NavList:

Suppose you are sailing across an ocean and you have been keeping track of your position using only dead reckoning and celestial, like in the old days.  Then you see land which contains your intended destination.  At some point you switch from celestial to visual in order reach your port.  At that moment you can accurately determine how far off your last celestial fix was.  My question is how were such "discontinuities of fix" marked in logbooks and on charts?  Were there any established procedures as to when you may stop carefully plotting your position and just dock at the pier by "Mark 1 eyeball"?  I suppose a similar question can be posed for when you leave port; at which point do you begin the usual navigation routines, celestial or otherwise?


Peter Hakel