NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Rommel John Miller
Date: 2015 Aug 19, 12:41 -0400
Found this at the JLS Forums, which seem to be a site similar to Craigslist.
“For Sale....Nice vernier sextant in wooden case. It is marked "Lafayette Instruments, New York, New York, Sextant S.A." on the dial and has a sticker on the wooden handle that says "Yoder Instruments, East Palistine, Ohio, Since 1930." I'm guessing this is about world war II vintage. The case measures about 9x9x5" and the bottom has recesses to hold the instrument in the correct position. The case looks to be orignial too, yet has scratches & wear. The dial moves freely indicating the instrument frame is not bent or tweaked -- a nice find. I'm not an expert on these so please ask questions if you want me to check on something. Asking $300 or BO. E-mail, call, or text me @ xxx-xxx-eight six three seven.”
My take is that offering $60 when someone clearly has $300 in his head to sell it at is a bit of a slap in the face.
Not that Hewitt is ignorant of the value or price of sextants, after all he wrote a couple books on the subject of Celestial Navigation and sextant use, so he isn’t a fool.
I just wonder what makes this sextant more dear than a lifeboat sextant or Davis Mk 3
Rommel John Miller
8679 Island Pointe Drive
Hebron, MD 21830-0910
Phone: 410-219-2690 (landline)
443-365-7925 (cell)
From: NavList@fer3.com [mailto:NavList@fer3.com] On Behalf Of Hewitt Schlereth
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2015 12:27 PM
To: rommeljohnmiller@gmail.com
Subject: [NavList] Re: Yoder Sextant
A couple of years ago I offered $60 for one. Wanted to see how it would stack up against a Davis Mk 3. Never got a reply.
Hewitt
On Aug 18, 2015, at 11:07 PM, Frank Reed <NoReply_FrankReed@fer3.com> wrote:
Marty Lyons, you wrote:
"The owner claims he had it evaluated by an expert who claimed it was 'inaccurate'."I can't recall the date and without that I can't find the email exchange, but this "expert evaluator" was probably me. I explained that the sextant he had was not an instrument for proper celestial navigation. The Yoder type has an odd pedigree. I suspect it was originally a training sextant. Later it was marketed as a coasting sextant (for measuring angles between lighthouses, buoys, etc.). But it's rather low quality, and, as I explained to the seller, he should price it like a plastic sextant. It sounds like he has tried that, and I respect that integrity. Myself? I wouldn't buy a Yoder sextant for $95... but $85? Maybe.. It's close. This is a real sextant; just not all that accurate!
Frank Reed
