good morning to all !
i agree completely with the post of snowleopard #83 ! no sence of arguing more !
as the interest of using the sextant is obviously very great and not so easy understandable for many, what i would like to suggest, for some of the winter's weekends, is to prepare and arrange a short introduction internet course/discussion, whatever you like to call it, for practical use and position fix, using the sextant!
what i have in mind:
- sextant - how to use and error finding
- VERY BRIEF theory for horizontal and equatorial systems or how are the stars positions
and indentified on the sky - needed to understand, why you will need the declination for
example, your approximate position, your time and etc
- star finder - identifying the stars before star observation
- using of sight reduction table for marine navigation
- calculation the position line
- plotting the position line on chart or on separate paper
- determining the position
- sun, polaris, distance from known shore object
- some tricks and hints
please note, this is NOT a preparation for a yacht master examination, but just shearing my knowledge of position fixing using the sextant!
after this one, you will be able to fix your position at open sea using the stars!
of course, this will be not free of charge - everyone may contribute, what he like, when he like and where he like, without obligation - the choice is yours !
i need some preparation in advance as one things is to know, how to do the things and completely different is, how to show the others, what you know !
please let me know if you think that this is workable, is someone interested and any suggestions are welcome
thanks and wish you a nice day
regards
www.neatcss.com
As long as we can keep the ocean on the outside, the crew on the inside, move it somehow and steer it, we don't have a crisis on a boat. All the rest of the stuff is just pandering to paranoia. Yes? No?
Y'know, it's not so much the enshrining of astro and the sanctity of the sextant that I'd like to see. It is, rather, the re-establishment and support for the fundamental truth - that, on the water, we should expect, and be expected, to be self-reliant.
If the primary halyard abrades through, we rig up something else. If there's a leaky hull fitting, we stop it. If one means of providing navigational information goes 'tits-up' for whatever reason, we use something else.
'Reversionary techniques'..... or "What do we do if....?"
An encouragement, please, - from the RYA and other bodies that set themselves up over the rest of us - that the proper and respected way to go about our business on the water is to deal with the inconveniences, the problems that occur, the equipment failures, quietly, effectively and without creating a fuss.
I'm quite confident I can find the coast of France - day or night - from either end of the Isle of Wight, without GPS, AIS, TSS or SOS. The Romans managed it, The Phoenicians managed it. The mediaeval Dutch managed it. Only the Spanish seemed to have had some trouble.
Cross the Atlantic from Portugal? Easy! Take a couple of carracks, some pickled fish ( bacalao ), plenty of dried bread and wine, then go as far downwind as the Canary Island fishermen do, then just keep going. We'd surely rock up somewhere with a good band, good rum, and an interesting way with chillies and chicken. Simples!
As long as we can keep the ocean on the outside, the crew on the inside, move it somehow and steer it, we don't have a crisis on a boat. All the rest of the stuff is just pandering to paranoia. Yes? No?
