NavList:

Frank Reed wrote:

"They want something called the "nautical almanac". It's supposed to be in the kit! If it doesn't say that on the label, they don't get it, and they don't want it."

This reminds me of myself when I first became interested in CN. I bought a Davis Mk.15. The instructions explained how to do a noon sight and how to determine one's latitude and longitude. Included was a sample table of the Sun's declination and the equation of time for a single year. I don't know if it was averaged over a four year period or not. But, IIRC, the instruction book did mention that the values change in a roughly four year cycle. It also mentioned a book that was published yearly and contained up-to-date values. Something called The Nautical Almanac.

So, I drove down to the local West Marine to see if I could find this mysterious tome. I walked in and asked the salesman if he had this "Nautical Almanac". He looked unsure and asked what kind of book I was looking for, specifically. I said "The one with the equation of time in it.", which probably didn't help much. But that's all I was looking for at the time and I had no idea how useful the rest of the book would be. Back then, CN was a dark art to me. The Mk.15 and the noon sight were a good introduction, though. With the aid of an artificial horizon, they got me acquainted with how to adjust and use a sextant and the basic principles of celestial navigation.

Cheers!

Sean C.