Books published by Starpath Publications

This book covers how to find position at sea from timed sextant sights of the sun, moon, stars, and planets plus other routine and special procedures of safe, efficient offshore navigation. No previous navigation experience is required.

"With concise sight reduction tables"--Cover.

Designed to make the sight reduction of all celestial bodies flow in the same logical procedure that matches how data are presented in the Nautical Almanac and in the various sight reduction tables.

No power, and batteries used up? This book and a Mark 3 sextant lets you carry on. It's a short book, mostly tables. You can read it in an hour or two, master the sights in less than that, and find your position the next time you see the sun at noon.

The charts in this atlas show scaled arrows marking current speeds and directions at each of the official stations at sequential hours. Use slack times and maximum current speeds at Wrangell Narrows from the NOAA Tidal Current Tables to select the appropriate chart for specific dates and times. An ideal resource for planning routes throughout Southeast Alaskan waters using sequential charts to predict how the current flow over large regions changes with time. For use underway or when planning passages in the future.

For the past 30 years, this book has been the authoritative source for all matters of small-boat navigation. Learn how to find and keep track of your position, adjust to changing conditions, and paddle the seas safely and confidently. Includes how to chart an accurate course and maintain it underwayΓÇöwhether touring locally, on open water, or between islands. This updated text includes everything you need to know, from traditional map and compass navigation through state-of-the-art electronic navigation. Knowledge gained here will enhance the safety and efficiency of any outing.If you are a sea kayaker or long-distance paddler of any craft, this is definitely a book to have and to study. Most kayak instructors nationwide would agree. It covers the principles of navigation that are pertinent to kayaks in clear practical terms, with special emphasis on the effects of wind and current. Piloting techniques are distilled down to those that can be done from the seat of a kayak.The treatment of tides and currents is more thorough in this book than in most others on the market, especially when it comes to reading the water to interpret currents and for estimating the effects of wind on progress to weather. There are also convenient tricks includedΓÇösuch as how to quickly predict the current at times between peak flow and slackΓÇöthat do not appear in other books.The section on the Navigation Rules is a unique treatment of the subject that applies to all self-powered craft, including canoes and paddle boarders, as it addresses the issues and rules that pertain to all vessels, being "every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water." This is an important perspective to keep in mind, even for sailors and power boaters, as it brings to the front the basics that underlie the details. Who has right of way in specific circumstances is a detail; evaluating risk of collision is a basic, and so on.Updates in the Revised Edition include reports on progress of the print on demand charts (gets A+); new developments in echarts and how this affects latest nav apps; and updates on technology, including, believe it or not, an actual AIS receiver the size of two 9V batteries that is perfectly usable in a kayak viewing the live traffic signals on an Android app in a phone. There are also many important developments in external battery packs, which are needed when navigating by a phone or tablet. All of the online links in the book are updated, as well as the rest of the references cited. The online support and resources page at starpath.com/kayaknav has been expanded.

This book covers how to find position at sea from timed sextant sights of the sun, moon, stars, and planets plus other routine and special procedures of safe, efficient offshore navigation. No previous navigation experience is required.

This book is an updated and expanded edition of a text that has been used in navigation courses for 30 years. It covers practical small-craft navigation (sail, power, or paddle), starting from the basics and ending with all that is needed to navigate safely and efficiently on inland and coastal waters in all weather conditions. It is for beginners, starting from scratch, or for more seasoned mariners who wish to expand their skills. Topics include: Charts, Chart Reading, and Chart Plotting Instruments and Logbook Procedures Compass Use Piloting and Dead Reckoning Lights and Buoyage Tides and Currents Rules of the Road GPS and other Electronic Aids The GPS tells us where we are and how fast we are moving in what direction, but it can never tell us the safest, most efficient route to our destination. That fundamental task requires the basic navigation skills taught in this book, which we can use as well to check the GPS underway, and then be prepared to navigate without the GPS if we need to. The hallmark of good seamanship is to look ahead and be prepared.The text covers not only the long tested traditional methods of navigation but also the efficient use of the latest technology in electronic navigation and charting.

"Add another dimension to your next day sail or cruise. This workbook makes it easy to add ... training to almost any navigational observation. Even learn while at anchor"--Amazon.com.

This book provides over 700 exercises with answers covering all aspects of small-craft navigation. These are practical problems that all navigators should know how to solve. Topics include: Piloting, Chart reading and plotting, Voyage planning, Dead reckoning, Compass use, Waypoint selection, Special publications, Rules of the road, Route design, Lights and buoys, Tides and currents, Electronic fixes, Depth sounding navigation The level of the exercises is comparable to that used in the USCG 100-Ton masters exam, which in turn is about the same used in the navigation certification programs of US Sailing, ASA, CYA and RYA. These practice problems are, however, designed to be practical and instructive, not just training exercises for certification exams. This Workbook is used by several navigation schools around the country. Selections are provided from each of these special publications along with exercises to insure their full use is mastered: NOAA Tide Tables, NOAA Current Tables, US Coast Pilot, USCG Light List, USCG Notices to Mariners, NOAA Chart Catalog The exercises that require a chart use nautical training chart No. 1210 Tr, available in print at reduced price from NOAA chart dealers and other outlets listed in the Appendix. You can also work the chart problems with an electronic chart (Raster Navigation Chart, RNC) number 1210 Tr. This custom echart is available as a download from www.starpath.com/1210Tr. The echart can be viewed by any of several free echart viewer programs. Sources for free echart viewers and guidelines for their use are included in the Appendix. You can also use any full echart navigation program of your choice. We encourage navigators to solve the chart problems with both traditional paper plotting as well as electronically, using route tools, electronic bearing lines, and range rings.

This book provides over 500 exercises with answers covering all aspects of small-craft navigation. These are practical problems that all navigators should know how to solve. Topics include: Piloting, Chart reading and plotting, Voyage planning, Dead reckoning, Compass use, Waypoint selection, Special publications, Rules of the road, Route design, Lights and buoys, Tides and currents, Electronic fixes, Depth sounding navigation The level of the exercises is comparable to that used in the USCG 100-Ton masters exam, which in turn is about the same used in the navigation certification programs of US Sailing, ASA, CYA and RYA. These practice problems are, however, designed to be practical and instructive, not just training exercises for certification exams. This Workbook is used by several navigation schools around the country. Selections are provided from each of these special publications along with exercises to insure their full use is mastered: NOAA Tide Tables, NOAA Current Tables, US Coast Pilot, USCG Light List, USCG Notices to Mariners, NOAA Chart Catalog The exercises that require a chart use nautical training chart No. 18465 Tr, available in print at reduced price from NOAA chart dealers and other outlets listed in the Appendix. You can also work the chart problems with an electronic chart (Raster Navigation Chart, RNC) number 18465 Tr. This custom echart is available as a download from www.starpath.com/18465tr. The echart can be viewed by any of several free echart viewer programs. Sources for free echart viewers and guidelines for their use are included in the Appendix. You can also use any full echart navigation program of your choice. We encourage navigators to solve the chart problems with both traditional paper plotting as well as electronically, using route tools, electronic bearing lines, and range rings.

Informed awareness of barometric pressure leads to safer and more efficient navigation The primary goal of this publication is to make mariners more aware of barometric pressure and how it might add to the safety and efficiency of their time on the water and to provide a specific, dependable method of storm warning in the tropics. It is also intended to show the great value of an accurate barometer. The days of only caring about rise and fall, fast or slow, should be relegated to the history books. We now have ready access to accurate instruments and all the benefits they provide. In short, we have worked our way back to the 1700s when mariner's had the benefit of accurate mercury barometers for their weather analysis, and indeed learned much from them. The unique monthly data in this book along with an accurate barometer opens up new avenues of weather analysis underway. From the title page. "The slightest deviation from the barometric mean between the tropics demands on the part of the commander immediate attention." -- The Mercantile Marine Magazine, Vol 1, January, 1854, page 8. At the time of that quote, mariners were using mercury barometers. Three months later in the April issue, they bring up this point again in an article that compares the then new aneroid barometers with the traditional mercury barometers. They speculate that the aneroids may not be linear over their full range and call for a careful study before the above pressure observations will be useful. This is exactly what happened. Traditional mercury barometers were very tedious to use at sea, but they were accurate once known corrections were made. Common aneroids at the time were not, and before the Internet came about it was very difficult to calibrate an aneroid device. So the use of accurate pressure observations fell out of modern teaching (as the aneroids replaced mercury devices)--nevertheless, the proposal has been mentioned in Bowditch throughout the years. Now with good electronic barometers and convenient ways to calibrate any barometer, we can again use this valuable information for tropical storm warnings.

Tous les navigateurs savent que les instruments peuvent tomber en panne. Les choses peuvent se mouiller, se casser ou passer par-dessus bord. Que vous soyez en sécurité sur votre bateau ou dérivant sur un radeau de sauvetage, David Burch vous montre comment trouver votre route quels que soient les instruments de navigation à votre disposition. En s'appuyant souvent sur des objets courants tels qu'un petit bâton, un morceau de doublure ou même une paire de lunettes de soleil, allant des techniques des anciens Polynésiens aux traînées de condensation des avions de ligne, David Burch vous explique comment utiliser tous les moyens disponibles pour calculer vitesse, direction, latitude et longitude ainsi que pratiquer tous les aspects du pilotage et de la navigation à l'estime.

The ship's logbook has been a maritime tradition since ancient times. It is used to document the voyages and movement of the vessel and events that take place on board related to safe navigation and the well being of the crew and cargo. Designed for sailors by sailors. The simple layout of these record sheets has been tested over thousands of miles of offshore and coastal sailing, racing and cruising.

Data in this book are no longer valid for navigation. It is preserved in print because many training programs (including USCG and US Navy ) use examples from 1981 to teach celestial navigation. USCG license exams require data from this almanac. These exams also require Sight Reduction Tables, Pub 229, Vol. 2 and a 2102-D Star Finder.

Practical knowledge for Inland, Coastal, and Ocean waters that makes your sailing safer and more efficient. Special topics in navigation and weather from the "Burch at the Helm" column in Blue Water Sailing magazine.

Sextants are used to measure angular heights of celestial bodies above the horizon to find the latitude and longitude of the observer. They can also be used on land with artificial horizons. Sextants can also be used to find the correct Universal Time by measuring the angular distance between the moon and another body along its path across the zodiac. In coastal waters or on land, sextants can be used for very accurate piloting by measuring the horizontal angles between charted landmarks. The vertical angle of a peak above its baseline determines the distance to it, which, combined with a compass bearing, yields a position fix from just one landmark. The angular dip of an object (island or vessel) below the visible horizon can also be used to determine the distance to it. This booklet explains how to get the best results from plastic sextants, and presents numerical comparisons with similar data from metal sextants. Sextant piloting techniques are also reviewed as they are an ideal use of a plastic sextant.