Celestial Nav Workshop | Annapolis

Andy is back in Annapolis for a long-awaited Celestial Navigation workshop! We'll kick off with an optional happy hour/meetup on Thursday April 16 from 1600-1900, then have class all day Friday and all day Saturday. Hang around Saturday night for a cookout/BBQ/hangout to talk sailing and make new friends.

While there is hardly a logical argument for celestial as a backup to electronic nav, its part of sailing history, and as ocean sailors, we owe it to ourselves to at least have a general understanding of it, I say! Plus, it makes those long night watches that much more enjoyable when you know your place - physically and philosophically - in the universe.

Classroom location TBD.

Day Zero | Thursday: 1600-1900

• Optional happy hour meetup in Annapolis, exact location TBD.

Day One | Friday: 0830-1700

• In-depth discussion of celestial concepts & a series of 'thought exercises' to get you in the right frame of mind and learn your position spatially on the surface of the Earth.
• Hands-on work with the sextant and practice taking sights.
• Break for lunch in town.
• Diving into the books and how to 'reduce' a sight.

Day Two | Saturday: 0830-1700

• Practice sight reduction problems based on real-world passages Andy & crew have completed.
• The running fix concept.
• Introduction to star sights.
• 1830-?: Cookout dinner/hangout for the evening!

WORKSHOP MATERIALS included:

• Copy of Hewitt Schlereth's Celestial in a Nutshell 
• Universal Plotting sheet booklet
• Notebook, pencil & basic plotting tools (provided by Weems & Plath)

WHAT ELSE IS INCLUDED?

• First round on 59º North at the Thursday meetup!
• Food (veg options too) and beer/soft drinks at the Saturday cookout included. (Lunch on the course days is at your own expense if you eat in town, or you can pack lunch).
• Use of a pre-owned sextant for practice during the weekend, with the option to buy one at the end of the Workshop (courtesy of Bacon Sails in Annapolis)
• Use of Nautical Almanac & Sight Reduction Tables during workshop (in-person only).