Celestial Navigation, Co Clare

Name: Celestial Navigation, Co Clare
Start: 2026-01-10T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-01-11T23:59:59+00:00
Location: Clare

We are now offering a new course; Celestial Navigation. This course teaches the traditional ways of navigation and makes them relevant to the digital age. Over a weekend, you will study basic navigation geometry, latitude, longitude, heavenly bodies as well as use of the sextant. We will look at calculations, done the traditional way, as well as with easy-to-use robust software, adapted to use onboard. This course is open to anyone who has an interest in traditional navigation skills or who is concerned about over-reliance on electronics for navigation.

Who this course is for: Anyone interested in traditional navigation methods, including offshore seafarers who want a back up if their electronic navigation systems fail.

Length of course: The course is taught over 15 hours. It can be covered over a weekend; Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday morning.

Objective: To become familiar with traditional navigation methods and how to make use of them in a digital age.

Assessment: There is no exam. The course does not have external accreditation.

Prerequisites: It helps if you have some mathematical skills and know the basics of navigation at sea.

Format of the course: The course introduces celestial navigation methods, including use of the sextant and an outline of the traditional approach to calculations. It then proceeds to show how calculations can be simplified using easy-to-use robust software that can be used at sea, even when the vessel's electronic navigation and communications systems have failed.

Syllabus:

Introduction
Basic Navigation Geometry
Parallels of Latitude
Meridians of Longitude and Hour Angles
Heavenly Bodies - the sun, moon, planets and stars.
The Sextant and Taking a Sight
Offsets and Corrections
Plotting and Intercepts
Calculations – the Hard Way
Calculations – the Sensible Way using stand-alone Software

« All Events

Book Online

Navigation Courses

Nearly 2000 successful graduates from our courses include ships captains, dinghy sailors, canal barge owners, tow-in surfers, harbour masters, rescue service personnel, divers, transoceanic yachtswomen, fishermen, arctic explorers, kayakers, sea anglers, vessel traffic controllers, yacht race officials, park rangers, scouts, underwater archaeologists and the sole inhabitant of a remote island.

Celestial Navigation, Co Clare

Tickets

Reasons for doing the course with us

Our instructors are highly qualified in radio communications, electronics and navigation with many years of marine industry and sea-going experience. We speak your language and teach at your pace - we make radio and navigation simple!

Navigation Courses

Radio Courses

We are accredited by the Irish Department of Transport for marine radiocommunications courses and by the RYA / Irish Sailing for navigation courses. We are the only approved non-state provider of SOLAS-compliant marine radio communications courses on the island of Ireland.

Online Courses

Our clients include County Councils, UK and Irish ports, yacht clubs, Irish government departments, Coast Guard units, fishing clubs, European shipping companies, oil exploration corporations, crewing agencies, North Sea windfarm vessel operators and an Asian jack-up barge operator.