Celestial Navigation? Forget it!

[johnamross]

Astro navigation is not difficult!! It is a great way to occupy yourself on passage too - you never know when George "dubya" Bush might switch off GPS! The sextant (even plastic types) are extremely useful in coatal navigation and pilotage as well - horizontal sextant fixes and distances from charted heights are very accurate. In the Navy we used these techniques to calibrate our gyro compasses and check radio direction finders and GPS.
Its a good bit of kit to carry and it is very satisfying to find out where you are without relying on the electronics.

[redwoodtree]

Get out your sextants ladies and gentlemen, the government will be turning down the GPSes any minute now...

http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030318154133.7p1uva5u.html

[Sailmc]

They will not turn GPS "down". They will merely turn "dithering" back on which gives an accuracy of 50'' to 300'' circle. This is what was in place several years ago. If you can do that with a sextant on a pitching boat then my hat''s off to you my friend!

[pirateofcapeann]

Let me find you a filly for your proud stallion seed
to keep the old line going.
And we''ll stand you abreast at the back of the wood
behind the young trees growing
To hide you from eyes that mock at your girth
your eighteen hands to the shoulder
And one day when the oil barons have all dripped dry
and the nights are seen to draw colder
They''ll beg for your strength, your gentle power
your noble grace and your bearing
And you''ll strain once again to the sound of the gulls
in the wake of the deep plough, sharing.

Tull, Heavy Horses

[BigRed56]

Ahoy me Pirate friend, ye be waxing poetic again, send me some of wot ye be smoking!! Ye Ye Ye, Yo Yo Yo and a bottle of rum for me tis time to say de end, me thinks cause tis gonna blow purty hard soon , so batten down yer hatches and and lash down that bloody plank me GPS knows where I am in the middle of this foggy bank. Twas once a cruise where de sun shone not and de crew was scared for sure but dis ere Pirate swilled his rum and put new batteries in. Dem stars me thinks are but a trick of the eye wots move in mysterious ways, but worry me not abouts dose dots cause the moon may be bright an the stars be alight but me neon screen shows me de way. Pirate of Pine Island.

[pirateofcapeann]

Tis nothin’ but good plug in me poipe! Perhaps I’ve been sailing in an 80 proof breeze wif the Capt’n! Aye, tis true enough that even afore, the mighty hog-yolk had its disbeliveers! In the annals of history and my guess will be; forever more, no instrument of navigation will sit in rule as long as the faithful sextant! Aye, I have the glowing screen of GPS too, and should it fail, I have a back up! But tucked away, in my locker is a Davis MK5 along side me 50 fathom of sounding line, all marked out an’ wif a nice shiny lead too. But it’ll all go for naught should I forget how to use it! That’s me point. Use what ever you like to get you where you’re goin’. Put a cleric on ye bows wif a ‘vinin’ rod fer all I cares! Just when that sea washes him and his foolish stick by the boards, fer the sake o’ the trip you should be able to replace him wif somethin’, and so should your kids and their kids after!

Pi

[HOOKER7]

CN vs battery-nav isn''t a question of either-or. Like maintaining a DR and carrying an EPIRB, you never need it until you need it.

[JoeNJayne]

I must confess to being at a slight loss as to the the deep rootedness of the contrasting opinions here...


Yes, a lead line is great to have, so is a sextant.. why not ??.. get a cheap one.. store it away.. dont matter if you dont use it, providing you CAN use it... I dont see the argument...

Why carry flares ??... surely the gps coordinates are enough.. :-)

Why carry a MOB pole, light, personal locater etc etc.. just simply put on a new fangled life line, survival, make ya tea suit and you will never go ob lol...

Why carry oars ???.. carry a second outboard... or a third..

Lets get a rotating video cam and forget lookouts...

I dunno, seems much ado about nothing

JJ

[Nereus32]

Didn''t they say that the calculator would never replace the slide rule?

[928frenzy]

How good is a calculator with dead batteries? My slide-rule works without batteries, and it''s not a bad way to keep the mind busy. ;^)

Same is true for a sextant. It is not as accurate as GPS, nor as easy to use. However, it will likely survive a lightning strike and running down the battieries woun''t affect it. I think we all wish that were true for GPS, but it''s not!

Does your car have a spare? Do you really need it since almost any tow-company can fix a flat or tow you to a place where it can be fixed. However, what will you do if you get a flat in a remote area, and a tow truck may not show up for hours?

I consider my sextant like "a spare". It also helps keep my navigation skills up-to-date while providing a bit of mental exercise.

~ Happy sails to you ~ _/) ~