Know where you are.
Know how you know.
There's a particular satisfaction in taking a sextant sight, working the sight reduction by hand, and drawing two lines on a chart — and knowing, for certain, exactly where you are.
That's what Dog Star teaches: traditional celestial navigation, as a complete and understandable system, for sailors who want the real thing — not just the theory.
No black boxes.
Every tool we teach — and every tool we've built — shows you exactly how the answer is found.
Why learn it?
GPS can tell you where you are.
Celestial navigation teaches you how to know where you are.
You take the sight yourself.
You work the calculation yourself.
You draw the lines yourself.
And when they cross on the chart, you haven't simply been given a position.
You've found it.
That is understanding.
Understanding celestial navigation turns a sailor into a navigator.
Why Dog Star?
Dog Star Navigation takes its name from Sirius — the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night sky.
For generations, sailors used the sky not simply to observe the world, but to understand where they were within it. That idea is at the heart of Dog Star.
We respect the traditional methods of celestial navigation because they work. The sextant, Nautical Almanac, sight-reduction tables and plotting methods represent generations of accumulated knowledge.
But Dog Star isn't about recreating the past.
It's about understanding the system well enough to use it today.
Understand the system
Celestial navigation is best learned as a complete system, not as a collection of procedures to memorise.
You begin with the Earth and your position upon it. You establish a Dead Reckoning position, observe a celestial body with the sextant, use the Nautical Almanac to establish its position in the sky, and turn that observation into a Line of Position.
From there, observations become fixes, and fixes become part of an ongoing process of navigation.
From observation to position.
That's the journey we teach.
We want you to understand not only what to do, but why you're doing it. Once the underlying system makes sense, the individual techniques become easier to learn, remember and apply.
Learn first. Use technology to assist.
Traditional celestial navigation is a hands-on skill. But learning it doesn't mean rejecting modern technology.
At Dog Star, the method comes first. Our tools are there to help you see, explore and understand the ideas behind the navigation — to check a calculation, experiment with an observation, or see how changing one part of the problem affects another.
They are not black boxes.
Use technology to deepen understanding, not to hide the need for it.
A navigator who understands the system can use a calculator, computer, chartplotter or GPS with confidence — because they know what the instrument is telling them and why.
And when the technology is unavailable, the knowledge remains.
The Dog Star principle
Modern navigation and traditional navigation belong together.
DR predicts. GPS measures. Celestial verifies.
Dead Reckoning predicts where you expect to be from course, speed, time and leeway. GPS measures your position using satellite signals. Celestial navigation provides an independent check based on observations of the sky.
Each has its place. A good navigator understands the strengths and limitations of all three.
Dog Star exists to help sailors develop that understanding — and to become navigators who don't simply know their position, but know how they know.
Cruisers
Build the skills to navigate with confidence — with or without GPS.
Ocean voyagers
Develop a reliable celestial capability before heading offshore.
Sailing students
Learn navigation as a system, rather than simply following procedures.
Experienced navigators
Refresh, practice and deepen your traditional celestial skills.
One system. Five levels. A clear path from first principles to ocean navigation.
The Dog Star curriculum is structured as a progression. Each level introduces the knowledge and practical skills needed for the next, taking you from the foundations of position, Earth and time through to running celestial fixes offshore.
This is a single, structured course delivered in person around New Zealand — not five separate courses to choose between. Each level builds on the one before it, so you progress through all five in sequence. Online, self-paced delivery is coming soon.
Foundations
Position, the Earth, and time — plus your first Dead Reckoning position, before the sextant ever comes out.
Celestial Observer
The sextant, the celestial sphere, and taking a proper sight.
Celestial Navigator
Sight reduction and turning an observation into a Line of Position.
Celestial Fix
Plotting, fixing a position, and checking it against your Dead Reckoning.
Ocean Navigator
Running fixes and full offshore passage navigation — building the skills to maintain an independent position when required.
After the Core Celestial Course, you'll be able to:
These five levels make up the Core Celestial Course. Complete all five, and you're ready for the Advanced Celestial Course — five additional topics that build on this foundation.
Advanced Celestial Course
Not a second set of levels to work through in order — five topics, each adding a new celestial body or technique to what you already know.
Stars
Using Vol. 1 or Vol. 2/3, and selecting the right stars for a strong fix.
Planets
Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — bright enough to shoot well before full twilight.
The Moon
The most demanding correction chain in celestial navigation — parallax, HP, and SD.
Two-Body Fix
Combining two sights taken close together in time into a single, direct fix.
Twilight Planning
Finding your window and choosing stars with the right spread for a reliable fix.
Traditional method, modern tools
The sextant and the almanac come first. But Dog Star has also built its own suite of navigation tools to support that process. Four of them are free to use, right now, no registration required — the same tools you'll be working with early in the Core Celestial Course, plus a complete Celestial Navigation Glossary open to everyone.
Learn it. Work it. Check it.
Learn the traditional method, work the problem yourself, then use Dog Star's tools to check your understanding.
Sun Sight Calculator
Full sight reduction by the intercept method, H.O. 249 — enter a real observation and get intercept and azimuth, worked step by step.
Try the Sun Sight Calculator
Dead Reckoning Tool
Plot a DR track leg by leg — course, speed, leeway and current all carried forward automatically, with a live position and track plot.
Try the Dead Reckoning ToolCore Celestial Course Tools
Advanced Celestial Course Tools
Meet Dave
Dave Lewis — Founder & Instructor
Based in Urquharts Bay, Whangarei.
I began sailing in 1975, aged eleven.
But it was 1988 — a passage from Western Australia to Durban — that introduced me to celestial navigation.
I watched our navigator work entirely from a Nautical Almanac and sight reduction tables.
No GPS — it wasn't yet available to ordinary sailors.
Just the sun, the stars, and the mathematics of navigation.
I was hooked.
After a course in Durban, I navigated by the sun and the stars myself — south to Cape Town, north to St Helena, across the Atlantic to Fortaleza, through the Caribbean via Grenada and St Thomas, then north toward Bermuda.
Seven days out from St Thomas, en route to Bermuda, both our Loran and our early satellite navigation had failed.
It was celestial running fixes, taken throughout the day, that found that small island for us.
We carried on to Camden, Maine.
I'd already qualified as a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor in 1986, and years of teaching and presenting alongside my sailing followed.
But celestial navigation is one of the most satisfying achievements any sailor can make — it turns sailors into navigators.
I've watched GPS push the skill toward extinction.
There's no substitute for the resilience it builds.
I want to keep the practice of celestial navigation alive, and pass the knowledge and skills on to the next generation of sailors.
Register your interest
This isn't an instant booking — seats are limited and courses run in person, so every registration is confirmed by hand. Fill this in and Dave will follow up by email.