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On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 11:51 AM, Frank Reed  wrote:
 >But will anyone practice the type of navigation that would
> have actually been used in 1780? Maybe at least for a few demonstrations...

What level of celestial navigation would have been practiced aboard a
typical French frigate in 1780?
My guess is that it would have been limited to noon observations of
latitude, with navigation primarily dependent upon dead reckoning.  No
chronometer, and probably no use of lunars for determining longitude.
Every hour they would heave the chip log, recording speed and compass
direction.  At noon, the master would observe the sun, if visible, for
latitude and enter into the log the latitude by observation and both
the latitude and longitude by account (from the dead reckoning
calculations).

Don Seltzer

   

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