A complete course on making the most of whatever you have left for navigation after losing all or part of your standard tools. Taught from Emergency Navigation by David Burch.
GPS, chart plotters, compasses and even watches can fail. This course teaches you how to keep navigating when they do. It covers how to make the most of whatever tools remain, from a partial set of instruments to none at all, and how to improvise the rest. The methods apply to any vessel, from yachts to life rafts, and to travel on land.
Starpath School of Navigation has been the world leader in this subject for over 30 years, and the course follows Emergency Navigation by David Burch, the standard reference on the topic.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
• Finding direction from the sun, moon, stars, wind and swells
• Steering a steady course without a compass
• Estimating speed and keeping dead reckoning with improvised tools
• Keeping time and finding your longitude without a reliable clock
• Finding latitude from the stars and the sun with homemade instruments
• Improvising a sextant, kamal and other measuring tools
• Allowing for currents and leeway
• Landfall: reading signs of land and planning a safe approach
• Preparing an emergency navigation kit before you sail
COURSE MATERIALS
• Emergency Navigation by David Burch (textbook)
• The Star Finder Book
• Online lessons following the textbook, a quiz for each lesson, discussion forums and direct instructor contact
Prerequisites: Basic navigation skills: reading and plotting latitude and longitude on a chart or plotting sheet, plotting courses by range and bearing, and speed-time-distance calculations. The Inland & Coastal Navigation course covers these.
Platform: Online, on Mac or Windows.