NavList:

The blind dhow captain came recommended. He had been doing the route from the small creek at Dubai to other stops all his life, including when his sight was normal. As his sight deteriorated, his brain gave more precedence to other senses, such as hearing and smell. Pilots are taught to ignore senses, and believe instruments: if there are no instruments, that leaves senses. He could barely see, but he could hear swell breaking on rocks or beaches. As earthlings can smell the fresh sea air, he surely could smell air coming from land.

Given the task of delivering a Land Rover to the small port of Bandar Abbas, he elected to leave Dubai so that he would arrive during the quiet period before  dawn. He would initially keep the beach noises of the Trucial coast to the right for a few hours, before edging left to pick up the smell and surf of Qeshm island on the left. A check on distance run would come when the small island to the SE of Qeshm's tip was heard to the right.

The final night run-in to Bandar Abbas, which I witnessed, was to him, routine. The camel stick used to command helm orders is a status symbol in those quarters.