NavList:

Last night I had trouble sleeping so I spent some time looking out of the window at the Southern Cross. Despite light pollution it was clearly visible; the pointers in particular were very bright. It was fortunate that there was no cloud cover - it is back today!

The Cross has special significance for me. In 1955 as a youngster I emigrated  from the UK to NZ with my parents. We travelled on the Shaw Saville Southern Cross on its maiden voyage from Southampton to Wellington. I have a vague memory that just before arriving in Wellington we travelled down an uninhabited coast. I suspect that we had made landfall at  the Castlepoint Lighthouse (40° 54' S   176° 14' E) which was (still is?) classed as a landfall light.  I wonder how many years it is since a ship made landfall at this light -  twenty or thirty?

In the main lobby was a map of the world. Every day (at noon?) a pin was placed in it showing our current position.

On a later voyage (according to a book I have)  the Southern Cross and its sister ship the Northern Star passed mid ocean.  They had located each other by RDF.

Unfortunately at the tender age of six I had not heard of astro so did not stop and watch the bridge wings at dawn or at  noon (-;