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On 18 Mar 2010 at 23:38, George Huxtable wrote:

>  But in the
> lunar era, a conscientious navigator would take a lunar when
> the opportunity arose, when the Moon was visible in a clear sky. It was
> part of the "professional pride" that Henry has referred to.

George,
Do you have any historical evidence to support this claim? Although
instructors of navigation may have wished for such zeal in their students,
without historical evidence, such as logbooks, one should be skeptical.
The logbooks that Frank has studied, and written about here, provide a
different view of how navigators depended on lunars in that era. It may be
that his sources (primarily American whalers) have a bias toward a certain
type of navigator, but anyone proposing that hypothesis is obligated to
provide some evidence to support it. Frank's historical evidence from
primary sources has to be considered a trump card in this debate until
such time as other sources can be shown to contradict, or at least temper,
his conclusions.

Ken Muldrew.

   

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