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The Yachtmaster's Handbook

by A. Brian Lasater

408 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); contains nautical charts, diagrams; catalogue #05-2373; ISBN 1-4120-7477-0; US$75.00, C$86.25, EUR61.61, £43.13

This volume looks at astronomy, charts, coastal and celestial navigation, climatology and essential cycles, practical weather forecasting, and ocean circulation, El Nino and the astronomical theory of the ice ages.

About the Book

This is a new publication which looks at the practical and historical aspects of coastal and celestial navigation. There is an introduction to the solar system, with essential data on the Sun, Moon and planets. The various techniques for coastal navigation are explained along with the gnomonic and Mercator projections, and there is a brief look at surveying as well. In the chapter on celestial navigation, the stereographic projection for the compilation of star charts is explain-ed and I have discussed the nautical instruments like the quadrant, cross-staff, astrolabe and sextant and then looked at celestial navigation in some detail. There are numerous Sun, Moon, planet and star sight worked out and plotted on graph paper.

I have discussed the fundamentals of the atmosphere, clouds and precipitation, fronts and storms, weather forecasting using the barometer. I have looked at oceanography and the circulation of the oceans. In addition, I have taken a brief look at El Niño and the astronomical theory of the ice ages.

About the Author

I was born and grew up on a cattle ranch in eastern Colorado. I enjoyed the country life, but I always wanted to go to sea. After high school, I spent most of my spare working on my father's ranch until March, 1984. To further my career at sea, I went to college in England and earned a Higher National Diploma in Nautical Science in 1982, and a Certificate of Higher Education in Marine Science in 1988 at Plymouth Polytechnic in Plymouth, England. I earned a B.A. in History with honors in 2000, at the University of Colorado at Denver. I am a qualified yachtmaster, and I have spent about twenty years working and sailing on sailing yachts, and have sailed more than 30,000 n.m., including a single-handed voyage to England.

I have been interested in navigation for at least thirty years and have been interested in meteorology and climatology for more than twenty-five years. I also enjoy the history of nautical instruments and how they were used, and building model ships and military modeling. Furthermore I have read a good deal of European history and civilization.

Excerpts