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24-09-2008, 12:42
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 17
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Trading my color chart plotter for a sextant
I'm just curious if anyone still uses a sextant to navigate. Please I dont want to hear any personal opinion on safety or how I can buy a cheap one as a back up. I'm just looking for navigators imput.
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24-09-2008, 12:45
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Colorado Springs
Boat: Transworld Formosa 41
Posts: 233
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I thought everyone used one?
I plan on using celestial navigation (someday). I'm an amateur astronomer and have a clue, but... never actually used a sextant yet. It's something I'm VERY MUCH looking forward to learning and doing.
__________________
Rick Donaldson, CET, NØNJY
If you survive today, tomorrow will be better.
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24-09-2008, 12:50
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Toronto
Boat: CS36Merlin, "La Belle Aurore"
Posts: 7,557
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No, I sold mine a long time ago.
__________________
Rick I
Toronto in summer, Bahamas in winter.
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24-09-2008, 13:36
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Florida
Boat: C & C Landfall 38
Posts: 130
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Although both my wife and myself have used a sextant for navigating, we now use GPS and a Pc for primary navigation with paper charts as a back-up. Guess we just got lazy, but iti is SO much simpiler!
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24-09-2008, 13:45
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 25,453
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it's the horizon jumping around for the fix that's the hard part!
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24-09-2008, 13:51
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Ohio
Posts: 2,933
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Not me, haven't taken a sight in 20 years.
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24-09-2008, 14:23
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Brighton, UK
Boat: Privilege 37
Posts: 3,734
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I have one, and plan to take the odd sight in order to keep the hand in,and particularly for something to do when well out of sight of land.
__________________
"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors - and miss."
Robert A Heinlein
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24-09-2008, 15:22
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#8
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Boat: Research vessel for a university, retired now.
Posts: 10,406
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I think that the more backups you have before taking off over the horizon, the more likely you are to come back safely. It does not need to be an either or situation. All navigation tools have their distinct advantages and disadvantages. Why not carry as many as what is reasonable?
__________________
David
Life begins where land ends.
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24-09-2008, 15:25
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Nicholasville, Kentucky
Boat: 15 foot Canoe
Posts: 14,191
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Aloha Pirate,
Answer to your question is no I don't use it for primary navigation but I do break it out once a year and practice. It requires that I also buy a Nautical Almanac (about $30) once a year so I can do the calculations.
My cheapy (under $100) Garmin handheld which I bought from Sean (a forum member) is doing a very good job. All I have to do is have a nice paper chart in front of me and I'm all set.
Kind regards,
JohnL
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24-09-2008, 15:39
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#10
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Ohio
Boat: Now boatless :-(
Posts: 11,580
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24-09-2008, 15:52
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#11
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cruiser
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: No longer post here
Boat: Catalac Catamaran
Posts: 2,462
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A sextant? No, I use GPS and a laptop for primary navigation. Hand held GPS will still work even if your boat is struck by lightning (ask me how I know).
I have a question, why would you consider chucking the chart plotter and regressing to last century's navigation tool of choice? Do you know something about GPS satellites that we don't know? Or isn't it important to actually know exactly where you are?
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24-09-2008, 21:26
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Nicholasville, Kentucky
Boat: 15 foot Canoe
Posts: 14,191
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Aloha Dan,
So the results of the poll indicate that folks want to learn it but once they learn they don't keep up their skills. Interesting results. I won't be teaching celestial anymore.
It truly is one of those things that you can't just put away and expect to know how to do after a few years of leaving the sextant in the box.
The last two years I just taught the simplest noon sights just to get folks in to it. After 3 hours of classroom and handling a sextant maybe 10% of the class was getting it. Could be my instructional skills I guess.
When I was learning back in the early 80s I knew that there was no affordable alternative so I really really needed to learn it. Once I got the basics I had to do it pretty often to keep the skills up. That incentive is really no longer there for modern navigators.
Kind regards,
JohnL
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24-09-2008, 21:51
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: San Diego
Boat: Fairweather Mariner/Westsail 39
Posts: 70
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I still use my sextant, not as a backup to my GPS, but because its satisfying somehow to see how close the GPS can come to the actual position as deterined by celestial observation. Usually, I find, the GPS is pretty darn accurate. However, I also teach a course on the history of navigation, am a maritime museum director, and sail as master in square rigged sailing ships, so I suppose I'm partial to antiquated and obsolete activities.
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24-09-2008, 22:11
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#14
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Ohio
Boat: Now boatless :-(
Posts: 11,580
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SkiprJohn
Aloha Dan,
So the results of the poll indicate that folks want to learn it but once they learn they don't keep up their skills. Interesting results.
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I'd take the book, the sextant and the chronograph on the boat. If three gpss crap out I reckon I've got weeks of being lost at sea to learn it - LOL. I voted that I'd like to learn but didn't think it a critical skill any more.
Flying is the same way - A/N gave way to ADF, gave way to VOR, gve way to Loran, gave way to GPS, gave way to moving map GPS.
Now everyone follows a little pink line.
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25-09-2008, 02:06
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#15
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Moderator and Certifiable Refitter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: South of 43 S, Australia
Boat: C.L.O.D.
Posts: 20,242
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The centre fold almanac.
I wonder if there is that much difference between using a GPS and using a sextant to navigate .
I used to buy an almanac, take some observations of some heavenly bodies, check the time and work out where I was.
Now I turn my GPS on, it downloads an almanac, takes some observations of some heavenly bodies, checks the time and works out where I am.
Since it uses a different almanac and different heavenly bodies and since it is much much quicker than I was, I think it is alright for me to use that time it saves to get another almanac and observe other heavenly bodies.
And yes, I mainly just read the articles
__________________
All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangereous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. T.E. Lawrence
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