ASA 117 Basic Celestial Endorsement | Modern Sailing

ASA 117 Basic Celestial Endorsement

2 days, 9:00am - 3:30pm

Embark on a journey to learn the age-old techniques of celestial navigation, a fundamental skill that connects mariners to the vastness of the cosmos and the traditions of seafaring. While modern vessels are equipped with sophisticated electronic navigation systems, the ability to pinpoint your position using the sun, moon, planets, and stars offers self-reliance and seaworthy preparedness. 

The ASA 117 course introduces sailors to the timeless art of celestial navigation using a sextant and celestial bodies to determine position at sea. This course is designed for those interested in gaining a foundational understanding of how to navigate offshore without relying on GPS or electronic tools. 

What You'll Learn:

  • Basic concepts of celestial navigation
  • Use and care of the sextant
  • How to measure the sun's altitude
  • Use of the Nautical Almanac and sight reduction table
  • Determining latitude and longitude by sun sight
  • Understanding time, time zones, and GMT
  • Plotting lines of position (LOPs) on a nautical chart

Your Celestial Endorsement textbook, GPS Backup with a Mark 2 Sextant by David Burch, is included with the purchase of your course and will be mailed to you. If you prefer to pick up your course materials in person or if you signed up less than a week from the first day of your course, please contact our office. Advance study of these books will enhance your success in this course.

Enroll in ASA 117 to equip yourself with this essential skill. If you're interested in a deeper dive into celestial navigation, look for our ASA 107 course, typically scheduled during the fall and winter months.

Cost for Members: 
$545
Cost for Non Members: 
$725
Prerequisites: 
ASA 105 Coastal Navigation
Capt. Steve Matles using sextant

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  • John Clark

    Every aspect of Modern Sailing - training, syllabus, course materials, quality of the boats, quality of the instructors, and the very friendly and helpful staff - exceeded my expectations. Modern Sailing has a first class sailing program in an environment with challenging winds and currents. I look forward to coming back to charter a boat and certainly plan to continue my sailing training.

  • Sara Jane G.

    I've taken two classes at MSS&C and was very happy with the program. This is also a great club with lots of opportunities for camaraderie and practice on the water. The boats in the fleet are fantastic and kept in tip-top shape. I highly recommend for all sailors and would-be sailors!

  • Mike, Santa Rosa, California

    All of the courses and my instructors (JT and Stan) were extremely professional and full of knowledge and experience. I found I was able to learn from their experiences beyond the scope of the courses, and look forward to future opportunities to do so. I would highly recommend Modern Sailing to anyone.

  • Warren Leiden, Member

    I try to get out on the water every week: out the Gate, around Angel, up Raccoon - I love it all. After 18 years as a member of OCSC in Berkeley, I learned to sail the bigger boats at Modern by taking ASA 103 and 104. My ASA 104 instructor Dave Russell was terrific. Also, Captain Bill Moreland has been very generous in giving informal advice whenever I’ve asked him. Thanks to Bill, I no longer have any anxiety about docking!

  • Emma & George Stubbs, Sausalito

    We just took our ASA 106 at a school in Rhode Island as we prepare for 6 months of cruising in the Caribbean. The class was great, but more than anything it made us really appreciate the quality of teaching and rigor at Modern Sailing. Even though we were the newest to sailing, the group seemed to think that we had the best fundamentals. We felt very well prepared and we see why Modern Sailing has the reputation it does.

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Modern Sailing School & Club

Sausalito Location
2310 Marinship Way, Sausalito
(415) 331-8250
(800) 995-1668

Berkeley Location
1 Spinnaker Way, Berkeley
(415) 331-8250
(800) 995-1668

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