Navigator
Living Legend
So then, Mike, I reckon that sextant in your avatar was a useless tool as well?
Nope, it was extremely useful, like maps and charts.
I was a Navigator on two ships and have used a sextant to navigate throughout the Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and up into the Black Sea. We didn't have decent electronic navigation aides, such as GPS back then. We had Omega for use on the high seas but it was pretty worthless. I performed the initial test and evaluation of the Magnavox 1105 SATNAV during my last deployment and it wasn't bad.
RocketlllMan
If I don't do it now, when will I
MIG
Road Therapy...
- Joined
- May 26, 2014
- Messages
- 3,050
- Location
- Tucson, AZ
- Ride
- "Fiona" my '14 R3T & "Delilah" my '16 V-Rod Muscle
I haven't been on this site for awhile, but I was stationed with and worked with the rider who started it. GREAT Guy!!
-MIG
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Landstar
Adapt adjust overcome
7 Pictures That Prove West Virginia Lives Up To Its Nickname 'Switzerland Of America'
West Virginia has been called the 'Switzerland Of America,' and here are a few glimpses of why the nickname is so appropriate.
www.onlyinyourstate.com
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Navigator
Living Legend
7 Pictures That Prove West Virginia Lives Up To Its Nickname 'Switzerland Of America'
West Virginia has been called the 'Switzerland Of America,' and here are a few glimpses of why the nickname is so appropriate.
God's country it is. I've ridden and driven through West Virginia and know there is so much more to see than I was able to during my journeys. Another time.
Idaho Red Rocket 3
Living Legend
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2008
- Messages
- 5,600
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- Nampa, Idaho USA
- Ride
- 2006 RIII Standard Bagger w/Fairing
New River Gorge West Virginia
Joesmoe
IMOKUR2
I have a newfound appreciation for your sextant.
I would actually like to learn how to use one.
I saw a show on PBS recently about a Shackleton attempt to cross Antarctica in 1914, and the show (unlike the Wikipedia entry) credited Captain Frank Worsley with the fact not a single man was lost during the three year voyage after their ship the Endurance was caught in ice and sank.
In part of the saga, the three boats land on a dot of rocks and ice "Elephant Island", where most of the men were left to make do, while five, led by Worsley set out in the one remaining ocean worthy boat, and using sextant with infrequent sightings because of weather, managed to guide the boat 800 miles across the stormy South Atlantic and reach South Georgia Island.
I would actually like to learn how to use one.
I saw a show on PBS recently about a Shackleton attempt to cross Antarctica in 1914, and the show (unlike the Wikipedia entry) credited Captain Frank Worsley with the fact not a single man was lost during the three year voyage after their ship the Endurance was caught in ice and sank.
In part of the saga, the three boats land on a dot of rocks and ice "Elephant Island", where most of the men were left to make do, while five, led by Worsley set out in the one remaining ocean worthy boat, and using sextant with infrequent sightings because of weather, managed to guide the boat 800 miles across the stormy South Atlantic and reach South Georgia Island.
RocketlllMan
If I don't do it now, when will I
Nice
Navigator
Living Legend
It will be interesting to see what will happen if our GPS network is ever taken down. The Navy quit teaching celestial navigation because it really is a bit of a challenge to learn, the understanding of spherical trigonometry, and what the computations are, that is, the star sightings/elevations/time that are used to compute a fix, what the values used in the sight reduction (computed altitude and azimuth) really mean. I had developed a pretty good sextant skills when a Navy reserve officer, a Merchant Marine First Officer, asked me what I was doing as I was computing a sun line off the coast of Charleston, SC. I showed him the process and the next thing he said was "I see. You have no idea what you are doing. The Navy teaches monkey see monkey do." He then told me that for the next two weeks I was going to learn and understand spherical trig. He taught me to understand what the values used in computing a fix really mean. After the light bulb went on I computed a fix on a blank piece of table, filling in the computed values to get a very refined fix. Real Sailor/Explorers such as Shackleton knew this. They understood the math, angles and values of celestial navigation. They understood the celestial bodies along with their relationship to each other and planet Earth.
The other obsolete skill I have is the ability to send and receive Morse Code, which I learned back in 1968. It's one of those things that never leave. It's still stored somewhere down inside my aging brain housing group. It would probably take me several weeks to get back up to about 28-30 groups a minute.
Edit: I just thought of one more. I can still work on carburetors.
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