Over the past few years I have taken all of the Celestial Navigation courses taught by Frank Reed at ReedNavigation.com and I recently repeated Modern CN 1 & 2 just for the pure enjoyment that it brought to me.
My interest in CN started a few years ago as I puzzled over how the stars could be used to find one’s position on the earth. I tried to learn CN through self-study, but I couldn’t make the subject matter interesting and realized that this was not the correct approach. You need a skilled instructor that can guide you through the learning process, and that’s what Frank Reed provides.
In a relatively short period of time I had a solid grounding in CN. Frank has unmatched knowledge of CN. His classes are fun, interesting, and sprinkled with historical context and include as much or as little math as you desire. His visual aids were very helpful and the time spent on discussing how to properly use a sextant to take a sight was beneficial. You will learn how to find stars in the night sky by which to navigate. The downloaded course guide is very concise and includes tables that are valid for 5 years into the future.
You don’t need to be at sea to do CN. I live inland and learned in the class how to do land-based navigation with a sextant, either with a large or small body of water to provide a true horizon, or with no water horizon at all.
Going back 250 years, I understand how CN was practiced through the ages, up to the present time with calculator, equations and tables. Thanks to Frank, I take great satisfaction in knowing that I possess a skill that very few people have. I highly recommend his courses.
Homer R. Smith M.D.
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Invaluable for real navigation and great for sextant education and practice, too...
"A great opportunity to learn celestial navigation in an immersive environment under the guidance of a fantastic teacher, cartographer, and master navigator. Frank Reed's style integrates history, mechanics, and observation together to produce ... the best two-day course available, anywhere."
—Philip Sadler, Lecturer in Astronomy, Director Science Education, Harvard University.
Celestial Navigation Classes — Winter/Sping 2026:
Celestial Season Pass: Six high-quality celestial navigation workshops twice in six months, as scheduled below, at a substantial discount. Celestial season passes include all twelve workshop sessions in the six months following registration.
Online Workshops
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Advanced Celestial
Sail by the stars... Practical celestial navigation using twilight stars to determine latitude and longitude. Learn modern methods to get a position fix as well as the traditional "intercept method" using H.O.249. We'll also learn how to reliably identify over a dozen of the principal navigation stars including Arcturus, Vega, Canopus, and Polaris. Modern Celestial is recommended as a prerequisite. more... -
Expert Celestial
Sail beyond the Stars... A workshop in advanced and exotic methods of celestial navigation. Moon and planet sights in detail. Spherical trigonometry. Advanced refraction. And finding your true fix by clever tricks... more... -
Celestial Navigation in the Age of Sail
Sail through History... Learn the tried and true methods of historical celestial navigation. Directly based on the logbooks of the famous New England whaleship Charles W. Morgan. Real celestial navigation from the historical perspective of the Age of Sail. Learn to use, calibrate, and adjust sextants. "Shoot the Sun" to determine latitude and longitude. Correct sights for "dip", refraction, and other factors. Apply historical pencil and paper calculations, exactly as done in the 19th century. more... -
Lunars and Longitude
Sail by the Moon... Learn to shoot and work the math of "lunars", long considered the ultimate test of a celestial navigator. The Moon in "lunars" served as a great natural clock in the heavens. Applying the greatest math and science from two centuries ago, lunars today remain challenging and intricate and serve as a window into the fascinating early history of navigation. Exploring logbooks from historic voyages, including HMAS Bounty, we'll learn lunars from the navigators themselves. more... -
Advanced Lunars
Sail like a Lunarian...Diving deeper with Lunars, we'll learn more history, more fascinating math details, and we'll also see how lunars survived into the Space Age. more... -
Modern Celestial Navigation
Sail with the Sun... Modern, practical celestial navigation. Learn to use, calibrate, and adjust sextants. 'Shoot the Sun' to determine latitude and longitude. Correct sights for 'dip', refraction, and other factors. Determine the 'GHA' and Declination of the Sun in modern tables. Easy and designed for beginners — if you can add and subtract, you can navigate by the Sun. more...
Repeat any class as many times as you wish for a modest "seat fee". If you have attended any ReedNavigation.com workshop or class at the standard rate since 1 Jan 2021, either in-person or online, you may repeat that class, when scheduled online, for only $35.
Register to Repeat NOW.
Note: We offer excellent institutional referral arrangements. Send students to our online workshops and get paid for it. If you represent an institution —a school, a museum, a planetarium, a sailing club— and you would like to provde access to any of our celestial navigation workshops, then let's talk. There are always options. Any of our workshops and classes can also run as private tutorials.
Comments:
Homer Smith wrote: 10👍
Doug MacPherson wrote: 23👍
I recently took online versions of Frank Reed's "Celestial Navigation in the Age of Sail", and "Lunars - Finding Longitude by Lunar Distances". I couldn't have been more happy with them. Having originally learned post WWII celestial methods as an officer in the United States Navy, and taken it up as a hobby, I was quite familiar with that era's procedures. However, I was intrigued by how they managed prior to then. Frank's two classes filled that void. His vast knowledge of the subject, both the technical aspects of the work as well as the historical significance were perfectly balanced. These are classes that can be thoroughly enjoyed by both the novice as well as the well versed practitioner. Recipe's for doing the work, the science behind those recipes, and actual voyages by the sailors that practiced the art were all presented with wonderful clarity. If "time sights", "cleared lunar distances" or "apparent time" have ever roused an interest, you owe it to yourself to take one of Frank's classes.
Doug MacPherson
Lieutenant, USN sep.
Doug MacPherson
Lieutenant, USN sep.
John Carbone wrote: 5👍
Celestial Navigation Courses with Frank Reed ... As a formal naval officer navigator, navigator on Bermuda passages, and many celestial courses, I highly recommend Frank Reed in any course or program he teaches. I have taken his celestial courses at Mystic Seaport, online and followed his engaging web community (NavList.net). Every encounter has been different and educational. With his expertise and polished presentations, you will learn and understand the theory and practice celestial navigation. Frank is the consummate professor and someone not to be missed.
