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Appena si sono messi a navigare, hanno avvistato una foca.

Appena si sono messi a navigare, hanno avvistato una foca.
As soon as they started sailing, they spotted a seal.
From Lesson 419:Simultaneous actions (nel + infinitive)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Appena si sono messi a navigare, hanno avvistato una foca.

Since this lesson is about nel + infinitive, could we use nel navigare in this sentence?
You could, but it changes the meaning. Nel navigare means "while sailing" (simultaneity). The original sentence uses appena (as soon as) and the verb mettersi a to emphasize immediate succession: they spotted the seal the very moment they set out.
Why use si sono messi a instead of hanno cominciato a?
Mettersi a (literally "to put oneself to") is a common, slightly more active way to say "to set about doing" or "to start a task". Because it's a reflexive verb, it takes essere in the past tense (si sono messi). If you used cominciare, it would take avere: hanno cominciato a navigare.
Why does messi end in -i but avvistato ends in -o, even though they share the same subject?
The ending depends on the auxiliary verb. Because mettersi a takes essere, its past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject (masculine plural messi). Avvistare (to spot) takes avere (hanno avvistato), so its past participle keeps the default -o ending.
Is navigare strictly used for literal sailing?
Not anymore! Just like the English verbs "to surf" or "to navigate", navigare is the standard Italian verb for browsing the web (e.g., navigare su internet).

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