NavList:

Guy,

Any place on the boat to stow your sextant is as good as any other. The
question is not "where", but "what in". You need an appropriate box.

Wooden sextant boxes are good for display on the coffee table and might
even work in the backyard. On a small boat, they are a pain. Of course,
if you have a wooden hull, a mast of pine, flax canvas, wooden blocks
and hemp ropes, you have no other choice than using a mahogany sextant
case without violating the aesthetics of the whole. Most people though
use metal and plastic all along. It's more practical and more affordable.

Same for the sextant: Metal sextant, plastic box. My box is very rugged,
has the shape of a suitcase, with a sturdy handle that can be folded, it
has round corners, no sharp edges, and it is stuffed with foam which has
custom made cut outs for the sextant and its accessories. Because of the
foam, the storing position should not matter. At first glance,  a case
that cost a fifth of the price of the Astra which it was designed to
hold, looked like overkill, but it was a sound investment. In this box,
the sextant has withstood not only many heavy poundings in choppy seas,
but, equally important to me, many aircraft flights as checked baggage
(The box can be locked).

There is also a safety issue. Going on deck with the sextant by itself
is normally out of question on a small boat. Whether you are single
handed or not, you won't always have someone available to pass the
sextant to while you are crawling out of the cabin, tethering yourself,
replacing the hatch boards, etc. So it is essential that you are able to
throw the box into the cockpit before stepping out. Afterwards you want
to be able to secure the box to the deck (e.g. to the lifeline) near
where you are taking the sights, so you can put the sextant down,
meaning back into the box, in between sights. It should be possible to
do all this with one hand only.

Herbert Prinz


Guy Schwartz wrote:

> OK the math skills are sharpened.
> The practice sites taken. The trip is planned.
> Now when is the best spot on a sail boat to stow the sextant?
> The wooden box has feet on it for vertical or horizontal storage. I'm
> thinking that horizontal may be better.
> Comments, suggestions.
> Thnak you.
> Guy
> 
>
> >


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