Many mariners learn navigation without getting into sextant piloting, despite the fact that it is one of our most powerful means of locating our position when we do not have access to GPS. In part this is due to the subject not being covered much in standard texts, but we do cover it in all of our works, and we have an extended discussion the booklet: How to use Plastic Sextants.
We were led to putting that content in this book because most of sextant piloting can be accomplished with an inexpensive plastic sextant, even the very basic Davis Mark3. We also have a booklet on the use of the Mark 3, but it does not focus on sextant piloting, just basic cel nav. GPS Back-up with a Mark 3 Sextant, which is a small, 0ne-book complete solution to a celestial fix.
In our recent update to the StarPilot apps, we were reminded that these apps also uniquely solve the 3-body problem, which is a simple sextant piloting technique that leads to a highly accurate position. Good enough, for example, to detect anchor drag in a small bay.
But there are some subtleties to this procedure, which led us to create this training tool on the 3-body problem.
For now this blog post is just a holding place (linked inside the app) for more to follow shortly, plus notes on this app and this procedure...
Sept 19, 2026.
