Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot: A Simple Explanation
    Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot: A Simple Explanation
    Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot: A Simple Explanation
    Ebook127 pages1 hour

    Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot: A Simple Explanation

    By Gene Grossman

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This book won the Dan Poynter 2011 First-place GOLD Global eBook Award in the Non-Fiction/Sports category

    Some time ago, Gene Grossman signed on as a crew-member with some friends of his who were delivering a large sailboat with no navigation electronics from Marina del Rey California, through the Panama Canal, to a charter company’s tropical island location.

    On the evening of departure, Gene asked the young skipper (Ron) which crew-member was going to be acting as navigator. Ron answered “I am,” Gene responded, “Oh, I didn’t know you knew celestial navigation.” Ron said “I don’t, but I will by the time we get down to Baja.”

    When Gene asked Ron how he intended to learn celestial navigation in the next week or so, Ron responded, “No problem, Gene, you’re going to teach it to me.”

    At that point in time Gene did not know anything about celestial navigation, and when he confessed that lack of knowledge, Ron said, “that’s okay; I’ve got some books about it on board, and I know you went to college, so you can learn it and teach it to me.”

    Gene was relieved of ‘watch’ duty and spent the next couple of weeks immersing himself in the subject. By the time they reached Cabo San Lucas, Gene was on the beach giving lectures to other boaters desirous of a celestial navigation refresher course.

    Bottom line: There is no shortage of books that purport to teach you the classic art of Celestial Navigation, but almost all fall short in one way: they lose you early on by using terms you’ve never heard of, assuming that you already have that knowledge. The writers of those books just don’t have the ability to ‘dumb things down’ to the level of absolute beginner.

    Gene Grossman solves that problem by assuming that you are a complete idiot, and talks down to you in such a simple way that you’re sure to understand everything simple step that he clearly explains.

    This is the perfect book for any boater interested in improving his or her navigational skills, and would like to look into proper use of the sextant to navigate around the world without depending on the reliability of several expensive electronic devices.

    There are no complicated drawings, no mathematical problems, no big astronomical words you’ve never heard of, and no reason to feel like the idiot you are with respect to celestial navigation.

    Reading this book is guaranteed to raise your level from ‘Idiot’ up to being merely ‘Navigationally Challenged,’ and will also suggest how to further elevate your status to that of Competent Navigator

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMagic Lamp Press
    Release dateDec 1, 2009
    ISBN9781452306247
    Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot: A Simple Explanation
    Author

    Gene Grossman

    GENE GROSSMAN was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the North side neighborhood of Albany Park, where he attended Hibbard Elementary and Von Steuben High School.He pursued majors in psychology, chemistry and mathematics at Wright Junior College, Roosevelt University and Illinois Institute of Technology - all the while working his way through high school and college by playing piano in clubs on Chicago's then-famous "Rush Street."After moving to Southern California, he worked his way through law school playing piano in night clubs and appeared as a musician in seven major motion pictures.While slowly building his law practice, Gene purchased a truckload of movie equipment he rented out to film production companies and then started his own production company which over the years produced more than 50 educational programs on subjects ranting from Boating and Celestial Navigation, to legal subjects (Depositions, Bankruptcy, etc.) Sign Language Instruction and many more.Always having been interested in boating, getting divorced prompted him to buy and move onto a 45-foot Chris Craft motor yacht in Marina del Rey California,.Years later, while serving as navigator on a yacht delivery from the U.S. to Tortola, Gene wrote his first book, "Celestial Navigation for Dummies" (before the popular series of 'Dummies' books was created). He used his own production equipment to shoot a video on the subject Celestial Navigation - "Sextant Use and the Sun Noon Shot" and unintentionally started the nautical video industry in this country.Over the next few years he followed that first title up with more than 50 other educational DVD titles, all displayed on his production company's website at www.MagicLampDVDs.com.Having moved on from doing scripts for his video productions, Gene turned to writing fiction, and now spends most of his time in the marina on his new boat, where he created the 15-book series of 'Peter Sharp Legal Mysteries,' all now available both in print and as eBooks at Smashwords via www.LegalMystery.comIn addition to the 15 Peter Sharp novels, Gene compiled a group of fiction and non-fiction titles that he has either written or edited for others, plus some classic stories: the publishing company he formed (www.MagicLampPress.com) now has more than 60 books in print.The Peter Sharp Legal Mystery Series#1: Single Jeopardy#2: ...By Reason of Sanity#3: A Class Action#4: Conspiracy of Innocence#5: ...Until Proven Innocent#6: The Common Law#7: The Magician's Legacy#8: The Reluctant Jurist#9: The Final Case#10: An Element of Peril#11: A Good Alibi#12: Legally Dead#13: How to Rob a Bank#14: Murder Under Way#15: The Sherlock Holmes CaperThe Suzi B. Mystery Series (a spin-off)#1: ...Sorry, Wrong Number#2: Movie Magic#3: Two Perfect Crimes#4: He's the Guy#5: The Magic BulletsAll 20 of Gene's mysteries are described in detail in a free eBook: The Mystery Books of Gene Grossman: Summaries with the Author's Comments.

    Read more from Gene Grossman

    Related to Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot

    Related ebooks

    Outdoors For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Master Your Mainsail

      Aug 13, 2020

      Master Your Mainsail
      11 min read

    • Article

      Stress Free Nav

      Feb 21, 2020

      Stress Free Nav
      6 min read

    • Article

      Navigation Apps Tested

      Oct 7, 2021

      Navigation Apps Tested
      9 min read

    • Article

      Tried & Tested

      Feb 17, 2022

      Tried & Tested
      4 min read

    • Article

      Planning A Cruise

      Dec 30, 2022

      Planning A Cruise
      6 min read

    • Article

      New Gear

      Dec 22, 2022

      A key element of the Metstrade marine show in Amsterdam is the DAME Design Awards, which recognise some of the most outstanding new pieces of marine equipment, tools or products each year. This year British companies took home many of the prizes, inc

      8 min read

    • Article

      Work Smarter, Not Harder

      May 30, 2023

      Work Smarter, Not Harder
      7 min read

    • Article

      Sail Faster & Safer Downwind

      Nov 10, 2022

      The words ‘pink spinnaker’ are enough to send a chill down the spine of anyone who’s ever watched Cowes Week disaster footage. There’s Atalanta of Chester, which dis-masted when their fuchsia-coloured kite wrapped around the anchor of a tanker in Aug

      14 min read

    • Article

      Longer Lasting Sails

      Apr 13, 2023

      Longer Lasting Sails
      6 min read

    • Article

      Light-air Sailing

      May 15, 2018

      Light-air Sailing
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Joy Of Sextants

      Apr 15, 2021

      The Joy Of Sextants
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Life At Sea

      Oct 7, 2021

      A Life At Sea
      9 min read

    • Article

      Shoulder Season Sailing

      Oct 13, 2022

      Shoulder Season Sailing
      2 min read

    • Article

      Code Cracking

      Nov 6, 2020

      Code Cracking
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Beauty Of Junk

      May 30, 2021

      The Beauty Of Junk
      4 min read

    • Article

      We Bought An Adventure Yacht

      Mar 10, 2022

      We Bought An Adventure Yacht
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Dark Art Of Anchoring

      May 27, 2021

      Anchoring is wonderfully simple. Stop the boat, drop the hook, pour a drink and relax. There’s nothing more to it, as long as you have enough depth when the tide goes out… and enough chain out for when the tide comes in… and suitable shelter… and no

      1 min read

    • Article

      17-20ft POCKET CRUISERS

      Jan 19, 2023

      17-20ft POCKET CRUISERS
      13 min read

    • Article

      Show Me The Way

      Apr 28, 2023

      Show Me The Way
      8 min read

    • Article

      Variety And Variability

      May 14, 2020

      Variety And Variability
      10 min read

    • Article

      Lightning Protection

      Jun 23, 2022

      Most sailors worry about lightning to some extent. Afterall, going around with a tall metal pole on a flat sea when storm clouds threaten doesn’t seem like the best idea to most of us. In reality, thunder storms need plenty of energy, driven by the s

      9 min read

    • Article

      SKIPPERS’ TIPS & YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

      Mar 30, 2023

      ROGER GEARY started sailing in midlife and spent three years sailing from Wales to Australia in a Colvic Contessa 37. He now owns a Wing 25. LU HEIKELL is the leading pilot book author for the Mediterranean and has cruised and sailed extensively with

      5 min read

    • Article

      Dufour 470

      Jun 21, 2022

      Dufour 470
      5 min read

    • Article

      Cruising Clinic

      Sep 14, 2023

      Cruising Clinic
      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot

    5/5

    2 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot - Gene Grossman

      Celestial Navigation for the

      Complete Idiot:

      A Simple Explanation

      By Gene Grossman

      Copyright 2012 Gene Grossman
      Smashwords Edition 2.3 – September, 2012
      All rights reserved
      Published by Magic Lamp Press
      http://www.LegalMystery.com

      CONTENTS

      1. The Basics

      2. Latitude & Longitude

      3. Similarities Between Coastal Piloting & Celestial Navigation

      4. Locating the Sun’s Geographical Position

      5. The Nautical Almanac

      6. When is it Noon?

      7. Sextant Corrections

      8. What Type of Sextant to Use?

      9. Seasickness

      10. The Inspection

      11. A Simple Solution

      12. The Nuts and Bolts

      13. But: Will it Work?

      14. It’ All Done With Mirrors

      15. For Your Consideration

      GLOSSARY

      About The Author

      A note from the author

      *****

      CLAVIN NOTES:

      Quite often you will note a parenthetical section of this book called a Clavin Note. These notes have been named after the fictional character Cliff Clavin, featured for many years on the popular television series about the goings-on at a bar in Boston, named Cheers.

      Cliff Clavin was a regular at Cheers, and was best known for his habit of bringing up trivial, irritating factual matter that the other bar patrons didn’t care about – but that Cliff always thought was relevant to whatever subject was being discussed at the time.

      The editors at Magic Lamp Press have long viewed the author of this book as the Cliff Clavin of non-fiction, so they have decided to separate out some of the facts contained herein as Clavin Notes, and labeled them as so, for a caution to the unsuspecting readers

      *****

      INTRODUCTION

      Some time ago I signed on as crew with a friend of mine named Ron Curry, who was delivering a Force 50 Taiwan ketch from California to a charter company on one of those tropical islands down past Florida. The trip would require going through the Panama Canal, and because I had a month or so to kill between trials (I was still an active lawyer in those days), I decided to go along for the ride.

      On that first evening when we pulled out of Marina del Rey, a brief conversation between Rona and I took place, during which I asked him a simple question. Ron, who’s the navigator on this trip?

      His answer didn’t surprise me at first. I am, Gene. But, when I thought about it for a second or two and took into consideration that the boat’s only electronics were a VHF radio, with nothing in the navigation department, I had to ask.

      Oh, really? When did you learn celestial navigation?

      He quite calmly answered: I didn’t.

      At this point I thought it might be nice to point something out to him about the trip we’d just embarked on. "You know, from here down to Cabo San Lucas, all you have to do is keep land on your left and you’ll be okay… and then it’s a couple of hundred miles across the Sea of Cortez to the Mexican mainland where we’ll probably pull into Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta - but sooner or later we’ll be going through the ditch [nickname for the Panama Canal]. We’ll be out of sight of land for quite a while, and without celestial or any navigational electronics on board, we may have a slight problem.

      When he answered, I found out the method to his uninformed madness: Not to worry, Gene, by the time we get to Cabo, I’ll know all the celestial navigation I’ll ever need.

      How are you going to do that Ron?

      You’re going to teach me.

      I’m a pretty hard person to surprise, but I have to admit that he caught me with that remark, and felt that a confession was in order: Ron, I don’t know how to tell you this, but… I don’t know anything about celestial navigation. I’m a lawyer and I have a sailboat, but my idea of using a sextant is to peer through the lens to look at the read-out on my GPS unit. [Actually, I said Sat-Nav, because that was before GPS became available, but I want this book to sound a little more up-to-date]

      His answer was a pleasant surprise, in that he obviously had more respect for my brain power than I realized… in fact he had more confidence in it than I did.

      That’s okay Gene, I’ve got several books on it on board, and I know you went to college, so you can learn it and teach me. We’ll be stopping at Catalina Island for a few days, and then in San Diego for about a week, and we’ll probably be hanging out down in Cabo [Cabo San Lucas, at the bottom tip of Baja] for at least a week or two, so you’ll have about a month to learn all about it and give me some lessons before we make our first crossing on our way to Puerto Vallarta. And if it’ll be any help, you’re excused from watch duty. There are seven of us on board, so all you’ll have to do is study for the next couple of weeks.

      *****

      Well, I don’t think I have to tell you that I immediately turned into a student, but that wasn’t too bad, because it was a nice situation: a delightful downhill cruise on a 50¬foot sailing yacht, with nothing to do but read about a popular and interesting boating subject.

      I really enjoyed getting into the subject, but was disappointed in the instructions in Ron’s books - so much so, that after making our layover stops at Catalina, San Diego, and Ensenada, I bought every book on the subject I could find, and by the time we anchored in the outer bay at Cabo San Luca, I was having fun giving celestial navigation lectures on the beach to other boaters.

      Ron also picked up the subject quite nicely – which was a good thing, because when checking in with my office, I learned that I’d have to jump ship and return to L.A. for a re-scheduled jury trial. After two days in Puerto Vallarta, I flew back to California, feeling secure that Ron would be able to bring the boat to its destination – and he ultimately did.

      Coincidentally, a few years later, a motion picture named Captain Ron was released starring Kurt Russell and Martin Short, about a family hiring a guy named Ron (Russell) to help them sail their boat – one identical to the one captained by Ron Curry on our trip south.

      *****

      In addition to practicing law back then, I also owned a small equipment rental company that serviced low-budget film productions, so in response to many of my boating friends, and my own personal difficulties in trying to learn this subject strictly from the books that were available, I wrote, produced, and ‘starred’ in my first video production: Celestial Navigation: Sextant Use and the Sun Noon Shot. At that time, it was the first professionally produced nautical video on that subject in the country, and after being advertised in all of the national boating magazines [there was no Internet for folks like us back in those days before 1990], it became quite popular and started a series of more than 50 nautical titles that we produced over the following years.

      At the time, I was living aboard my Columbia 50 sloop in Marina del Rey California, and wanted to show off my new video to several dock neighbors. These guys in the 60 foot slips were

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1