NavList:

I think the method you use has to be ‘Horses for Courses’.  There’s no one ‘best’ method unless you work for an organisation prepared to provide you with an endless supply of new charts.  In which case, have a new one for every trip.  They're legal documents, and one day it might need impounding.  The trick is to be familiar with all methods and choose the most appropriate method at the time.  If you don’t want construction lines on your main chart, or are no longer using paper charts, use UPCs.  If you’re close to epoch, but have several assumed positions to plot, use the constant longitude division UPC.  If you think you’ll be mainly measuring nm distances, for N&Ps, Coriolis, and the like in addition to intercepts, use a constant latitude division UPC.  If you simply wish to show visitors who’ve never used a sextant before how they can use a one and plot a PL within a few miles of their actual position, and take their work home to show their friends, make your own little local area Mercator like I did.  If all else fails, find a decent bit of chart of the area where you intend to plot PLs and photocopy a dozen or so copies; they won’t be so distorted to be unuseable.  Most of all, have fun.  DaveP