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For what it's worth, I for many years used HO 208 (Dreisenstok)as a matter of 
preference, in navigating every size vessel. As with Ho 211 (Ageton) it's 
small, convenient, one volume and universally applicable in the most 
frequently navigated Latitudes and, I believe, more easily adaptable to use 
of an assumed position. These tables, both 208 and 211, are convenient to use 
on a very small chart table or even one's lap and, where several people may 
be competing for the larger pubs, allows the user to work alone freely and 
unhindered. In the final analysis, however, there are so many short tabular 
methods available that it boils down to a matter of choice. based largely on 
familiarity.

Henry


--- On Mon, 11/3/08, Robert Eno  wrote:

> From: Robert Eno 
> Subject: [NavList 6421] Re: sextant without paper charts
> To: NavList@fer3.com
> Date: Monday, November 3, 2008, 12:30 AM
> Frank wrote:
>
> > When I first wrote that post, I typed it with HO211 as
> a compact method,
> > but
> > changed it to the NA method thinking that HO211 would
> sound archaic. If
> > you
> > could compare 211 with the tables in the almanac, do
> you think one is
> > clearly superior for compact tables?
> >
>
> Robert responds:
>
> In my opinion, yes. HO 211 is superior to the concise S/R
> tables in the
> Nautical Almanac.
>
> Having said that, I should admit to one and all that I am
> not a particularly
> brilliant person, nor a talented navigator.
>
> Allow me to deviate a bit by way of an analogy: up here in
> Canuckistan,
> where ice hockey is the national passion, we have hockey
> players who are not
> high goal scorers, not particularly talented and lack the
> finesse of their
> more skilled team members. Nevertheless they are valuable
> players in that
> they make up for this lack of natural skill by sheer force
> of will: by
> harrying, harassing and generally making life difficult for
> the talent on
> the opposing team and by never giving any ground. They just
> keep trying and
> trying. We usually calls these players
> "grinders".
>
> I am the navigational eqivalent of a "grinder";
> not very talented, with only
> a rudiment of mathematical ability and certainly no
> inherent brilliance. So
> in terms of sight reduction methods, I am somewhat of an
> acid test for what
> works and what does not; what method lends itself to easy
> mastery and what
> is so complex that it breeds confusion and gross errors.
>
> When I first attempted it, I was able to master HO 211
> within an hour. I do,
> however, acknowledge that HO 211 is best used with a
> pre-prepared form. It
> does not really lend itself too well to
> back-of-the-envelope calculations.
> Still I have never found this to be an impediment.
>
> Frank wrote:
>
> > Another issue: since we're talking here strictly
> about navigation in a
> > dire
> > emergency, we also need to consider the possibility
> that the single
> > sextant
> > aboard the boat has survived, but the three to five
> men with navigational
> > knowledge are incapacitated. This gets us back to real
> lifeboat
> > navigation.
> > What minimal instructions should be included in the
> sextant box to get the
> > vessel to a friendly port under the assumption that no
> one with proper
> > training is available? This, of course, is where I
> would recommend
> > something
> > like "latitude AND longitude by noon Sun".
> That technique can be learned
> > in
> > a day by a "well-motivated" student, and you
> can cross an ocean with it.
>
> Agreed Frank. This is the simplest method, however, I
> maintain that HO 211
> and a handful of forms will fit neatly into a sextant case.
> Furthermore,
> with the right form, you don't even need to read
> instructions. It is just a
> matter of pulling numbers from the tables and plugging them
> into the form.
>
> As for all of the navigators being incapacitated, this
> reminds me of the old
> George Carlin routine where the school kids try to trip up
> the visiting
> priest by asking him if they have committed two sins if
> they fail to attend
> church on Sunday, while on a cruise ship crossing the
> international
> dateline....and the only priest on board goes into a coma.
> You really have
> to be a Catholic to appreciate the humour in that one
> though.
>
> Robert
>
>
>
>



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