E.A.S.Y. Emergency Astro Book

‘I wrote this book because I believe that many seagoing yachtsmen rely on their electronic navigation equipment, and hope that they will never need to learn the vast amount of knowledge required to enable them to find their position by using a sextant. Many of them carry one of the weird things, but know little about its use. They would like to have a simple step-by-step guide to keep in the sextant case, which would enable them to find their position with reasonable accuracy when, in mid ocean, their trusty SatNav lets them down; and without any previous lengthy course of study which they would probably have forgotten by the time the need for it might arise’ – Rob James

The last chapter of this book provides step-by-step instructions, in plain simple language, which can be used to obtain an adequately accurate mid-ocean position, without any previous study. All the necessary information is provided, and no prior understanding or knowledge is needed or assumed.

All you will need (apart from the material equipment, listed in chapter three) is the ability to read, add, subtract, divide and multiply – and a level of intelligence without which you should not be sailing across an ocean! A few preparations are preferable before departure, and these are detailed in the earlier chapter. Even without these preparations, this book aims to enable you in an emergency to find your way to a safe landfall, without any prior study or knowledge of navigation by sextant.