A Star to Steer Her By

Textbook by Edward J. Bergin. 180 pages.

Spend eight hours with this book and you will have a solid working knowledge of celestial navigation. This may sound like an outrageous claim, but it's true. 

Here is a basic text, giving straightforward explanations of everything you need to know to find your way across the bay or around the globe. Starting with a clear demonstration of piloting and dead reckoning, the author takes you step-by-step through celestial navigation. Along the way you'll learn how to use the Nautical Almanac, chronometer, sextant, starfinder, and both the H.O.229 and assumed altitude sight reduction tables.

The book has been developed from the course material the author has used in his Weems & Plath-sponsored navigation course– given as a one-day crash course, guaranteed  to impart navigation "or your money back."

Each chapter is a complete lesson (with a suggested time allotment), and includes a study guide, examples of realistic situation the mariner may encounter, and "check yourself" practice problems.

The book features specially designed celestial navigation workforms that not only organize your work but tell you what to do next. Simple, easy to follow illustrations supplement the text. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Edward J. Bergin, a senior policy advisor to the Secretary of Labor in Washington, has been teaching and writing about navigation for nearly 15 years. He is coauthor of a book explaining the use of pocket calculators to solve celestial navigation problems. He is also director of education for Weems & Plath, Inc., Annapolis, cofounder of the Navigation Institute, Inc., and an experienced offshore sailor.

"The bookes takes the 'classroom' to the reader-student's own home or office, and guides him, step-by-step, at a realisting pace in mastering the subject." - Roger W. Jones from The Navigator's Newsletter