1st Edition
Astronavigation From Columbus to William Barentsz for the modern yachtsman
Preface, History of celestial navigation, Our solar system, Meridian altitude and zenith angle, Measuring height with a sextant, Refraction and horizon dip, The regiment of the North Star, Finding your latitude from a meridian altitude, Longitude and latitude from sunrise and sunset, Emergency astro during an ocean crossing, Day length tables for all latitudes, Four-year solar declination tables, Bibliography and sources, The authors
Biography
Siebren van der Werf (1942) is a retired physicist of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Besides sailing, his current interest and work is on the history of navigation and on refraction of light in the atmosphere and computer simulations of its anomalies, such as the fata morgana and the Novaya Zemlya phenomenon. In 1997 he received the Samuel Burka Award of the American Institute of Navigation for his study on the lunar distance method.
Dick Huges (1944) is a chest physician by profession (retired). He made several long-distances sailing journeys including a solo-circumnavigation of the world. In 2000 and 2003 he received the "Voorzittersprijs der Nederlandsche Vereeniging van Kustzeilers (the Chairman’s award of the Dutch Association of Coastal Yachtsmen), and in 2005 he won the "Trans-Ocean-Medaille für hervorragende hochseeseglerische Leistungen" (T-O- Medaille for extraordinary ocean-sailing achievements). Dick’s conclusion after 70.000 miles on the high seas is: "stay in touch with the basics and focus on the essentials, not on luxuries".
