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Book details
  • Genre:SPORTS & RECREATION
  • SubGenre:Water Sports / Sailing
  • Language:English
  • Pages:196
  • eBook ISBN:9781452306247

Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot

A Simple Explanation

by Gene Grosman

Book Image Not Available Book Image Not Available
Overview
[Winner of the2011 Dan Poynter Global eBook Award in the non-fiction category] This book is ground breaking not because of what it has, but what it doesn't have: No complicated drawings; no mathematics problems; no astronomical talk; no big words you've never heard of. Sailor-author Gene Grossman finally breaks this wonderful subject down into plain English and explains it in such a way that you will no longer have any excuse to claim that you know nothing about the valuable boater's subject of Celestial Navigation. This book was inspired by Gene's DVD program of the same title, which has gained worldwide popularity and is being used the the Navy, Coast Guard and sailing schools all over the world.
Description
[Winner of the2011 Dan Poynter Global eBook Award in the non-fiction category] Some time ago, Gene Grossman signed on as a crew-member with some friends of his who were delivering a large sailboat with no navigation electronics from Marina del Rey California, through the Panama Canal, to a charter company’s tropical island location. On the evening of departure, Gene asked the young skipper (Ron) which crew-member was going to be acting as navigator. Ron answered “I am,” Gene responded, “Oh, I didn’t know you knew celestial navigation.” Ron said “I don’t, but I will by the time we get down to Baja.” When Gene asked Ron how he intended to learn celestial navigation in the next week or so, Ron responded, “No problem, Gene, you’re going to teach it to me.” At that point in time Gene did not know anything about celestial navigation, and when he confessed that lack of knowledge, Ron said, “that’s okay; I’ve got some books about it on board, and I know you went to college, so you can learn it and teach it to me.” Gene was relieved of ‘watch’ duty and spent the next couple of weeks immersing himself in the subject. By the time they reached Cabo San Lucas, Gene was on the beach giving lectures to other boaters desirous of a celestial navigation refresher course. Bottom line: There is no shortage of books that purport to teach you the classic art of Celestial Navigation, but almost all fall short in one way: they lose you early on by using terms you’ve never heard of, assuming that you already have that knowledge. The writers of those books just don’t have the ability to ‘dumb things down’ to the level of absolute beginner. Gene Grossman solves that problem by assuming that you are a complete idiot, and talks down to you in such a simple way that you’re sure to understand everything simple step that he clearly explains. This is the perfect book for any boater interested in improving his or her navigational skills, and would like to look into proper use of the sextant to navigate around the world without depending on the reliability of several expensive electronic devices. There are no complicated drawings, no mathematical problems, no big astronomical words you’ve never heard of, and no reason to feel like the idiot you are with respect to celestial navigation. Reading this book is guaranteed to raise your level from ‘Idiot’ up to being merely ‘Navigationally Challenged,’ and will also suggest how to further elevate your status to that of Competent Navigator
About the author
Gene Grossman worked his way through high school, college, and law school as a shoe salesman, welder, process server, bail bondsman, tire changer, saloon piano player (working at one place that Frank Sinatra ‘had an interest in’) and ‘extra,’ appearing in seven motion pictures. He then spent 20 years as a trial lawyer, during which time he served as Dean of a small local law school, and taught several classes on criminal law and legal writing. The film and video company he started while working in the motion picture industry produced over fifty special interest DVD titles on everything from boating, to bankruptcy. Now retired from the practice of law, Gene writes aboard his yacht, the MAGIC LAMP, in Marina del Rey, California, where he has created the 15-book series of Peter Sharp Legal Mysteries, plus an assorted selection of non-fiction titles that cover everything from Celestial Navigation to Deposition Preparation. The 37 books he has authored are now being distributed internationally in print and eBook format, and six of them have already been prepared as AudioBooks.