July 7, 2004
Where Am I? Right About Here
My brother sent me this pic of a Master and Commander sextant for sale on Ebay:
Currently at $56.99. It actually looks like decent craftsmanship. When I sailed Eagle to Europe I actually became quite expert with celestial navigation. The sextant, the tide tables, the tidal current tables. Find me three stars on a semi-clear night and I could triangulate myself to within a ten square mile plot of Atlantic Ocean. That is thrilling stuff, believe it or not, and I cannot imagine the days of Columbus, when you had a concept of latitude, but longitude kicked your ass.
I might get that sextant. In a world where Loran is ancient technology, and golf carts have GPS rangefinders, I still cleave unto the old ways. Ten square miles ain't so bad.
I am not exactly a fan of the new technology, some of it simply astounds me with what mankind has been able to achieve. But the old technology, now that's different. Instruments created by craftsmen, for various tasks such as Sextants, Octants, Quadrants, compasses, etc.
These are the things that catch my eye and hold my interest.