Reccomended book for beginner on celestial navigation?

The Davis Artificial Horizon uses water for the reflective surface, no mirror. Molasses or mineral/olive oil could be used as well.

 

I see...good.

 

There is also a good book of tables called Martellies...not as accurate as Ho 229 for instance, but who cares.....if you are that close you can see it.

 

Never met Martellies used to buy the navy almanac every year.

I've navigated a bit with sextant and tables, ( before GPS ), even taught it. Nowadays I'd suggest learning a noon sight as an emergency backup since its so easy and learn to carry a DR on the chart and the use of a depth sounder.

Almanacs are available free for the PC and sight reduction programs too. So I just carry a laptop with these on and a backup. I use a Davis plastic sextant and am usually a mile out on a sloppy evening fix on 3 stars. The Navy insisted on 7 for a fix. But stars are the best, you'll see the first while it's still light and the sextant can be pre set for it's altitude.

Radio beacons used to be the best friends for coastal nav, in an emergency they would still be better than astronav coastally . It's a shame many people don't realise just how much GPS made boating safer. 3 days without a star or a glimpse of the sun and your position circle started to get alarmingly large closing with land. Sometimes you had to stop and wait in bad weather until you could get a fix.

 

Radio beacons. a Cheap Am transistor radio with an internal ferrite bar antenna , to find the null, was always stored in my sextant box. News and navigation all in one.

Bermuda is that way......................

 

I still have my Furuno RDF, works very well and is the most sensitive radio I own, even better than the Yaesu set.

 

All of the above are great.; But what turned on the light bulb for me was:
Primer of Navigation by George W. Mixter (mine is the fourth edition 1960)
the other which I would get first because it is so simple is found at http://aviationshoppe.com/manuals/navigators_bombers_manual/wwii.html
The other if you are compleatly new to the subject is the book "Longitude" a very well written story that will by the end give the context for the more technical texts named in the posts above