On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:10:18 -0000, otnmbrd
wrote:

wrote in news:nhc7c3tqjep52soglt8e7r373n6hnbf1aq@
4ax.com:



Unfortunately that just isn't so.

Chuck your H.O. Tables over the side and smash your time source with a
hammer and then come back and tell me just how infallible your sextant
is. Oh yes, chuck the hand calculator too so you can do the math with
a pencil.

G So you can't figure Long. Lat's better than nuff'n and can keep you
clear of a lot of trouble.


Then they are all those overcast days when you can't see the sun or
stars and the windy days when you can't stay steady enough to get a
good sight.

I used to use a sextant and if nobody has dropped it so the mirrors
are out of alignment and if you have up to date references and if your
time signal is accurate and if your pencil is still sharp you can get
a cocked hat, maybe a mile on a side so hopefully you are somewhere in
that triangle.

LOL Member of the "accuracy to within inches" brigade I see. A one mile
tiangle under conditions which you would normally be using a sextant is a
pretty good fix and well within the parameters you need.
GPS is the way to go, but for long distance cruising in open ocean
conditions with Mr. Murphy sitting beside you, the more you have the
safer you may be.

I wasn't trying to say that one should not carry a sextant and the
tables and an accurate time piece. I was mainly replying to what I
thought was an implication that when all else failed the old sextant
would work and was pointing out that without its additional do-dads it
wouldn't.

I agree that a one mile cocked hat is good navigation but in the
sextant days a lot of people purposely steered a bit north or south of
their destination. Then when they made shore they knew to turn left,
or right, and the case required to find port.




Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)