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Subject: sextant handle/legs on wrong side?
From: Paul Hirose (71202.2014@XXX.XXX)
Date: Mon Sep 13 1999 - 02:31:15 EDT
Bruce Bauer's "The Sextant Handbook" brings up an interesting point I
never considered: a sextant handle on the right is on the wrong side
for right-handed people. The sextant has to be transferred to the
left hand or dangled on a neck strap in order to write down the
observation. He equates this to a right-handed baseball player
wearing a mitt on his right hand.
Bauer once encountered a 1920s sextant with everything on the opposite
side from current practice. It didn't feel at all uncomfortable to
hold in his left hand, he says. I certainly never felt handicapped as
a lefty because I had to observe with the sextant in my right hand.
And yes, it IS nice to keep the sextant there while I'm writing!
Another complaint Bauer has is that sextant legs are on the wrong side
too. I.e., the handle is underneath when the instrument is resting on
its legs. Putting the legs on the opposite side would let you pick it
up with one hand. Also, the legs would provide some protection for
the delicate parts.
Someone mentioned seeing a movie in which Kate Jackson put a sextant
down on its mirrors. Do you think the lady was trying to tell us
something?
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