At the end of this book, you will be ready for ocean navigation.

The book includes:

• text


• practice problems


• tables selections


• detailed glossary


• and full solutions

Printable work forms, plotting sheets, and other resources are available at no charge from www.starpath.com/celnavbook.

Preface to the Second Edition. We are pleased to say that after ten more years of using this text, we do not find a reason to change the basic approach and methods of teaching. We still use most of the same examples, which are now quite old, but that is the beauty of celestial navigation. It has not changed, so we do not benefit in any way from making all new examples, which would bring with them more chance of error in a book of many numbers. We have, however, notably improved and expanded the book.

Each section has been updated and reformatted for a clearer presentation, often in response to student questions over the years. New graphics have been added and older ones have all been updated.

There is much new content in the text, especially in the In-Depth chapter, including a more detailed discussion of the sailings and more background on the principles. New sections were added on general ocean navigation and optimizing the fixes. We have also updated the electronic navigation section, as most ocean navigators will also be using other tools besides celestial.