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From: Margo Dollan (no email)
Date: Mon Jun 21 2004 - 16:15:45 EDT
I always wondered if I was just overcompensating for my relative inexperience, but I suspect it has more to do with mommyhood. I want to be able to get my kids safely from port to port. I respect the sailor that can do everything the way they did before all the electronics because, as Bryan has pointed out, some of the methods used aren't quite as accurate as the electronic gear, but I think its a good idea for someone to at least know how to do things without the aid of electronics, just in case. I want to know that I at least have a chance of knowing where I'm going if my electronics fail!
~Margo
----- Original Message -----
From: robertgainer
To:
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 1:52 PM
Subject: [world-cruising] Re: Celestial navigation
I wonder if something is missing in the planning of today's sailors.
I very often sail with no engine and I have always used just the
sextant and log. When I plan a route it allows for the need to not
sail into some place that you cannot sail out of if things get bad.
Also I don't let myself get to close to what can become a lee shore.
The pilot charts tell me what the chance of fog is, and if the water
is thin and the chance of fog great I will avoid that part of the
world. I have never sailed in the Pacific so I don't know if you can
do that there.
All the best;
Bob
--- In , Bryan Genez <capella at c dot dot dot >
wrote:
> Margo Dollan wrote:
>
> >> One area where I've modernized is in navigation. I learned how
to use a
> > sextant some 35 years ago, and still carry one today.<
> >
> > I fully intend on making the sextant part of the kids' schooling
when the time
> > comes. I think everyone who sails should at least know how to
read one, just
> > in case. Hopefully, by the time they're old enough, we'll be at
least close
> > to living aboard. I can only hope that I'm well rounded enough
to be a good
> > teacher!
>
> I believe competency in celestial navigation is a good skill to
have, but
> I'm no longer convinced it's necessary. Celestial has a huge
disadvantage -
> you can never count on it. On one passage in my early years, we
spent
> almost two weeks in the Pacific Ocean in overcast conditions.
During that
> time, we got exactly one sun line: the CO, XO, Navigator, and OOD
all shot
> the exact same line at the same moment. Then a cloud covered the
sun. We
> actually ended up pretty close to where we expected to be when we
finally
> made landfall. DR is a wonderful thing!
>
> But we were in areas that had reefs. Have you ever noticed that
reefs are
> named after the ships (or captains) who came to grief on them?
Sometimes,
> it's not so good to have your name associated with a geographic
point!
>
> Celestial is definitely a last-resort skill for me. GPS is good.
>
> --
> Best,
>
> Bryan Genez (KB3HMZ)
> "Capella" Valiant 40 #158
> Annapolis, MD
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