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.
Advanced Lunars
Winter / Spring 2026:
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 details soon...
All workshops: $ 149 per person, per workshopCreated and taught by Frank Reed, celestial navigation and astronomy consultant on the team that found Shackleton's "Endurance" in 2022. Also a recent guest expert in celestial navigation on Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk on The National Geographic Channel.
- Nine hours of class sessions.
- Lunars and Longitude is highly recommended as a prerequisite.
- Good familiarity with trigonometry and some algebra is recommended.
If you're registered for an online workshop, you're invited to attend hour-long sextant practical sessions in Rhode Island and Connecticut scheduled as weather and other factors permit. These live, in-person sessions are included in your registration for online classes.
Comments:
Doug MacPherson wrote: 23👍
John Brown wrote: 6👍
Frank
Thanks for a great app. The new option of using SI unit is really useful for us on the other side of the pond.
I have upgraded to the pro version and passed news of the upgrade to a friend learning to use her sextant. No doubt she will also relay this info.
Best regards
John Brown
Thanks for a great app. The new option of using SI unit is really useful for us on the other side of the pond.
I have upgraded to the pro version and passed news of the upgrade to a friend learning to use her sextant. No doubt she will also relay this info.
Best regards
John Brown
Homer Smith wrote: 10👍
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.
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.
