where can i take a celestial navigation course?

— I recently had the opportunity to attend the Celestial Navigation course at Doris & Steve Colgate’s Offshore Sailing School, (www.offshoresailing.com). The Celestial Navigation course is a 5 day classroom based instructor led education on how to navigate by the Sun, Moon, planets and stars.

Full Answer

What is included in a celestial navigation course?

You will spend five nights in accommodations ashore at South Seas Island Resort, You may take this marine navigation course alone without the six days of Offshore Passage Making which follow. MEET STUDENTS PREPARING TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE. Chris and Jenn completed their Celestial Navigation Course at South Seas Island Resort on Captiva Island, Florida.

Where did Chris and Jenn take their celestial navigation course?

Learn to navigate using the noon shot of the sun. This sailing course breaks down celestial navigation into its simplest form so that you can understand the concept of celestial navigation. Includes some practical exercises and a test. NauticEd Sailing school - The Worlds Most Advanced Sailing Education.

How long does it take to complete the celestial navigation clinic?

Oceans Navigation or Celestial Navigation is a USCG approved course for mariners to increase the scope of their license to Oceans. This class shows mariners how to use a sextant for marine navigation, fix your position by the sun, stars, or planets, and review mathematical concepts necessary for navigating the oceans. For Mates & Masters; this class satisfies the professional …

Do I need a sextant to work the celestial course?

Includes a complete, self-contained home-study course in printed materials, a complete electronic version of the entire course including additional software resources, as well as enrollment in the Starpath Online Celestial Navigation Course. With this combination you can choose the media that is most convenient to you at the time.

How do I learn celestial navigation?

Obtain latitude by a Polaris sight. Calculate time of sunrise, sunset, and civil and nautical twilight. Determine azimuths and altitudes of appropriate stars and/or planets at twilight, preparatory to taking sights. Demonstrate sufficient proficiency with the sextant to obtain accurate celestial body altitudes.

Is celestial navigation obsolete?

In 1996, the Navy decided to stop teaching celestial navigation at the Naval Academy. This decision was most likely due to the rise of GPS. Now, 20 years later, the Navy is realising that the old way of doing things had one thing going for it: security.Feb 12, 2016

How do you use a sextant course?

0:127:51Getting Started in Celestial Navigation (The Marine Sextant) - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd how to use it to measure an angle between the horizon and a celestial object. The first thing toMoreAnd how to use it to measure an angle between the horizon and a celestial object. The first thing to do is familiarize ourselves with the sextant.

What is celestial navigation in maritime?

celestial navigation, use of the observed positions of celestial bodies to determine a navigator's position. At any moment some celestial body is at the zenith of any particular location on the Earth's surface.

Is reckoning dead?

dead reckoning, determination without the aid of celestial navigation of the position of a ship or aircraft from the record of the courses sailed or flown, the distance made (which can be estimated from velocity), the known starting point, and the known or estimated drift.

Who invented celestial navigation?

The art of celestial navigation is 4,000 years old The first Western civilisation known to have developed oceanic navigational techniques were the Phoenicians in around 2000 BC.Mar 3, 2022

How long does it take to learn celestial navigation?

Most people can master simpler celestial navigation procedures after a day or two of instruction and practice, even using manual calculation methods.

How much is a sextant?

Working brass sextants sell around $2,000, aluminum ones around $600.

Are sextants still used?

It's a real historic instrument that is still in use today. Even today big ships are all required to carry working sextants and the navigating officers have regular routines to keep themselves familiar with making it work.

What are the 3 types of navigation?

As with different ways to describe location, there are also different ways to navigate places. Three main types of navigation are celestial, GPS, and map and compass. In order to better understand why we teach map and compass at High Trails, it is helpful to learn the basics of all three techniques.

What is the most commonly used celestial body in celestial navigation?

The celestial body most commonly used for determining the direction of true north is the North Star (Polaris). Fortuitously, it is located almost directly above the earth's geographic north pole; hence, a sighting on Polaris gives (approximately) the true north direction.

What stars are used for navigation?

There are several, but the most famous navigational stars are the North Star, called Polaris, and the Southern Cross. The North Star (Polaris) is a part of the constellation Ursa Minor, commonly known as the Little Dipper.

More about this Celestial Navigation Sailing Course

Not convinced yet that online sailing courses are cool? Visit our fully interactive and completely free Basic Sail Trim Sailing Course. You'll see why online e-learning is SO MUCH BETTER than a boring old Book.

Comments from Students like you

Learning how to use a sextant for celestial navigation has been very important to me as a USCG Captain and an engineer for a long time. Every tutorial I found online was confusing and frustrating, and my sextant sat in the closet for years. When I found NauticEd's Celestial Navigation class, I gave it a shot.

Excerpt from the course

The Introductory Celestial Navigation Clinic is presented in eight Modules:

Sea talk testimonials

Sailing New Zealand welcomes NauticEd Bareboat Charter Master ranked students to come charter in our world famous Bay of Islands.

Where is South Coast Sailing Adventures located?

South Coast Sailing Adventures is conveniently located in Kemah, Texas – 30 minutes from downtown Houston or Galveston.

Who is the USCG Master Class Captain?

USCG Master Class Captain Mark Howe (Director of Academy) and USCG Master Class Captain Ric Dahlin (Dean) are both Collegiate level instructors, and as professional educators, their classroom and lectures have been providing “best in class” sailing instruction with top results.

Course Description

Delivered by highly qualified MPT Instructor (s), this course covers all required types of celestial navigation calculations for mates and masters. It will satisfy the Celestial Navigation Training & Assessment Requirement of STCW A-II/1, as amended for raise in scope.

Required Materials

PASSPORT for Photo ID, Paper, Pencil, Pen, 2 Highlighters (different colors), Scientific Calculator (TI-30xa), Plotting Tools, Sextant (can be rented or purchased at MPT), Chart Quality Eraser, Starfinder, 1981 Nautical Almanac, Bowditch Vol. II 1981 Version, Universal Plotting Sheets

Testimonials

Everything is being done nicely and professionally. The office staff are amazing and helpful. They love their job. You are treated with love and smiles from these great ladies. Our lecturer John is professional and dedicated. The subject was well taught. He assists and encourages his students. He is ver transparent as well.

Twilight is Beautiful

I also gained a much greater appreciation for the objects in the sky around me. Before this course I had no idea how incredible twilight can be. Most of us watch the sunset but never really “see” all the other objects, (“celestial bodies”) that appear in the evening sky.

Using a Sextant to Find Your Position

Very often I have heard that celestial navigation is “too hard and has too much math.” Although there is a lot of underlying math to celestial navigation, this course shows you first how to navigate with a sextant and some simple tables to find your position.