NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Frank Reed
Date: 2020 Oct 20, 08:49 -0700
Celestial Navigation in the Age of Sail
- Register Online Workshop, Broadcast from Conanicut Island USA
A fast-paced introductory workshop in the history and the actual techniques of celestial navigation as it was practiced the Age of Sail, throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century. We'll learn how to take sights and work calculations, especially as done aboard Mystic Seaport Museum's premier exhibit vessel, the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. Examining original logbooks and navigational calculations from its voyages, we'll apply these same methods to modern navigation.
In this class, we'll learn how to use and adjust sextants and octants, both historical instruments and their modern equivalents, and we'll learn the classic method of finding latitude by "Noon Sun". We'll also cover in detail the math of the "time sight" for finding longitude. Throughout, we will compare what we're doing with actual logbook entries and calculations in the collections of Mystic Seaport, bringing historical documents to life.
This is real navigation, not just a class "about" navigation. Fast and intense, students who complete this class will have the basic celestial navigation skills to cross any ocean using the Sun, a sextant, and a few other simple tools, drawn directly from the 19th century.
Requirements:
- Basic addition and subtraction.
- A good understanding of latitude and longitude on the globe.
- Recommended for ages 18 and up, students as young as age 13 welcome.
Frank Reed
Clockwork Mapping / ReedNavigation.com
Conanicut Island USA
PS: "Lunars" the following weekend, Oct 31 - Nov 1.
