Sextant Theory & Practice (Vancouver)

The Vancouver Chapter is pleased to offer a one day, in person course on the basic Theory and Practice of the Sextant, instructed by Scott Crawshaw.  Knowledge of the theory and use of the sextant provides an excellent foundation skill for all offshore sailors and can provide a trustworthy navigation tool when modern systems fail for whatever reason.

Do you have a sextant but don’t know how to use it?  Do you know want to know what MERPASS is? Do you want to learn more about Celestial Navigation?  Would you like to have a back-up navigation system you can use if your GPS stops working? Then this is the course for you.

Course Format

The course planned is to provide education on the basic theory of Celestial Navigation and go over the parts of a sextant in a morning session using a PPT presentation and a real live sextant, followed by a practical session at Whytecliff Park in the early afternoon.  MERPASS is at 13:10 and so we want to be down the beach at Whytecliff Park no later than 12:30 to allow people to play with their sextants before apparent noon.

Everyone will need to bring a sextant.  Although you can do the theory part without one, the practical part requires a sextant.  We will have a limited number of “borrowed” sextants available from members not taking the course but to get the most of out the course it is best to practice with the sextant you plan on using.

Instructor

The course instructor is Scott Crawshaw, who recently retired from the Navy.  He has sailed for over 40 years and has over 50,000 miles of ocean water experience.  This includes skippering the Royal Canadian Navy’s Tall Ship, HMCS Oriole and four years of offshore sailing with his family aboard the sailing vessel Peregrinata.  His qualifications include a Transport Canada Master Mariner, unlimited tonnage; a Navy Surface Command Qualification, unlimited tonnage; an ISPA instructor qualification and is a CYA Yachtmaster and a CRYA Ocean Yachtmaster Instructor.

Scott was in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1979 to 2022 and has extensive instructor experience in all navigation topics from basic to advanced.  He specialised in navigation and shiphandling and was the Navy’s Senior Navigation Instructor in 1989-1991 and again from 2006-2011.  In addition to HMCS Oriole he has commanded two of the RCN’s Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels, HMC Ships Whitehorse and Yellowknife and has extensive experience skippering the Orca class training vessels.

Scott has a degree in Physics and Physical Oceanography from Royal Roads Military College.  He lives in Victoria, with his wife Sonia, where he is now a full-time grandpa.

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