Emergency Navigation: Pathfinding Techniques for the Inquisitive and Prudent Mariner (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: minus your latitude, tropics rule, sextant height, North Star, Big Dipper, Northern Hemisphere (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A standout in the otherwise faceless navigation texts that pass through our offices. Anyone venturing offshore should read this book thoroughly." -- Yachting

"Gives one a deeper understanding of the basic principles of navigation... a great store of knowledge which may serve you well in an emergency but will also give much pleasure off watch whilst improving your seamanship in the process." -- British Cruising Association Bulletin

"Opens the way to pleasurable understanding in a definitive work of instant appeal to seamen of all levels of experience. Full insights into nautical astronomy rarely seen in standard works... Full of sound seamanship for coastal and open water mariners alike." -- The Navigation Foundation

Product Description

Emergency Navigation is far more generally applicable than the title indicates. It is, first and foremost, a detailed account of how to find your position anywhere in the world's oceans after your electronics fail and you lose your sextant, watch, and almanac, but that's really only the beginning. The book is chock-full of good sound navigational techniques and principles that will serve you well regardless of where and under what conditions you are sailing. Hopefully you will never be confronted by the need for emergency navigation, but even the most pleasurable sailing afternoon can be enlivened by a knowledge of the skills and methods taught in this book.

Each chapter presumes a fundamental understanding of navigational principles, then deepens and expands that understanding to embrace little-known techniques and makeshfit instruments. Beginning with the assumption that preparing for a navigational emergency is good seamanship, Burch presents detailed discussions on finding time and place at sea; determining direction; steering by wind and swells; steering by the stars; steering by the sun; and steering by other objects in the sky. You will also find chapters on steering under conditions of reduced visibility; piloting in currents; dead reckoning; latitude and longitude; and no-instrument coastal piloting. A final summary tells you what to do in any situation with what you have available at the time.

David Burch writes lucidly , and the text is well supported by 127 detailed illustrations. This book offers excellent insights into sound seamanship that will serve you well in all your sailing activities.

"A standout in the otherwise faceless navigation texts that pass through our offices. Anyone venturing offshore should read this book thoroughly."--Yachting Magazine

"Opens the way to pleasurable understanding in a definitive work of instant appeal to seamen of all levels of experience. Full insights into nautical astronomy rarely seen in standard works. . . . Full of sound seamanship for coastal and open water mariners alike."--The Navigation Foundation

"Gives one a deeper understanding of the basic principles of navigation . . . a great store of knowledge which may serve you well in an emergency but will also give much pleasure off watch whilst improving your seamanship in the process."--British Cruising Association Bulletin

"Thorough and authoritative. . . . chapters on steering by the stars, sun, and moon stir the imagination and make one want to be a thousand miles from land . . . Gives us a better understanding of the signposts above the horizon than we might gain from a lifetime of random gazing."--Sea Kayaker Magazine

"Far more than an essay on the principles and practice of emergency navigation, it is a particularly well-written account of the principles of navigation in general and as such cannot fail to bring fresh insights to all of us. Every section and paragraph is permeated with sound practical seamanship . . . Apart from its other virtues, this alone makes it worthwhile."--from the foreword by David Lewis (author of We, the Navigators and Ice Bird)

"Clearly written in a readable fashion . . . the work is so well thought out and covers so many possibilities that both a beginner and the most experienced navigator will find something of value in its pages. Worth every penny of its cost."--The Burgee Magazine

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: International Marine Publishing; illustrated edition edition (February 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071565582
• ISBN-13: 978-0071565585
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,416,508 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written book about emergency ocean navigation., March 24, 1998

By	MATTHEW M. BRENDAL ([e-mail]) (Exercising Freedom of Navigation in North Pacific Ocean) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emergency Navigation (Paperback)

This book covers simple and indepth information of all aspects of emergency navigation. The material includes use of celestial observation tools that are hand made, navigation with and without a time piece and use of surrounding weather conditions. This book is very user friendly and a must have for the serious mariners and student of traditional navigation. It must be remembered that batteries will only last so long in the GPS.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A page turner in its own right. An initiation to the craft., February 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Emergency Navigation (Paperback)

This is a highly readable treatise on marine navigation with applicability to all voyages. The topics covered provide real motivation to become a navigator. The techniques developed scream out to be tried as exercises, if only to stay mentally on edge during an otherwise boring watch. Loran, (D)gps, ... even your compass can be zapped by a bolt of lightening. Get mentally prepared. Deep Six the Sunday Times crossword puzzle. Calculate your position with just your ten dollar watch and the Nautical Almanach!

5.0 out of 5 stars Lifeboat Navigation, November 16, 2008

By	Terencebsutherland "squid54" (Pensacola, Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

As a life-long mariner with a keen interest in navigation, I can say that the material coverage in the book is legitimate and, as a novice, I would need to read about it. I purchased the book for a retired Navy Captain who is an expert in nuclear technology but has not used his Navy skills in navigating. His recent purchase and overhaul of an ocean-going sail boat had me worried. So I am introducing him to survival books, of which this one might be most valuable. I also gave him Chapman's Against The Sea to learn about how things can go wrong very quickly and if you are not prepared in mental and material ways you can perish.