simonjinks
New member
Where have all the old used sextants gone? I begrudgingly sold mine a few years back to get on the property ladder, but i'm finding it damn hard to replace. Any suggestions?
Sextants. Where are they now?
- Thread starter simonjinks
- Start date
Mirelle
N/A
I fancy that, since deck officers at sea no longer bother with them, the supply onto the yottimarket of nice sextants sold by Masters going ashore (which is exactly where my nice Plath came from - it was in J.D. Potter's window in the Minories for all of 10 minutes in 1983) has dried up and yachtsmen are reluctant to part with them. Ones with verniers seem to be regarded as "nautical antiques" and to end up in specialist shops - where some idiot polishes the arc!
I fancy, however, that if you were to contact the fine old fashioned firm of B. Cooke, in Kingston-upon-Hull, they would sell you a new one, and I would buy it because one wonders how much longer they will make them for?
I fancy, however, that if you were to contact the fine old fashioned firm of B. Cooke, in Kingston-upon-Hull, they would sell you a new one, and I would buy it because one wonders how much longer they will make them for?
webcraft
Well-known member
I bought a new Astra IIIB from
http://www.navastro-boutique.com/
It's a French company, was the cheapest I could find on the web and gave very good service.
Now I've just got to find time to learn to use it!
- Nick
BlueMoment.Com
http://www.bluemoment.com
http://www.navastro-boutique.com/
It's a French company, was the cheapest I could find on the web and gave very good service.
Now I've just got to find time to learn to use it!
- Nick
BlueMoment.Com
http://www.bluemoment.com
G
Guest
Guest
Do you intend to use it ?
I have never overheard a decent mobile phone conversation and neither have I ever seen someone on the water using a sextant.
I can only assume that real sailors request to be buried with 'em.
I have never overheard a decent mobile phone conversation and neither have I ever seen someone on the water using a sextant.
I can only assume that real sailors request to be buried with 'em.
Mirelle
N/A
Now you do surprise me
I used to have mine in my hand pretty often when making coastal passages; less so now, with GPS, but old habits die hard.
I used to have mine in my hand pretty often when making coastal passages; less so now, with GPS, but old habits die hard.
simonjinks
New member
Re: Do you intend to use it ?
Yep
Neither have i, especially if someone calls me on it on my day off.
Is that so they can check the measurment of the hole using a sort of reverse height of eye from six foot under. Good one for Nories.
Yep
Neither have i, especially if someone calls me on it on my day off.
Is that so they can check the measurment of the hole using a sort of reverse height of eye from six foot under. Good one for Nories.
simonjinks
New member
Mine came from the Minories about three years after you bought yours.
Ah well, i'll keep looking.
Ah well, i'll keep looking.
simonjinks
New member
Thanks i'll check them out. Is that the Chinese or Russian Astra?
webcraft
Well-known member
G
Guest
Guest
Time Team & Graves
I think you may well be right about the hole size Simon !
If Time Team dig up our graves in around 1000 year's time they will know w'ere sailors. Not by the sextants next to us but by the scar tissue on our bonce's ! Also, they can probably tell gaff rigger's by their arm muscles and overall hairyness. Power boater's cos they will still be wearing sunglasses !
Regards
I think you may well be right about the hole size Simon !
If Time Team dig up our graves in around 1000 year's time they will know w'ere sailors. Not by the sextants next to us but by the scar tissue on our bonce's ! Also, they can probably tell gaff rigger's by their arm muscles and overall hairyness. Power boater's cos they will still be wearing sunglasses !
Regards
simonjinks
New member
Re: Time Team & Graves
Lets hope it's a year 3000 Carenza equivelent.
Lets hope it's a year 3000 Carenza equivelent.
peterk
New member
hi simonjinks
After my British Satnav self-destroyed - leaky internal battery,
I acquired
a used full size Plath in 1993, from an retired Ecuadorian sea captain -
in trade for a humongous spermwhale tooth
that he,
the captain, wanted to drink hard stuff out of in his 7 Seas bar.
With its grey polarized shades the Plath was great on hazy/overcast days.
I found my way to Japan with it ( I said i had actually been headed for Korea...
but Japanese don't have our sense of humour,
at least where Korea is concerned)
I must have been one of the very last to tremble my way through the
Tuamotus by sextant alone(1995).
I ended up meeting an antique dealer on an uninhabited island in '96,
(Salomon Atoll, Chagos, BIOT)
who bought the Plath .
meanwhile I had gotten a GPS in Japan
in trade
for a Roman coin...
I do still carry my trusty WW2 aircraft bubble sextant, just in case...
I saw quite a few sextants offered cheaply on bulletins boards in California...
Best of Luck with your search!
...peter www.juprowa.com/kittel
After my British Satnav self-destroyed - leaky internal battery,
I acquired
a used full size Plath in 1993, from an retired Ecuadorian sea captain -
in trade for a humongous spermwhale tooth
that he,
the captain, wanted to drink hard stuff out of in his 7 Seas bar.
With its grey polarized shades the Plath was great on hazy/overcast days.
I found my way to Japan with it ( I said i had actually been headed for Korea...
but Japanese don't have our sense of humour,
at least where Korea is concerned)
I must have been one of the very last to tremble my way through the
Tuamotus by sextant alone(1995).
I ended up meeting an antique dealer on an uninhabited island in '96,
(Salomon Atoll, Chagos, BIOT)
who bought the Plath .
meanwhile I had gotten a GPS in Japan
in trade
for a Roman coin...
I do still carry my trusty WW2 aircraft bubble sextant, just in case...
I saw quite a few sextants offered cheaply on bulletins boards in California...
Best of Luck with your search!
...peter www.juprowa.com/kittel
milltech
Active member
I've got a couple of old Kelvin Hughes navy sextants in nice wooden boxes that I bought at an auction in a moment of weakness some years ago. Does anyone know who I can send them to for renovation and calibration?
John
John
John
John
G
Guest
Guest
Hmmm. One thing puzzles me about your reply, Peter. Salomon Atoll - if it was an uninhabited island, how come you met an antique dealer there? There must have been at least two of you inhabiting it at the time, if my maths serves me well?
My old Plath disappeared around 1987, the time of my divorce and everything being divided up and moved. I have deep suspicions about its disappearance, and can only sigh deeply with fondness at its memory. The latest Plaths sold by Kelvin Hughes are usable, but I couldn't find one anywhere with the polarising filters and illuminated arc that I had before.
My old Plath disappeared around 1987, the time of my divorce and everything being divided up and moved. I have deep suspicions about its disappearance, and can only sigh deeply with fondness at its memory. The latest Plaths sold by Kelvin Hughes are usable, but I couldn't find one anywhere with the polarising filters and illuminated arc that I had before.
peterk
New member
hi scam.....
Nobody lived ON the motus in the four months I was on Salomon.
I slept ahore a couple of times, but ze mozzies.......
The first eight days I was all alone on the atoll,
then cruising boats started showing up.
The Antique crewed on a boat from Sri Lanka to Malaysia
all I can say is: go there, Plath or not!
...peter
Nobody lived ON the motus in the four months I was on Salomon.
I slept ahore a couple of times, but ze mozzies.......
The first eight days I was all alone on the atoll,
then cruising boats started showing up.
The Antique crewed on a boat from Sri Lanka to Malaysia
all I can say is: go there, Plath or not!
...peter
HaraldS
New member
Cassens & Plath still make the one with polarizing filters, the model is called the horizon ultra. I think it sells for about €1250.--
look at http://www.cassens-plath.de/ (thers is an English language choice).
Don't mix them up with C. Plath, www.plath.de, they also used to do high end sextants, but I don't think they still do.
look at http://www.cassens-plath.de/ (thers is an English language choice).
Don't mix them up with C. Plath, www.plath.de, they also used to do high end sextants, but I don't think they still do.
