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Again to all,

Many thanks to all who responded to my despondent message. Your
confirmations of receipt have served to boost my computer confidence,
which has been at low ebb lately, and to make me a bit more enthusiastic
over contributing.

If the truth were to be known, the conventional wisdom of my day was to
leave the sextant alone, crud and all. The more encrusted a sailor's
sextant might be, the more experienced he (no shes then) and competent he
was thought to be. The cigarette/cigar ash polish was advanced as an
alternative for the fastidious to use. How times have changed!

George's purchase tale reminds me of a call I made, immediately after the
war, at a little place called Fowey, on the South Coast, about abreast
the Eddystone Light, to load china clay. The stevedore offered, and I
bought, a beautiful little vernier sextant, for the grand sum of $25.00,
and in the course of our negotiations recommended a nautical shop in
Plymouth. I duly boarded a train and made the trip to Plymouth, there
finding a still bombed out shop doing business with traditional British
tenacity. I was able to purchase there an antique solid brass Royal Navy
long glass, opening to some 48" in length and adorned with an exquisite
4" long horsehair Turks head, and also a solid brass bearing circle,
complete with teakwood box and four(4) sight vanes - all for a song. I
think my copy of Martelli's Tables also comes from this shop, but I am no
longer sure.

My call at Fowey was one of the most memorable of my life and I think of
it often. China clay was, at that time, a specialty cargo, loaded in
bulk, and required extensive hold preparation in the form of sheathing
with clean wood. Consequently, we spent quite a bit of time alongside,
and I spent many a pleasant evening at the Queen's Tavern. If my
recollection serves me properly, the Queen's Tavern was at one end of
town and the King's at the other.

Sorry to digress

Regards,

Henry

On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:12:53 +1000 "Peter Fogg" 
writes:
>
> Henry
>
> 1) Your message came though here loud and clear
>
> 2) Have just checked the web version of this list at:
> http://groups.google.com/group/NavList
> and can confirm it arrived there safely too.
>
> Don't worry if you don't get a specific reply. This mode of
> communication is ephemeral in nature; its easy to overlook a message
> or two. Another possibility is that George has passed out from
> puffing
> all the cigars required to provide the ash for this cleaning task.
>
>  Henry C. Halboth wrote:
> >
> > To all:
> >
> > It would appear that my posted messages are, for some reason,
> simply not
> > getting through.
>
> >
>


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