At last! A book and e-book that teaches Astro-navigation by understanding!
“Astro-navigation from Square One to Ocean-master”
Published January 2011 by Authors Online. See at: astronav-square-one.com
Every year sailors start reading astronav texts and most founder on the rocks of confusion. Why is this?
*astronav uses an entirely new language.
*the subject requires an ability to think in 3D.
*students imagine that hundreds of stars need to be recognised.
*the maths presumed to be necessary is daunting.
*the underlying science is thought to be impenetrable.
*the navigational tables are many and complex.
*much is learned by rote without a deeper understanding.
The RYA Yachtmaster Ocean shore-based theory course syllabus admirably teaches the essentials in 40 hours, but even this necessarily covers only briefly much of the subject that is required for a detailed and lasting knowledge.
“Astro-navigation from Square One to Ocean-master” aims to bridge the gaps with a comprehensive text of the subject, designed to teach by understanding.
About the Author:
Alan Murray is a British surgeon, teacher and yacht-master, having taken early retirement, single-handed his boat to the Mediterranean. Six years ago he began to learn astro and found that the available texts, while necessarily focussing on the essentials, left much to the imagination. He forensically takes the subject apart and then rebuilds it using his narrative and drawing skills into the text of this book and e-book, using feed-back from professionals and amateurs alike.
About the book/e-book
As the title suggests: – it begins at the very beginning, needing no prior knowledge and then progresses in a logical stepwise fashion through the skills required to use astro-navigation to cross an ocean. Each new concept builds on a solidly-based body of UNDERSTANDING. There is no “learning by rote”, no “just fill in the proforma”. The text, in 308 pages, is complimented by a 130-word glossary, over 160 diagrams and 40 worked examples, all using 2011 Sun, Moon, planet and star data. The parts relevant to the current RYA Yachtmaster Ocean syllabus are indicated so that the book can be used in parallel to formal course study.
Title: Astro-navigation from Square One to Ocean-master