today' for many years.

A professional writer since 1986, Cunliffe has won the Best Book of the Sea award twice, for Topsail and Battleaxe and Hand, Reef and Steer.[4] He is author of the important Shell Channel Pilot for the English Channel.

In 2010 he presented the award-winning six-part BBC documentary series, The Boats that Built Britain. He also presented the popular 'Boat Yard' series for Discovery TV. He now has a big following on his Youtube channel, 'Yachts and Yarns'.

Reviews

[Frank Pernett · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good book. But, the basics were barely touched. If you don’t have a good background on celestial navigation you will be confused

[Dmitry · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I appreciate Tom Cunliffe's writing in magazines and books, I did not find this book very useful. It is hard to use when you are actually trying to master celestial navigation without any prior background. In this matter, I think, the organization of the material is of utmost importance, and this book is a bit chaotic in that sense. The matters are somewhat exacerbated by the media of a Kindle book: all the references are skewed, the tables are gone fishing and the drawings are smeared. I may be on a mission impossible trying to learn celestial navigation from a Kindle, but this book definitely didn't fill the bill.