NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
CelNav without sextants
From: Doug Royer
Date: 2004 Nov 2, 11:19 -0800
From: Doug Royer
Date: 2004 Nov 2, 11:19 -0800
Yes,there are plenty of ways to navigate(blue water,ice/polar,land)using events and bodies without ever having a sextant. The Arabs (and other cultures from antiquety) used "latitude hooks" to find latitude from the altitude of Polaris.They also used devices even earlier in time (history) in conjuction with precomputed seasonal positions of Vega and other bodies. The polynesians used star positions,sea currents and other phenomina to navigate successfully in blue water voyages. The Inuits and other native polar people used seasonal celestial bodies and events to guide them across ice masses and water. Native American tribes used natural terrestrial points and seasonal celestial events and bodies to find their way across vast tracks of the plains and mountains.All the native peoples of the world used celestial events to remind them to move to new areas to hunt and plant. I got a Bris "sextant" not to long ago.Simple to use and based on kind of a sun "hook" technique.Some reduction is required from the raw altitudes it measures but the resulting line or lines it gives are fairly fast to obtain and fairly accurate.Ballpark accuracy.I've only played around with it in the backyard at a stationary position. Define what you mean by "accuracy".