High school students from Tabor Academy learn the arcane skill of celestial navigation, steering their school’s training vessel to Bermuda in a race that limits them to non-electronic navigation. This story is about self-sufficiency in the digital era.

Electronics have permeated into every aspect of modern society, making us reliant on them for basic everyday tasks like communication and research. In the sport of offshore sailing, where the night sky has been used to navigate for thousands of years, most people would be hopeless without their GPS. Today, few people have had the opportunity to learn how to navigate using celestial bodies. 

Celestial follows a crew of students onboard the schooner S.S.V Tabor Boy as they compete in the 2019 Marion to Bermuda Race navigating exclusively with celestial navigation. Directed and produced by Jack Gordon, the film gets an intimate look at life onboard the vessel and the intricacies of navigating celestially. 

By following the three Watch Officers and the Captain onboard Tabor Boy, the film shows the value of learning to navigate celestially and the deeper connection it produces between the sailor and the sea. Onboard the vessel for the entirety of the race from Massachusetts to Bermuda, the film captures the mental and physical strain of offshore sailing.