01-04-2025, 04:07 PM
There are many celestial navigation books out there. I do not know of a single one that I consider to be head and shoulders above the others as "the best," but for new students there is one book that I advise you buy strait off. That is a HARD COPY of The Nautical Almanac.
Yes, you can look at the scanned pages in the various course books, and you can get digital copies of just about any year Nautical Almanac you want right here on this sight. But the Nautical Almanac is full of tables and numbers that at first blush can be confusing. There is no substitute for having a hard copy at your elbow as you work through any cel-nav course, self taught or otherwise.
All recent Nautical Almanacs have the same format so once you "get the hang of it" you can find your way around in digital copies with ease. But starting out you should get at least one hard copy of recent edition. It doesn't have to be exactly current, but there does not seem to be much savings in getting one that is out of date by a year or two, so a current edition is a good place to start.
Here is one source, but you can get them from various book sellers and suppliers. Inside they are all pretty much the same.
https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/nauti...-year-2025
Also it is apparently possible to use out of date Nautical Almanacs into future years with some minor corrections, so when the year changes don't toss your hard copy in the trash.
PeterB
Yes, you can look at the scanned pages in the various course books, and you can get digital copies of just about any year Nautical Almanac you want right here on this sight. But the Nautical Almanac is full of tables and numbers that at first blush can be confusing. There is no substitute for having a hard copy at your elbow as you work through any cel-nav course, self taught or otherwise.
All recent Nautical Almanacs have the same format so once you "get the hang of it" you can find your way around in digital copies with ease. But starting out you should get at least one hard copy of recent edition. It doesn't have to be exactly current, but there does not seem to be much savings in getting one that is out of date by a year or two, so a current edition is a good place to start.
Here is one source, but you can get them from various book sellers and suppliers. Inside they are all pretty much the same.
https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/nauti...-year-2025
Also it is apparently possible to use out of date Nautical Almanacs into future years with some minor corrections, so when the year changes don't toss your hard copy in the trash.
PeterB