NavList:

This coming weekend, June 10-11 at the Treworgy Planetarium at Mystic Seaport Museum, I will be teaching my workshop in the (slightly!) exotic topic of lunars: "Lunars: Finding Longitude by Lunar Distances".

Details and registration here: Lunars workshop at ReedNavigation.com. 

Note that if you are a member of Mystic Seaport, you can register through the museum's website here: https://www.mysticseaport.org/learn/adult/.

Lunars were once the pinnacle of nautical astronomy. Lunars provide a key component of "pure" celestial navigation" with no "machinery" required except a sextant. Even that marvel of 19th century technology, the marine "chronometer", is removed from the puzzle. We use the Moon itself as a "natural chronometer" on the celestial sphere.

For a modern navigator, lunars are a fascinating challenge even though we no longer need them to find time. Lunar distance sights are a superb test of a sextant and observational skill, too. And it's a puzzle with lots of intriguing math and science and significant history behind it. 

In this workshop, we follow a Boston trading vessel, the Reaper, from New England to Yemen and then to India and back; a voyage navigated by lunars! Similarly, we follow in detail the voyage of HMAS Bounty from Britain to Tahiti and through the famous mutiny following their navigation and the important role of lunars in that epic journey.

We also learn a fast and very easy 19th century method for working lunars in addition to examining modern tools. And you'll learn the practical aspects of lunars, too, weather permitting. We'll take lunar sights and experiment with methods for gaining the highest accuracy with the least effort. 

Again you'll find more details and registration on my website: 
Lunars workshop at ReedNavigation.com.

Frank Reed
Clockwork Mapping / ReedNavigation.com
Conanicut Island USA