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I wonder if they also asked trained officers to do regular practise? The theory behind celestial navigation is fairly trivial (I've almost forgotten it all but
by gchadwick 11y ago
I wonder if they also asked trained officers to do regular practise? The theory behind celestial navigation is fairly trivial (I've almost forgotten it all but give me an alamnac and an hour and I'm confident I'd work it all out). The successful use of a sextant for a decent fix however requires training, practise and regular use to keep your skills sharp.
- gchadwick 11y ago> But it's only three hours of celestial navigation — so students won't be skilled with sextants. Looks like they won't even get a sextant out of its box
- Tepix 11y agoMoxie Marlinspike's documentary "Hold fast" (2010) [1] inspired me to learn how to use a sextant. Most of the sextants you can get on eBay these days are just for decoration, however. [1] "Hold Fast: Stories of maniac sailors, anarchist castaways, and the voyage of the S/V Pestilence..." https://vimeo.com/15351476 https://vimeo.com/15351476
- Luc 11y ago> Most of the sextants you can get on eBay these days are just for decoration, however. Ugh, these things are a plague. There's a factory in India pumping out most of these. They do a whole bunch of variations, boxes, antiquing, etc. Some sellers on eBay list them as genuine antique instruments, which is straight up deception. The replicas of box sextants (small pocket instruments in the shape of a round box) are especially hard to spot if the seller is dishonest.
- sizzzzlerz 11y agoIts also one thing, taking a sight on land but a whole other thing doing it on the ocean when the ship is rockin' and rollin'. That takes practice, too.