How did the sea explorers of centuries ago find their way to distant continents? To illustrate how it was done, Robert Hicks gathers information from various voyages from the age of discoveries. Devising a fictional expedition, Hicks follows the merchant galleon Guyft from Bristol, England, to Virginia in North America in 1611, captained by Tristram Hame. Navigational theory, methods, and instrumentation of the era are discussed within economic, political, scientific, and religious contexts, to show how the early modern navigator experienced his world.