I was just told by a friend that I should learn celestial
navigation before sailing around the world because
GPS devices don't work that well in the middle of the
ocean and can malfunction if they get wet, etc.

Does my friend have a point even if I intend to bring
3 independent GPS systems with me ?

How about if I just get a cheap sextant and the book
"Celestial Navigation When Your GPS Fails" and
bring them with me ?

TIA

I take 6. They fail all the time.....
And the stars failed to appear in the Pacific...

I wait until they make BETTER gps before I go...

Hanz


wrote:
I was just told by a friend that I should learn celestial
navigation before sailing around the world because
GPS devices don't work that well in the middle of the
ocean and can malfunction if they get wet, etc.

Does my friend have a point even if I intend to bring
3 independent GPS systems with me ?

How about if I just get a cheap sextant and the book
"Celestial Navigation When Your GPS Fails" and
bring them with me ?

TIA

On Sep 16, 6:51 am, wrote:
I was just told by a friend that I should learn celestial
navigation before sailing around the world because
GPS devices don't work that well in the middle of the
ocean and can malfunction if they get wet, etc.

Does my friend have a point even if I intend to bring
3 independent GPS systems with me ?

How about if I just get a cheap sextant and the book
"Celestial Navigation When Your GPS Fails" and
bring them with me ?

TIA

Sure, learn celestial navigation. Or group theory, or some other
arcane area of knowledge. Or bring some good books, like Moby Dick.
It gets pretty boring out there in the wide blue sea. But learn
celestial navigation as a backup for GPS? You've got to be kidding.
First, GPS works great in the middle of the ocean -- and everywhere
else, for that mattter. Second, definitely bring backup GPS units--
we have 3 aboard, in addition to our primary one. Put one in your
ditch bag and remember to inspect it regularly to see the batteries
are good. But don't worry about the satellite system failing -- the
US Government (and everybody else, from commercial airlines to
farmers) is too reliant on GPS to let it fail (or turn it off, which
is what the Europeans seem to fear).

It's celestial navigation that fails, mainly because it depends on
clear skies, which, in the middle of a storm, there ain't any of. One
reason the Carolina coast is littered with shipwrecks is that the Gulf
Stream is almost always covered with clouds, so those ancient mariners
went for days on dead-reckoning -- and with a 2-knot current with lots
of swirls and eddies, that's not a good thing. If they'd had GPS,
they would have been far less likely to run onto the sandbanks.

Good luck on your circumnavigation. See you out here.

Rob

If you have to ask this question then you're probably nowhere near prepared
to circumnavigate.

wrote in message
...

I was just told by a friend that I should learn celestial
navigation before sailing around the world because
GPS devices don't work that well in the middle of the
ocean and can malfunction if they get wet, etc.

Does my friend have a point even if I intend to bring
3 independent GPS systems with me ?

wrote:
I was just told by a friend that I should learn celestial
navigation before sailing around the world because
GPS devices don't work that well in the middle of the
ocean and can malfunction if they get wet, etc.

Does my friend have a point even if I intend to bring
3 independent GPS systems with me ?

How about if I just get a cheap sextant and the book
"Celestial Navigation When Your GPS Fails" and
bring them with me ?

\
You should get to an 80/20 knowledge of celestial. The basics are easy
and they'll see you to your destination well. Frex, you can get pretty
much anywhere, if not exactly on target, by doing only sun shots and
Polaris.

wrote in :


How about if I just get a cheap sextant and the book
"Celestial Navigation When Your GPS Fails" and
bring them with me ?

TIA

If there is such a book, I'd get it, plus the cheap sextant.
Even if all else fails you can use it to get a latitude which could help
get you to somewhere safe or play with it to reduce boredom.
Remember.....Celestial is an open ocean navigation system. Although it can
be highly accurate, it doesn't really have to be all that precise.... it
mainly needs to get you to a point where you can use other methods
(visual/soundings) to get the precise info you need to make a safe
landfall.

wrote in message
...

I was just told by a friend that I should learn celestial
navigation before sailing around the world because
GPS devices don't work that well in the middle of the
ocean and can malfunction if they get wet, etc.

Does my friend have a point even if I intend to bring
3 independent GPS systems with me ?

How about if I just get a cheap sextant and the book
"Celestial Navigation When Your GPS Fails" and
bring them with me ?

TIA


Learning something new (or in this case old) is always a good idea. That
said, the GPS sat system works just fine. The biggest issue is that your
batteries die. Bring spares of batteries and GPSs. Your friend has a point
on the top of his head.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

wrote in message
...

I was just told by a friend that I should learn celestial
navigation before sailing around the world because
GPS devices don't work that well in the middle of the
ocean and can malfunction if they get wet, etc.

Does my friend have a point even if I intend to bring
3 independent GPS systems with me ?

How about if I just get a cheap sextant and the book
"Celestial Navigation When Your GPS Fails" and
bring them with me ?

TIA

Don't worry about it. Just get a plastic sextant, an instruction book
and some HO 249 tables. Any moron can learn celestial on the fly. I
learned it on the fly in two days, enough to make a cocked hat about a
mile on a side. Still, for a man who loves precision, I prefer GPS.
Consider getting at least one GPS portable that uses the Russian
constellation in case the US constellation gets shot down by the Chinese
one of these days. Portables are pretty immune from going to hell
provided they are kept in a water proof case like a Pelican case and
then stored inside a metal case. Even a lighting strike to the mother
ship rarely harms them. If you're paranoid, store three or four
portables in different places around the ship. Get plenty of batteries
or have a means to charge rechargeable batteries independent of the
motor. (solar)

Wilbur Hubbard

On Sep 16, 1:23 pm, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:
wrote in message

...



I was just told by a friend that I should learn celestial
navigation before sailing around the world because
GPS devices don't work that well in the middle of the
ocean and can malfunction if they get wet, etc.

Does my friend have a point even if I intend to bring
3 independent GPS systems with me ?

How about if I just get a cheap sextant and the book
"Celestial Navigation When Your GPS Fails" and
bring them with me ?

TIA

Don't worry about it. Just get a plastic sextant, an instruction book
and some HO 249 tables. Any moron can learn celestial on the fly. I
learned it on the fly in two days, enough to make a cocked hat about a
mile on a side. Still, for a man who loves precision, I prefer GPS.
Consider getting at least one GPS portable that uses the Russian
constellation in case the US constellation gets shot down by the Chinese
one of these days. Portables are pretty immune from going to hell
provided they are kept in a water proof case like a Pelican case and
then stored inside a metal case. Even a lighting strike to the mother
ship rarely harms them. If you're paranoid, store three or four
portables in different places around the ship. Get plenty of batteries
or have a means to charge rechargeable batteries independent of the
motor. (solar)

Wilbur Hubbar Electronics fail. It's one of the constants on a boat in a salt water environment. Celestial navigation is not for morons, GPS receivers are. Intelligent blue water sailors learn celestial navigation. It is the back up. It can save your life. Don't think of it as a chore, it is part of the fun of blue water sailing if you let it be.

On Sep 16, 5:51 am, wrote:
I was just told by a friend that I should learn celestial
navigation before sailing around the world because
GPS devices don't work that well in the middle of the
ocean and can malfunction if they get wet, etc.

Does my friend have a point even if I intend to bring
3 independent GPS systems with me ?

How about if I just get a cheap sextant and the book
"Celestial Navigation When Your GPS Fails" and
bring them with me ?

TIA

I would learn celestial navigation if I were you. There is safety in
redundancy as you obviously know by bringing 3 gps sysems with you.
If you learn celestial you could reduce that to just two perhaps. It
seems that most experienced blue water sailors know how to use a
sextant. There is some satisfaction in navigating by the stars for
some of us instead of relying on electronics. Its part of the charm
of blue water sailing for me.