I use it all the time. it is one more way of navigating and I use all
forms all the time.

Tell me where you went and never learned to navigate using some of the
oldest methods of navigation that there is?
If you have never heard of this before then you should be really
embarrassed. No one that has been around the sea for very long has gone
without knowing about it. A few years ago there was a TV series on the
discovery of Hawaii and a boat sailed to Hawaii using the same methods
- no compass or anything and made it just fine.

Better to keep your mouth shut and thought of as a fool then to open it
and remove all doubt!

Da Kine wrote:
Why is it that you don't like the idea of needing to know/learn
something?
I know celestial Nav.
My watch never got hurt when we were hit. My clock never got hurt. My
TV that had a clock didn't get hurt but that clock sped up. NOTHING
WAS HURT because I knew when to turn the power off and navigate like a
sailor!

As for celestial, I think I made a point that I use my sextant more for
weather observation then anything else, but I have ALWAYS done my math
longhand on paper. If you don't, you don't know celestial.
Computers are great, I'm on one now, but I trust paper charts, and
old school learning.
Tell me what your sextant tells you about the clouds?

The lightning excuse is not BS. Fighting someone who recommends being
smarter is BS. This is why I only come here once in a while, that and
the fact that I am more often then not out to sea as I will be in a few
weeks. I'm sorry if I stepped on your only chance to feel important.
I was giving information to someone that wanted to learn and someone
that might actually go sailing and lose sight of land. You don't need
to stick your head in to protect anything. I will be out sailing again
soon and your little domain will be yours again to spread stupidly with
your other slip sailing friends.

Keep your armchair warm and stay dry. You're suited for it.

What?? I still agree with the feloow who said that GPS is the best nav
tool to date. Don't leave home without it. While celestial worked, it
wasn't and isn't as good. What is your personal error? 3-5 metres like
GPS or 2 miles like everyone else that uses a sky wrench.

Da Kine wrote:
clouds rise over land faster then water. Waves bend around islands.
.... the really short version.

So how reliable is that fix? "There is land over there because of the
cloud rising above it."

What land, how far, what is the safe approach? How about at night? in
fog? in rain? or when it is completely over cast?

Da Kine wrote:
that is a good rule - just think about what might be important that you
are forgetting.

If you can't aford great stuff, at least buy a cheap sextant and learn
to use it. Learn a bit about the ocean for crying out load. If you want
to be a sailor then step up to the plate and learn the things that most
of us love to learn. You might even enjoy yourself and enjoy sailing
more then you do now.

Got the kit, been using it for 25+ years. I even watched the waves.
Like the GPS better.

otnmbrd wrote:
That same bolt of lightening will take out your calculator so you then
have to work stars long hand. It'll also kill your digital watch and
radio so you won't have the correct time. It'll probably short out your
boat so you won't be able to work the stars out until light the next
morning. The lightening excuse to learn astro is BS. Learn it because
you want to or take a couple extra handheld GPS. Practice dead
reckoning. Know where you are all the time.

Gaz


Let's see...... calculator gone, long hand star calc's....add a minute or
two to the solution.
digital watch killed..... in that case I'm probably dead too so what do I
care.... always have a mechanical clock that you know the error...no big
deal, was done for years.
lights out?....lite a candle or wait till daylight.... what the hell, it's
offshore navigation, what's the rush....
And how did you check the error on that deck watch? Radio? What was the
error and how much does it change daily? Can't just do the time check
anymore. Damn lightening.

Da Kine wrote:
you really are a smart ass aren't you. Learn to read and stop taking
things out of context. You're like that little spec of vomit after you
burp. I'm really tired of you.

How about that passage in the south pacific where you navigated by
clouds and waves.....where was that again?

Da Kine wrote:
I use it all the time. it is one more way of navigating and I use all
forms all the time.

Tell me where you went and never learned to navigate using some of the
oldest methods of navigation that there is?
If you have never heard of this before then you should be really
embarrassed. No one that has been around the sea for very long has gone
without knowing about it. A few years ago there was a TV series on the
discovery of Hawaii and a boat sailed to Hawaii using the same methods
- no compass or anything and made it just fine.

Better to keep your mouth shut and thought of as a fool then to open it
and remove all doubt!

I saw the show. You are kind of stretching it. Sure it is possible to
navigate using the currents, winds and waves but it is extremely
unreliable and that is why the compass, clocks, radio navigation aids
and all the other stuff was invented.

yep and I use them together

On Mon, 06 Mar 2006 05:01:05 GMT, otnmbrd
wrote:

Gee, I wonder how I navigated all over the world, offshore, prior to GPS,
if I had no viable alternative to GPS.

Probably celestial and DR unless you were lucky enough to be on a ship
with a good inertial system.

Tell us about the times when you couldn't get a celestial fix because
of clouds.

On 5 Mar 2006 21:51:45 -0800, "Da Kine"
wrote:

If you can't aford great stuff, at least buy a cheap sextant and learn
to use it.

Been there, done that.

It's obsolete.