If you’re headed to the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis October 4-8, we encourage you to stick around a few days to pick up some wisdom from Practical Sailors Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo. Ralph will be teaching a couple of his signature courses at the school in downtown Annapolis during the days shortly after the show.
On October 9-10, he’ll be conducting a 2-day introduction to celestial navigation. The course covers introduction to the basic skills required for celestial navigation. Topics include introduction to taking a sun sights with a sextant, reading time and arc, using sight reduction tables (Publication 229), reducing sights by calculator, and identifying celestial bodies.
October 13-14, Ralph will be focusing on weather. The 12-hour, two-day course covers national and regional weather and the essential tools and skills needed to make smart decisions at sea, or when planning a day sail or cruise. Topics include cloud identification, effect of tides and currents on sea state, fog, and a deep dive into the free, publicly available marine weather analysis and forecast products.