Welcome to the NavList Message Boards.

NavList:

A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding

Compose Your Message

Message:αβγ
Message:abc
Add Images & Files
    Name or NavList Code:
    Email:
       
    Reply
    Re: Polar Sticks in "The Barefoot Navigator"
    From: David Pike
    Date: 2025 Feb 27, 10:05 -0800

    Peter Mackenzie you wrote: "Surely the lattitude values should be labelled the other way round in the image? ie: with larger angles (latitude) at the foot of the stick and smaller ones towards the top?"

    Peter
    I think you must take these things with a pinch of salt (water!).   You are of course correct; the latitude scale is upside down.  60 should be at the bottom, but it’s worse than that.  ‘Stick’ is probably the wrong word for viewing Polaris at 60N; you’re more likely to need a small oar. Try drawing it out.  If your arm-stretch is 60cm, your stick would need to be a minimum of 104cm long to measure 60N using Polaris.  You would also need for everyone to keep very still and hope the sea wasn’t too rough.  One minor point; if the ‘stick was numbered at all, it wouldn’t have been with Arabic numerals.  Some type of runic marking would have been used.  I would have worn my Viking helmet for the photograph, but then I remembered we’d left them inside TIKI when we sold her. I’ll try my ‘stick’ tonight if it’s clear and there’s not too much light pollution over Lincoln.  DaveP

    File:


    File:


       
    Reply
    Browse Files

    Drop Files

    NavList

    What is NavList?

    Join / Get NavList ID Code

    Name:
    (please, no nicknames or handles)
    Email:
    Do you want to receive all group messages by email?
    Yes No

    A NavList ID Code guarantees your identity in NavList posts and allows faster posting of messages.

    Retrieve a NavList ID Code

    Enter the email address associated with your NavList messages. Your NavList code will be emailed to you immediately.
    Email:

    Email Settings

    NavList ID Code:

    Custom Index

    Subject:
    Author:
    Start date: (yyyymm dd)
    End date: (yyyymm dd)

    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site
    Visit this site