The Barefoot Navigator

Jack Lagan

The Barefoot Navigator is the most innovative book about marine navigation for decades. Jack Lagan believes there is nothing so valuable at sea as standing on a deck and just knowing where you are using special knowledge about the sea and the sky and using your senses--in other words, practical technology-free navigation.

Part 1 looks at the navigation achievements of the ancient seafarers--the Pacific islanders, the Vikings, the Phoenicians, the Arabs and the Chinese. Just how did the South Pacific islanders manage to populate every habitable island in an area bigger than North America? And did the Phoenicians really circumnavigate Africa 2,000 years before Vasco de Gama?

Part 2 explains how to use the wind, swell, sun and stars to estimate position and hold a course. And how sea breezes, isolated clouds and seabirds can make a landfall safer.

Part 3. shows how you can use DIY devices to calculate latitude, obtain bearings and estimate longitude.

Part 4 describes how all these techniques can be used in survival situations

The Barefoot Navigator is about wayfinding from what you can see around you and what you have in your head. It will fascinate navigators and landlubbers alike.

Globe Pequot / Sheridan House

Pages: 160 • Trim: 6½ x 9¾

978-1-57409-232-5 • Paperback • June 2006 • $19.95 • (£14.99)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Boating, Sports & Recreation / Sailing, Transportation / Navigation

The Barefoot Navigator

Paperback

Summary

The Barefoot Navigator is the most innovative book about marine navigation for decades. Jack Lagan believes there is nothing so valuable at sea as standing on a deck and just knowing where you are using special knowledge about the sea and the sky and using your senses--in other words, practical technology-free navigation.

Part 1 looks at the navigation achievements of the ancient seafarers--the Pacific islanders, the Vikings, the Phoenicians, the Arabs and the Chinese. Just how did the South Pacific islanders manage to populate every habitable island in an area bigger than North America? And did the Phoenicians really circumnavigate Africa 2,000 years before Vasco de Gama?

Part 2 explains how to use the wind, swell, sun and stars to estimate position and hold a course. And how sea breezes, isolated clouds and seabirds can make a landfall safer.

Part 3. shows how you can use DIY devices to calculate latitude, obtain bearings and estimate longitude.

Part 4 describes how all these techniques can be used in survival situations

The Barefoot Navigator is about wayfinding from what you can see around you and what you have in your head. It will fascinate navigators and landlubbers alike.

Details

Globe Pequot / Sheridan House

Pages: 160 • Trim: 6½ x 9¾

978-1-57409-232-5 • Paperback • June 2006 • $19.95 • (£14.99)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Boating, Sports & Recreation / Sailing, Transportation / Navigation

Author

Jack Lagan is about wayfinding from what you can see around you and from what you have in your head. It will fascinate navigators and landlubbers alike.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
A Barefoot Philosopher for the 21st Century
Part I. The Remarkable Skills of the Ancients
1. The Pacific Islanders
2. The Vikings
3. Pharaohs and Phoenicians
4. The Arabs
5. The Chinese
6. Timeline of Navigation and Exploration
Part II. Practical No-Tech Navigation
7. Which Heading?
8. Where am I, Roughly?
9. Landfall
Part III. Do-It-Yourself Lo-Tech Navigation
10. Dead Reckoning
11. Latitude
12. Longitude
13. Plumbing the Depths
Part IV. Survival Navigation
14. Emergency Kits and Grab-bags
Notes
Recommended Further Reading
Appendices
Index

Reviews

The Barefoot Navigator is a cleverly written little book that combines the history of the ancient art of navigation with the practical application of those techniques today.
— Ocean Navigator

Ever wonder how the Polynesians managed to find their way throughout the Pacific? And what about the Vikings? Even if they would have stopped to ask for directions, no one had any. There were no navigation instruments or charts. This book investigates their navigation capabilities and shows you how practical, technology-free navigation can be used to enhance modern navigation. Interesting stuff!
— Latitudes & Attitudes

The navigation skills of the ancients were legendary yet seem to pale in comparison with modern technology and navigation research—but The Barefoot Navigator: Navigating with the Skills of the Ancients offers up an important survey of these early skills, and applies them to modern times. From how to analyze clouds and currents to determine direction to how 21st century sailors can integrate these techniques with modern equipment, any sailor will find The Barefoot Navigator intriguing.

— Midwest Book Review

[Lagan's] returned to square one: the skills of the ancients, who found tiny islands hundreds of miles away by discerning the amplitude, wave-length, and direction of the seas; the positions of stars and constellations; the size and behavior of seabirds; and the like. The Barefoot Navigator is an exciting read that makes a compelling argument: To navigate better and with greater satisfaction, sailors must learn more about the sea around them.
— Cruising World

The Barefoot Navigator

Jack Lagan

The Barefoot Navigator

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