NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Alan S
Date: 2011 Feb 7, 10:45 -0800
Lu:
Sounds like that old saw about "I'm from the government and I'm here to help", or perhaps the problems of putting 6 pounds of "stuff" in the proverbial 5 pound bag.
As for celestial navigation being an "antique" method of finding one's location, likely so, but it does work. Additionally, an old since deceased friend of mine who was a licensed master, as I recall steam and diesel, all oceans, all tonnage, carried his own, personal sextant whenever he sailed. It was an old but well maintained British instrument, no micrometer, one read a vernier for minutes and seconds. Other ships officers, he once mentioned, used to kid him about his old sextant, the ships he sailed on were replete with electronics, to which he answered as follows. My sextant doesn't need electricity, batteries or generators, all of which he claimed were subject to failure.
I suppose, given his 30 plus years of ocean going experience, that he knew from whence he spoke.
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