Basic Celestial Navigation w/ Chris Kreitlein (Part I)

This is Part 1, of a 2 Part Guest Educator Series

Instructor: Chris Kreitlein

Text Book: SIMPLE CELESTIAL; Navigation by the Heavens Made Easy

Fee: $100.00 per person ($75 per person for BCYC member only)

Location: Boca Ciega Yacht Club, 4600 Tifton St. South, Gulfport, Fl 33711

How to register for the Course:

Please contact the instructor, Chris Kreitlein at 850-776-2976 or email him at ckreitlein@yahoo.com

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Course Description:

The Basic Course will teach the student the process of observing the Sun at Local Apparent Noon for a position fix. Student will learn the sextant, its use and all necessary corrections; use of a universal plotting sheet; plotting a celestial fix; basic celestial astronomy and how universal time is used in celestial navigation; how to take an observation with a sextant; and how to reduce a sextant observation of the Sun at local apparent noon to a latitude and longitude position fix. With cooperative weather, student will take a noon sight. The course makes extensive use of the manual, SIMPLE CELESTIAL and includes a host of practice problems to test the students grasp of the material. The course is "basic" and includes no difficult concepts or mathematics. The basic course is followed on at a later date by an "intermediate" and "advanced" course for those students wishing to learn additional celestial navigation processes.

Necessary Materials:

• The manual SIMPLE CELESTIAL
  
• A hand calculator that functions with degrees, minutes and seconds (if desired) - $14 at Wal-Mart
  
• Pencil, Eraser, Note paper
  
• Parallel rulers
  
• A pair of dividers
  
• Protractor
  

Helpful but not absolutely necessary:

• Sextant
  
• Digital watch set to universal time or chronometer