Find Your Way at Sea, No Matter What
“Inherently interesting and fun to read . . . provides the clearest understanding of general navigation principles we''ve seen yet.”--BoatU.S.
“Thorough and authoritative.”--Sea Kayaker
“A definitive work of instant appeal to seamen of all levels of experience.”--The Navigation Foundation
Every sailor knows that instruments can fail. Things get wet, break, fall overboard. Whether you’re safe on your boat or drifting in a life raft, let David Burch show you how to find your way no matter what navigational equipment you have. Often relying on common materials like a small stick, a plastic bottle, even a pair of sunglasses, Burch explains how to make use of all available means--from the ancient skills of Polynesian navigators to the contrails of airliners overhead--to calculate speed, direction, latitude, and longitude and to perform all aspects of piloting and dead reckoning. Learn how to
- Steer by sun, stars, wind, and swells
- Estimate current and leeway
- Improvise your own knotmeter or plumb-bob sextant
- Find the sun in a fogbank
- Estimate latitude with a plate and a knotted string
- And more vital information
