Sextant.. Navigation tool or ornament?

Nostrodamus

Nostrodamus

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Do you still think there is a use for the Sextant or should it be mounted on the bulkhead as an ornament?
Do you carry a Sextant and when was the last time you really needed to use it or did you find something else to get you out of your predicament.
I have to admit I did the course many moons ago and have let my knowledge slip through not doing enough sights. If I needed it now I would be hesitant about trusting my findings.
Of those crossing the Oceans this year how many can use a sextant and get a decent fix?
 
Nostrodamus said:
Do you carry a Sextant and when was the last time you really needed to use it or did you find something else to get you out of your predicament.
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Last time I used one in anger was on a cross-channel passage in hazy conditions. We had a total electrical failure and after about 70 miles without a fix we needed to find our way into St Malo avoiding the hard bits like the Minquiers and Roches Douvres. An afternoon sun position line gave us a clear lead in and we made a perfect landfall.

I don't normally take the sextant when coastal cruising but always have it on board with the necessary tables for long passages.
 
snowleopard said:
Last time I used one in anger was on a cross-channel passage in hazy conditions. We had a total electrical failure and after about 70 miles without a fix we needed to find our way into St Malo avoiding the hard bits like the Minquiers and Roches Douvres. An afternoon sun position line gave us a clear lead in and we made a perfect landfall.

I don't normally take the sextant when coastal cruising but always have it on board with the necessary tables for long passages.
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Just out of interest didn’t you have a hand held GPS.
One of the reasons I ask this question is that I have GPS on my phone, I pad, handheld GPS, handheld radio, and computer. I am still expecting Clarkes to put one in the heel of the shoes rather than the compass they used to put there. I must admit I would use these first and unless the GPS went down at source I would feel little need to blow the dust off the sextant.
 
Nostrodamus said:
Just out of interest didn’t you have a hand held GPS.
Click to expand...

I do now but that boat didn't.

If you have faith that the GPS system will always stay operational and unjammed and that your electronics won't get fried by a lightning strike it makes sense to rely totally on it.

With a name like yours you must be very trusting :D
 
Nostrodamus said:
Just out of interest didn’t you have a hand held GPS.
One of the reasons I ask this question is that I have GPS on my phone, I pad, handheld GPS, handheld radio, and computer. I am still expecting Clarkes to put one in the heel of the shoes rather than the compass they used to put there. I must admit I would use these first and unless the GPS went down at source I would feel little need to blow the dust off the sextant.
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Interesting.
What do you "use" your boat for?
Is it just a means of transport?
In the case of a sailing boat, why do you still bother with something that involves going slowly, expensively, often in the wrong direction and usually leaning over? It's a lot quicker and easier in a motor boat, and easier (and cheaper) by ferry.

The answer, I suspect, is that it gives you pleasure (call it "fun" or "satisfaction" or "adventure" or what you will).

So why let the tedious business of reading numbers off a screen (or watching a moving blob) take over from the challenge, satisfaction, or sheer fun of navigation?
 
I totally agree that the more skills we have the better. I also suspect that there are a lot of people who would have been totally lost if they were in the same position as you.
Not so long ago nobody would concider going out of the sight of land without being able to use a sextant but today I suspect that most people on an ARC crossing or the like do not carry a sextant.
 
Nostrodamus said:
Do you still think there is a use for the Sextant or should it be mounted on the bulkhead as an ornament?
Do you carry a Sextant and when was the last time you really needed to use it or did you find something else to get you out of your predicament.
I have to admit I did the course many moons ago and have let my knowledge slip through not doing enough sights. If I needed it now I would be hesitant about trusting my findings.
Of those crossing the Oceans this year how many can use a sextant and get a decent fix?
Click to expand...
On any long-distance passage I carry a sextant and paper tables, and two rated Casio waterproof wristwatches. Mind you, on the last occasion (not THAT long ago) I needed a position without electronics (because they'd all got very wet and died) I took the "waterproof" handheld GPS to bits and washed the gubbins inside in fresh water, then dried them in a low oven, before re-assembling. It then worked again.

As I knew there was several hundred miles between us and any hard bits I did not rush to use the sextant - I was more interested in getting engine, radio and fridge working again. Once most stuff was working I did take sights, and came up with a pos 2 miles from the GPS.
 
On a 6,200 mile journey around the Cape of Good Hope to the Caribbean we carried a sextant and I was given some lessons in it but we never needed it.

I am now learning to use it for the simple delight of doing so. I have a number of GPS back ups on board but just like the satisfaction of using a sextant.
 
timbartlett said:
So why let the tedious business of reading numbers off a screen (or watching a moving blob) take over from the challenge, satisfaction, or sheer fun of navigation?
Click to expand...

I have a sextant on board an use it occasionally. Using it is no more fun to me than playing with the chartplotter.

However, if anyone tells me they are a waste of time I am ready with all the defense lines that are well rehearsed by those of us in the Sextant Qualified Freemasons.

If I was to find myself in the situation where

  1. I did not know where I was
  2. I was out of sight of land
  3. I had lost my dead reckoning plot, and
  4. My iphone, ipad, boat mounted GPS, backup boat GPS and spare GPS (which is stored turned off with the batteries out) had been fried by EMP


I think i would probably take that as a hint from the almightly that my time was up.
 
The sheer delight in getting a position from the heavens does it for me.

Some people need to get the Ocean certificate for furthering their STCW qualifications, so its certainly not a dying art.

By coincidence I have just spent the last week tootling around the Med taking a stack of sights with two candidates. One passed his exam about an hour ago, the other is being grilled as I write!

Also a big thank you to Tim Bartlett, his book on astro has been very helpful and finally, he has unravelled the mysteries of the planet chart in the almanac!!! Tops.

No relation.....
 
As It's accepted practice to Check all positions obtained using two methods. How do you check your gps position when out of sight of land? By celestial fixes of course. As a minimum I do morning and evening star sights. With noon sights when weather permits. I run 2 independent gps's running from separate power supplies and back up emergency power.
Though I might add that I have 3 qualified navigators to do all the number crunching.
 
AndrewF said:
As It's accepted practice to Check all positions obtained using two methods. How do you check your gps position when out of sight of land? By celestial fixes of course.
Click to expand...

Of course you could just compare the readings of 2 separate GPSs. It's a bit like the blonde who knew she was having twins because she did 2 pregnancy tests and they both came out positive. ;)
 
Sextant

Lightning strikes, and the U.S.A. going to war both really do happen - believe what you feel like about GPS Selectability.

What hasn't been mentioned yet is that one can use the thing for a distance off a charted height of an object, ie lighthouse ideally, which combined with a compass will give a very welcome position fix, no volts or satellites required.
 
As some one who obtained their RN Ocean Navigation certificate without taking one sextant sight, I am well aware that there are other ways of determining ones position without using radio based nav aids. The last time I actually used a sextant was just after the introduction of decimal currency when I used a periscope artificial horizon sextant.

Having said that if I was planning a 'proper' ocean passage I would take a sextant, but for most occasions muliple independant GPS sets will do for me
 
I take it some people haven't heard of failed generators ( whatever type ) and flat batteries, which includes a locker full of AA's and a handheld !

I agree most of us use things like GPS most of the time, and the user-friendliness makes it a distinct aid to safety especially if with a small - or no- crew at night.

Totally relying on it with no back-up is like applying in capital letters beforehand to be included in the ' There I was / Sod's law '/ next edition !
 
Well how about using it for Horizontal and Verticle angles in coastal navigation. Asuming you still have (know what one is!) a paper chart and a little knowledge then its more acurate and faster than most other traditional fixing methods.

It's not just a tool for offshore navigation, it's a great bit of kit to have aboard!

As said before by many people, batteries/generators/alternators/engines fail and you will drown a piece of electronic equipment and at some time Uncle Sam will bugger up the GPS.

But GPS is good and I like most carry a spare - but I also carry a sextant and tables as well.
 
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