NavList:

Don, you wrote:
"The most notable cruise was that of the Essex, which rounded Cape Horn and roamed the Pacific destroying the British whaling fleet. Capt David Porter wrote a fine journal of this cruise which is readily available on-line and in print. I should check it for references to navigational methods."

Hey, that's great. I had not seen this online. Thanks! Since the version at Google Books is searchable, it immediately leads to quite a few references to navigation. I won't spoil the fun for everyone:
http://books.google.com/books?id=IiYFAAAAMAAJ

Try searching the books for the words lunar, longitude, Moon, chronometer, etc.

Here's one:
" On the 10th, ascertained our longitude by the distance between the sun and moon's centres to be 48° 30' 35" west ; and on comparing it with our dead-reckoning, find a difference of 5 degrees ; which arose from a mistake in the marking of our log-line, four knots being marked where three should have been."

This journal, of course, was compiled after the voyage for publication. It would be interesting to see the original journal/logbook. Does anyone know where it is?

-FER

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