NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Art and Navigation
From: Francis Upchurch
Date: 2015 Mar 25, 22:43 -0700
From: Francis Upchurch
Date: 2015 Mar 25, 22:43 -0700
Carly,
Welcome fellow cel nav sufferer!
I use an Astra B which I find as good as my friends very expensive Freiberger. I also have a plastic Davis 111, bought years ago very cheaply, for my emergency "crash bag" on my boat. I use this quite a lot and find it works remarkably well. Great for coastal navigation, taking horizontal bearings, very easy to use. See a good book on plastic sextants by David Burch of Starpath.
If you are really concerned re expense and like making things, then you can build a beautiful replica of a 18th century octant for virtually nothing from plans in 2 great books
1) Latitude Hooks and Azimuth rings by Denis Fisher
2) The Low Tech Navigator by Tony Crowley. (claims 2' accuracy!)
Happy shooting.
Francis