For the benifit of new list members interested in the Silicon Sea 
cruise. Below is the revised Read1st.txt.
*****************************************
5-18-1999

The Cruise of the Silicon Sea

If you want to join us, do. The only requirement is enthusiasm and
participation in the discussions.

Obviously those doing their navigation the old fashioned way, working for 
it, will need an Almanac. This makes the essential tools, Almanac, Plotting 
tools, plotting sheet, and a Sight Reduction method. The dates for the 
problems will be concurrent with the Nautical Almanac. All other information 
will be lifted from charts and documents available to the working group.

In order to save some time, and make it easier on me, the cruise will pick
up where the old one left off, at Palma de Mallorca in the Mediterranean.
The route is consistent with Pilot Charts for the time of year (although
mine date from 1978).

The Route:

Palma de Mallorca-Isle Horadada Light(departure point)-a point at the
entrance to the Strait of Sicily-Port Said-Transit the Suez Canal-Transit
the Red Sea-Adan(planned stop)-Cape Lueewin-Bass Strait-Sydney,
Australia(planned stop)-Cape Horn-Barbados-Boston(home port).

Be aware this is the planned route, STUFF Happens.

Newbies, Oldbies, In-between-be's and anyone just plane interested, join in.
The only requirement is PARTICIPATE. If you don't know, ASK. That's why we
are doing this.

I recommend a Navigation Log Book, aka. Spiral Binder. To keep track of your
doings. Believe me it can't be done 100% on a computer.

Again the required tools:

    1) A pencil and ERASER.
    2) Something to draw straight lines with.
    3) Something to layout angles with.
    4) Something to use as a plotting sheet.
    5) Something to calculate trig. formulas with.
    6) Nautical Almanac for sight reductions and sun problems.
    7) A pair of dividers.
    8) For us lazy souls, a Computer Navigation Program of your choice.

NAV PLOTTING

Below is Dan Hogan's QED plotting for the financially under-privileged.
Blatantly stolen from Self Contained Celestial Navigation with H.O. 208,
John S. Letcher, 1977, International Marine, ISBN 0-87742-082-3.

Use lined paper, college ruled, Turn the paper 90d, so the lines are
vertical. Ruled lines are used for longitude. Every sixth or twelfth lie is
darkened to represent a whole degree of longitude. (depending on the scale
desired).

Lines of latitude are added by construction starting with the lowest
latitude desired. Whole degrees are 60 miles. From your lowest Latitude line
at the most R/H longitude line, draw a line at an angle up from the
Latitude of your lowest latitude line plus 0.5d(ie.: 28.5d). For ten miles
to the vertical line use 6 lines; for 5 miles to the line use 12 vertical
lines. Where the angled line crosses your 6th or 12th line swing an arc
until it touches your R/H vertical longitude line. This is the point of the
next latitude line. Draw a line perpendicular to the longitude across the
page. Repeat the process with each higher latitude (29.5d), etc.

The bottom angle line, where it crosses the intermediate vertical
longitude lines, is the distance interval. 10 miles each line for 6 line
spacing. 5 miles each line for 12 line spacing. This forms a handy scale of
miles or minutes of latitude. The accuracy is within the tolerance of your
#2 pencil point.

CHARTLETTS

These are minimal charts with not much more than a coast outline and
a lat-long grid.  They are all derived from the Map Viewer program at Xerox
PARC, http://pubweb.parc.xerox.map, with place names from assorted atlases
and encyclopedias.  I don't have any access to the detailed information
usually found in navigation charts and these might better be called
"chartlettes".  They are still usefull for providing some geographic
orientation for the Silicon Sea cruise and if printed can be used as
plotting sheets.

For plotting you will need a course plotter or some device for measuring 
angles.  Each chart has part of the latitude scale graduated for measuring 
distance.  You need to construct a scale for measuring longitude but this 
is easy to do using the method outlined in Bowditch in the emergency 
navigation section.  You can probably get an accuracy of about 2 nautical
miles.

              
This version of the Silicon Sea cruise starts with Leg 10 in Mallorca, Spain. 
Leg 10 IS the FIRST problem in this series.

     Leg 10 to Leg 23 Cover the Mediterranean Sea.
     Leg 24 to Leg 26 Cover the Suez Canal and Red Sea transit.
     Leg 27 to Leg 40 Cover the Indian Ocean passage
     Leg 41 to Leg 44 Cover rounding Australia to Sydney
     Leg 46 to Leg ?? Cover Sydney to Cape Horn
                      Cover Cape Horn to Boston Harbor

The Silicon Sea archives consist of:

	SSNAVCRZ.ZIP - the problems with the answers in a text file
	SSCHARTS.ZIP - a series of chartletts developed by Wes Murfin
	POSPLOT.ZIP - a Windows Plotting Sheet printing program by Wes
			  Murfin.
	    
These problems are intended as self learning excersises and for the 
enjoyment of armchair navigators. Each problem is complete in it self. 
Alhough the cruise legs are a sequencial East about circumnavigation bound 
for Boston via Mediterranean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Austarlia, So. Pacific 
Ocean, So. Atlantic Ocean to Boston.

Certain conventions were adopted as the cruise progressed. Most due to the 
ASCII requirements of the Internet. Such as, Hs for hs and Kts for Knots used 
in the calculation of current drift and set. Others I adopted to reduce the
time spent developing, calculating and proofing the problems. They are all 
open to discussion. Nothing is cast in concrete.

In developing the programs errors (intentional and un-intential) creep in.
Please use these as points of discussion and post all questions about the 
cruise to the NAVIGATION mail list. To subscribe send the following message, 
with no subject and no signature to:
 listserv@listserv.webkahuna.com
   In the first line of the message body
 SUBSCRIBE NAVIGATION-L <Your Name>

     
Dan Hogan WA6PBY		     Yacht "GACHA"
West Covina, CA		     Catalina 27
dhhogan@nav.cnchost.com	     San Pedro, CA
