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23-11-2012, 07:13
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: pittsburgh PA
Boat: Nauticat 321 Pilothouse
Posts: 110
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Advice Request; Which Sextant To Buy??
having decided to amuse myself over the long cold winter as i recover from serious surgery, i am biting the bullet and buying a good quality aluminum sextant . has anyone out there some good advice for the complete novice celestial navigator? (NB i am not interested in the Davis plastic, because of heat warp issues. ) i think i prefer one with a screw drum micrometer adjustment.. looking to buy used, not new..
eventual plans are to navigate my nauticat pilothouse back to her country of origin, finland, from the east coast...
mitch M, s/v eagleswing
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23-11-2012, 07:42
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Somewhere in Germany
Boat: OEM, proportional
Posts: 1,437
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Re: advice request; which sextant to buy??
Some in-depth info I found useful...may it do so for you. If you want to know how something works, and how well it is built, take it to bits. If it's like my carburetor, it runs even better minus two little screws and a funny little spring thingy. Not suggesting you do that to your sextant, though....
The USSR SNO-T sextant « The Nautical Sextant
__________________
Ps 139:9-10 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
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23-11-2012, 07:50
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#3
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Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2007
Boat: Bestevaer.
Posts: 14,678
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Re: advice request; which sextant to buy??
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23-11-2012, 07:58
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Tampa Bay area, USA
Boat: Beneteau First 42
Posts: 3,961
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Re: advice request; which sextant to buy??
Mitch-- I think most experienced CN's that have used good Sextants would agree that the Astra IIIB sold by Celestaire is one of the best values in Sextants with quality equal or better to competing devices costing several multiples of their price. I have been using an Astra since the late '80's with the whole horizon mirror and it has been very satisfactory and easily the equal of the much more costly Tamaya that was liberated from our boat by some miscreant. Good Luck... PS: Check your PM's
__________________
"It is not so much for its beauty that the Sea makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from the waves, that so wonderfully renews a weary spirit."
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23-11-2012, 08:05
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Boat: Columbia 41
Posts: 522
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Re: advice request; which sextant to buy??
I bought a David White sextant on Ebay. It came in the original wood box with all the adjustment tools. It carries a USN Observatory scertificate dated Feb 4, 1946 so it is, more or less, WW2 surplus. It was likely in somebody's attic all these years. I paid $250 for it. There are lots of other high quality sextants out there on line. There is not much demand for them these days.
I would also recommend William F. Buckley's DVD, Celestial Navigation Simplified. It is informative, entertaining and easy to follow.
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23-11-2012, 09:10
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Toronto, Canada
Boat: Luders 33 - hull 23
Posts: 1,787
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Re: advice request; which sextant to buy??
I had a Frieberger Yacht sextant, very good unit.
One important point I suggest is you need to do your homework to decide which type of mirror you want.
My Frieberger (as most others) had a split image, which was hard to bring the body down and hold it there, simply because no matter how loud I shouted, the boat would not stop moving/rolling/pitching while I was taking a sight. They say the full mirror is much easier to use on a moving boat, I wish I had checked this before I bought it. So there you go - some food for thought.
Another thing, use the tables, get used to have 2 or 3 books opened at the same time, don't buy electronic aids until you master the process. Good luck on your studies.
Also look here.
http://www.celestaire.com/pdf/MarineSextants.pdf
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23-11-2012, 09:32
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,687
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Re: advice request; which sextant to buy??
Something to think about is a 3/4 size sextant. I did most of my long passages in the 70s and 80s with an English made plastic sextant, with a Davis for backup. When I used full size sextants on other boats I thought they were way too heavy and clunky, so when I could afford a metal sextant I bought a 3/4 size Tamaya and loved it. In theory a heavy sextant is easier to hold steady, but what I found was that holding the heavier sextant up to your eye for 3,4 maybe 5 minutes while you try to bring down a star that keeps getting hidden by clouds, can end up with a bad case of the shakes from fatigue. These are just some things to think about in your decision making process. Celestial is a very rewarding skill even in this age of 99 dollar GPSs. Good Luck_____Grant.
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23-11-2012, 10:04
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: between the devil and the deep blue sea
Boat: a sailing boat
Posts: 20,420
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Re: advice request; which sextant to buy??
I like Astra's very much and basically anything else in metal works fine too. We have some sort of ex-Eastern Germany make that is as good as anything else on the market and we paid reasonable amount for it too.
The plastic sextants are probably poorest value - I have one onboard (Davis or Davies, etc..) and man it is cr(..), but not a cheap one.
b.
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23-11-2012, 10:23
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Durban South Africa
Boat: L 34
Posts: 284
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Re: Advice Request; Which Sextant To Buy??
Don't diss plastic sextants . I did a circumnav with a plastic Davis. ( admittedly with micrometer adjustment as opposed to vernia) An accurate sextant sight is only the beginning, there are so many opportunities for error, after the sight, that sextant errors are of little significance. Also, extreme accuracy of fixes is not essential as most landfalls are visible from many miles off, ( St Helena, - 50 miles.) so your attention to detail is not a biggie.
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23-11-2012, 10:47
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#10
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Cruising Mexico Currently
Boat: Gulfstar 50
Posts: 1,979
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Re: Advice Request; Which Sextant To Buy??
Buy new if you can and don't rule out brass. Also, go handle a few sextants to get the feel for the ones you are interested in. Hopefully there are a few places (even pawn shops) that have a sextant or 2 you can hold. Just to feel the weight and how it fits your hand.
THe mark 25 Davis plastic is quite useful. The key is not changing the temp during the sight run.
Lastly, if you have a local Power Squadron you can take Celestial classes from them. JN and N courses cover Sun sights (JN) and Moon, Stars, Planets (N) using the Law of Cosines method (Just need an almanac and calculator with trig functions) and the NASR method (Just addition and subtraction with the tables in the almanac).
REgards!
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23-11-2012, 11:05
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Nanny State
Boat: 22' Westerly Nomad
Posts: 594
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Re: advice request; which sextant to buy??
Quote:
Originally Posted by noelex 77
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Good article, and interesting to note that he claims that the cheapest MK3 plastic sextant is better than the two more expensive ones.
__________________
Dean - 22' Westerly Nomad - Travelnik
A 14-foot mini-cruiser is minimalist. A 19ft is comfortable, and anything much larger than a 25 borders on ostentatious.
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23-11-2012, 11:08
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: San Diego
Boat: Farrier f27
Posts: 704
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Re: Advice Request; Which Sextant To Buy??
Look at ebay, nearly all sextants get very little use in reality. I bought a Cassens Plath from a ship breaker in India for $450. I would recommend being patient and waiting for one from in the country to avoid potential issues. My seller thought he was helping by jamming packing inside the case which cracked one of the shade glasses, after some negotiating he covered the repair which was $120. Getting the sextant is the easy part, gaining proficiency at the sight reduction takes practice.
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23-11-2012, 11:15
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#13
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Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2007
Boat: Bestevaer.
Posts: 14,678
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Re: advice request; which sextant to buy??
Quote:
Originally Posted by dsmastern
Good article, and interesting to note that he claims that the cheapest MK3 plastic sextant is better than the two more expensive ones.
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I did use a a Davis mark 25 on a friends boat once and it gave good results, but they are overpriced for what is very cheap construction.
I think the advice to go for better aluminium sextant, or for emergancy use, go for the basic MK3, seems like sensible advice to me.
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23-11-2012, 12:04
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: San Diego
Boat: Farrier f27
Posts: 704
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Re: Advice Request; Which Sextant To Buy??
The cheap plastic sextants do in fact work well enough
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23-11-2012, 12:27
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Northern British Columbia, part of the time in Prince Rupert and part of the time on Moresby Island.
Boat: 50-ft steel Ketch
Posts: 1,884
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Re: Advice Request; Which Sextant To Buy??
I have a C. Plath wartime issue sextant from 1940 that works very well and a H. Hughes & Son Royal Navy Sextant. The Russian nautical sextants are very similar to the C.Plath, although the finishing of the pressure cast parts is not to the C. Plath's high standards. The Hughes is brass, unlike the German one, and is really top notch. I have heard good things about the Astra from China and it certainly offers excellent quality for half to a quarter the price of the Plath or Tamiya sextants.
__________________
'Tis evening on the moorland free,The starlit wave is still: Home is the sailor from the sea, The hunter from the hill.
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