Navigators: The Sextant you own and have a License?

[Boasun]

Hey people. Am Curious as to how many Navigators we have here? Their Sextants and if they have a License?

I have a C Plath sextant, bought it 2nd hand but from a reliable dealer.
The License is: 1600 ton Master / 2nd Mate Unlimited Tonnage.
along with ARPA, GMDSS, STCW and Able Seaman.


That is a start on this thread. NOW How about you?

[captbillc]

sextant is a Heath navigation , london, uk i let my license expire in october. with the transportation workers ID card, drug test $50 ( i never used drugs ) physical , etc i figured it would cost close to $500 so i let it expire . my license was 100Ton near costal for auxiliary sailing vessels

[erps]

One of those $80-100 Davis Plastic sextants used for CN practice and occasional fixes with a three armed protractor. No licenses but part of the job is running boats in local coastal waters and a major nearby river and I'm often out when the weather is nasty, dark, or foggy. Fog gives me a neck ache almost every time.

[Valiente]

No licence, but I have the Canadian PCOC since '99 (when it came out), the Toronto Harbour Licence (involves essentially maneuvering a small outboard skiff around a marina and identifying some basic COLREGS stuff), and have passed the following courses: the 12-class "Boating" course from CPS, the 4 week "Coastal Pilotage" course from CPS, and a six-class Celestial Navigation course offered by a former CPS instructor at the club.

I also have an Astra IIIB sextant, a Freiberger Yacht sextant and a Davis 25 for the kid. I carry a hand-held compass and an old optical rangefinder, as well as a Trimble GPS, two Magellan handhelds and a Raymarine late '90s chartplotter. I have a Ritchie Globemaster with compensators at the helm and a KVH gyro compass. I also carry all local charts, although I tend to rely on Notice to Mariners over the radio as Lake Ontario doesn't have a lot of news in this regard.

Lastly, my watch has a recording barometer and a compass, but I have to get it five and a half feet off the steel deck before it will read properly! So that's a load of info and backup.

I would like to take the RYA Yachtmaster and then the Oceanmaster courses in Britain (I hold dual citizenship and thus it would be a matter of getting there and affording the time and cost of a few weeks in a B&B) because they seem to be the most respected qualifications around the world short of the actual "tickets" professional mariners or naval personnel can acquire.

The "six-pack" offered by the U.S. Coast Guard is considered pretty basic and Caribbean-oriented by non-U.S. sailors, as it is no more difficult than the basic licensing you need in most countries to sail at all. Alex is pretty up on this sort of thing. Of course, the vast majority of Canadian and U.S. sailors have little or no formal training at all, as the PCOC in Canada is a bit of a joke, but fractionally better than nothing, I suppose.

One point: The USCG will only certify U.S. citizens, which is fine, I suppose, but I would take the six-pack if I could, just to have SOMETHING. Canadian Power Squadron courses are quite similar, but they are NOT "official qualifications". I would have to go to "Canadian Sailor School" for that, and I'm a bit old to consider a career on lake freighters....

[bubb2]

Davis mark 15
!00 ton Masters, sail and tow endorsements.

[bubb2]

Originally Posted by Valiente

The "six-pack" offered by the U.S. Coast Guard is considered pretty basic and Caribbean-oriented by non-U.S. sailors, as it is no more difficult than the basic licensing you need in most countries to sail at all.

One point: The USCG will only certify U.S. citizens, which is fine, I suppose, but I would take the six-pack if I could, just to have SOMETHING.

The 6 pack can be held by a non-citizen. It is the masters that you have to be a citizen to hold.

Please, sit for the 6-pack test, I think you find it more then "pretty basic."

[camaraderie]

I've got the newest model. No license necessary!

[Valiente]

Originally Posted by bubb2

The 6 pack can be held by a non-citizen. It is the masters that you have to be a citizen to hold.

Please, sit for the 6-pack test, I think you find it more then "pretty basic."

I'll check that out, but it looked less daunting than the RYA courses. Thanks for the info.

EDIT: Bubb, this site states explicitly that only U.S. citizens need apply.

Six Pack Captain's Course

I see the difference between "Captain" and "Master", and the classes of Inland, Great Lakes and Coastal, but I'm looking for something more along the Yachtmaster line anyway. As you can see here, you take the Yachtmaster course after a large number of sea miles and days

RYA Sailing School - Fastrack Yachtmaster Courses, Gibraltar and Spain.

and the reason is that they appear to consolidate, verify and if necessary, expand and correct the knowledge that didn't get you killed getting the the U.K. Of course, you can just sit the exam if you think you already know it all, and qualify without further training. That's probably why Yachtmaster/Oceanmaster carry weight with insurance companies.

[sailaway21]

Tamaya
Master, Oceans, Steam or Motor, Any Gross Tons
Radar Observer

[bubb2]

from the CG web site

Proof of Citizenship and Any Legal Name Change:

To obtain a Merchant Mariner’s Document (MMD), you must be a U.S. citizen or an alien "lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence." To obtain a license, you must be a U.S. citizen except non-citizens may apply for an Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels (OUPV) license limited to undocumented vessels less than 5 net tons. All original license and document transactions must provide acceptable proof of nationality (i.e., original passport, birth certificate, or baptismal certificate). All subsequent applications by non-U.S. citizens (i.e., renewal, upgrade, duplicate) must provide proof of nationality and immigration status. All original license and document transactions must provide an original social security card. If your name has changed due to marriage, divorce, or a legal name change, you must provide documentation of your name change (for example, a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or judicial name change) and your current legal name.

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Verification of Sea Service: Several options are available for the mariner