The Wonders of Navigation.

[Graham Payne]

Hi Graham

when you get to my age we start to live in a fantasy world, showing that there is nothing wrong with our memories, and aren't they great !Don't know about the physical side as the wife says I can look at the menu but there will be bloody trouble if I start to eat.

There's no such thing as "Ageism" on this site, we are all young

I make you spot on there Ivan Well said.

[happy daze john in oz]

You are only as old as the woman you feel.
.
. Have I got that right???

You have captain, they even wrote a song about it, 'mamories, like the colors of my mind,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Captain Gordon Whittaker]

My Missus has just been for a full medical MOT, and was bragging about how impressed the doctor was. "He said I had a lovely pert bosom for a woman of 70, and good legs, eyes, and face."! I said, "What did he say about your 70 year old ****?" "She said,"Oh he didn't mention you"!

[Graham Evans]

What will happeni In the not too distant future, when all the GPS satellies are worn out and off the air, buoys and lighthouses decomissioned, H.O shut down,so no paper charts, all electronics crashed and no more spares? Not much, I suspect, the world is broke so nobodys goin' nowhere. We'll have to start from scratch again. My sextant will be worth a fortune, pity I won't be around to make loadsamoney !

[John Cassels]

Hope those days don't return ; morning sun sights ? - a most inaccurate navigation method.

[Gulliver]

Hope those days don't return ; morning sun sights ? - a most inaccurate navigation method.

But much better than nothing when you're mid-ocean.And what's a mile or two inaccuracy when you're in such a location.?

[alf corbyn]

hey gulliver. i wouldn't like to go through the magellan straits or tween sicily and italy on a dark night with your navigation. alf

[Gulliver]

hey gulliver. i wouldn't like to go through the magellan straits or tween sicily and italy on a dark night with your navigation. alf

A sun sight ain't going to do us much good there either,Alf- especially in the dark .

[Captain Gordon Whittaker]

I used to shoot Venus on the Meridian, in daylight, and get a latitude to go with my sun position line. I never realised that Venus is visible in daylight through the sextant scope. A wise old Master taught me that, from his days under sail. Work out the Meridian passage, set the approximate altitude and watch Venus zenith, hover, then drop. Perfect Latitude to plot. Moonlit nights, latitude by Polaris, so easy! Who needs GPS, subject to Sunspot activity?

[Captain Kong]

Sailing through the Magellan Straits can be a bit dodgy if you are not aware of its many dangers.
.
The Strait of Magellan is the most favorable route between the Atlantic and the Pacific
oceans for large ships, but can be perilous as well. On 9 August 1974, the 325 m . 200,000 dwt. VLCC Shell tanker Metula, ran aground on a rock 60 miles into the Strait from the Atlantic entrance, and refloated 47 days later. During this period, 51,500 tons of light Saudi Arabian crude oil and 2000 tons of Bunker C fuel oil spilled from her tanks
The tides and currents are very variable in speed and direction. It is nearly 500 miles in length and has variable widths from narrows to wide open spaces. I first went through there in 1958 after going around Cape Horn to some islands to the west of the Hoorn to load Guanacos and Llamas then to Punta Arenas and back through the Magellan, to the Atlantic side, We had no RADAR in those days and the Mate of the watch was continously doing a running fix all the way through from identifyable points of land and lights.. The tide would have you doing 20 knots one moment and then you were struggling against it as it turned and steering was a constant problem.
I have been through twice on cruise ships so I do not know what method they used then.
Cheers, Brian.