NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: sextant handle/legs on wrong side?
From: Joe Shields
Date: 1999 Sep 13, 09:21 EDT
From: Joe Shields
Date: 1999 Sep 13, 09:21 EDT
You mean all celestial navigators aren't left-handed? -- Joe (Lefty) > ---------- > From: Paul Hirose[SMTP:71202.2014@XXX.XXX] > Reply To: Navigation Mailing List > Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 2:31 AM > To: NAVIGATION-L@XXX.XXX > Subject: sextant handle/legs on wrong side? > > Bruce Bauer's "The Sextant Handbook" brings up an interesting point I > never considered: a sextant handle on the right is on the wrong side > for right-handed people. The sextant has to be transferred to the > left hand or dangled on a neck strap in order to write down the > observation. He equates this to a right-handed baseball player > wearing a mitt on his right hand. > > Bauer once encountered a 1920s sextant with everything on the opposite > side from current practice. It didn't feel at all uncomfortable to > hold in his left hand, he says. I certainly never felt handicapped as > a lefty because I had to observe with the sextant in my right hand. > And yes, it IS nice to keep the sextant there while I'm writing! > > Another complaint Bauer has is that sextant legs are on the wrong side > too. I.e., the handle is underneath when the instrument is resting on > its legs. Putting the legs on the opposite side would let you pick it > up with one hand. Also, the legs would provide some protection for > the delicate parts. > > Someone mentioned seeing a movie in which Kate Jackson put a sextant > down on its mirrors. Do you think the lady was trying to tell us > something? >