"A star to steer her by"

If you are looking for a star to steer by, you should check this out.

The Planetarium at Mystic Seaport in conjunction with the “NavList” online community is pleased to announce the second biennial “Celestial Navigation Weekend” devoted to preserving the art and practice of celestial navigation and nautical astronomy, to be held at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut Friday through Sunday, June 6,7,8, 2008.

In case you can’t make it to Mystic you can always brush up on your stellar knowledge on Google Sky.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMhGpzyFdhE&]

I’m sure that there’s lots of good info on the Interwebs but this one caught my eye. Boating for the Not-Too-Bright offers “Celestial Navigation for the Complete Idiot.”

Finally, I know this appears to be off topic but it’s one of the best music videos I’ve seen in a long time and there actually is a loose connection.

[YouTube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=lul-Y8vSr0I&]

Sea-Fever references in Star Trek (via Memory Alpha)

“John Masefield was a 20th century English writer and poet, noted for his
poem ‘Sea-Fever’ which contains the line: ‘And all I ask is a tall ship and
a star to steer her by.’ This line appeared on the dedication plaques of
the USS Enterprise-A and the USS Defiant.
In 2268, James T. Kirk quotes from Sea-Fever to Leonard McCoy. (TOS: ‘The
Ultimate Computer’)
In 2287, Leonard McCoy confused the Masefield for Herman Melville, but was
corrected by Spock. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
In 2372, Quark paraphrased Masefield’s poem, Sea-Fever, while aboard his
ship Quark’s Treasure, saying ‘all I ask is a tall ship…and a load of
contraband to fill her with.’ (DS9: ‘Little Green Men’)”