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Subject: Re: Celestial Calculator Comparisons
From: David F. McCune (dmccune@XXX.XXX)
Date: Fri Mar 10 2000 - 13:51:57 EST
Joe:
I did a solo crossing to Hawaii from L.A. a few years ago. A sailor
acquaintance, upon hearing that I have no navigational electronics and used
celestial only, said "that's not very efficient." True. "If I wanted to be
efficient," I said, "I'd have taken United Airlines." It's a SAILBOAT, for
God's sake!
People sail for all kinds of reasons. Some race. Some want to get
somewhere with a sailboat in tow so they can hang out in a remote tropical
anchorage. Some prefer the voyage to the destination.
I'm a pilot and in airplanes I use electronics so they're coming out my
ears. For me, a sailboat is a place to get away from all that. I don't own
a GPS. Nor do I own a celestial calculator.
Do whatever feels comfortable for you.
- David
PS. Oh, and by the way, it doesn't take as long as people think to reduce a
sight. Once you've done a thousand or so, five minutes and a blank piece of
paper will do. The hard part of a sight is standing on the deck of a
30-foot boat in a 12-foot swell with a sextant to your eye, not the trivial
arithmetic that follows.
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