The Sextant Handbook
by Bauer, BruceEdition: 2nd
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 1995-02-22
Publisher(s): International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
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Summary
Loran and GPS notwithstanding, there will always be a place for the sextant aboard any blue-water boat, if for no other reason than the thrill and mystery of finding one's position on earth by gazing at the heavens. Here is the indispensable reference that should accompany the instrument aboard. Cmdr. Bruce Bauer, a professional navigator and master mariner with the U.S. Merchant Marine, has distilled years of hands-on experience into an eminently readable guide to buying, adjusting, using, and repairing sextants. The Sextant Handbook is dedicated to the premise that electronic navigation devices, while too convenient to disregard, are too vulnerable to rely on exclusively. The book is designed to make beginner and expert alike conversant with this most beautiful and functional of the navigator's tools. Topics include: Assembly and Disassembly Vital Adjustments Avoiding Problems Rough Weather Sightings Oiling and Cleaning Immersion Baths Emergency Silvering Finding and Buying Used Sextants And Much More You'll also find a list of distributors, manufacturers, and dealers worldwide, a discussion of future trends, and numerous helpful hints, including sighting with eyeglasses and using a Rude starfinder. All in a thoroughly revised edition of a book acclaimed by navigation professionals.
Author Biography
Cmdr. Bruce A. Bauer, USN (ret.), is a professional navigator and master mariner with the U.S. Merchant Marine. He presently commands a Navy research vessel sailing between the United States and the Caribbean islands and recently commanded the ship that was successful in relocating the historic sunken submarine Monitor off Cape Hatteras. A former destroyer captain, Cmdr. Bauer has taught radar and been a senior instructor for the Master Mates and Pilots School of Advanced Studies and also served as the commander of the Naval Research Lab at Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. In addition to The Sextant Handbook, Cmdr. Bauer has written articles on the subject of marine sextants for Cruising World and SAIL magazines. He lives with his artist wife, Nancy, on the shores of the Chesapeake in Deale, Maryland.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 A Short History
Astrolabe
Latitude Hook
Quadrant
Cross Staff
Back Staff
Sextant
Chapter 2 Elements of the Sextant and Four Vital Adjustments
Perpendicularity
Frame and Index Mirror
Frame and Horizon Glass
Parallelism
Index Mirror and Horizon Glass
Telescope and Frame
Adjustment Procedures
Chapter 3 Attachments and Accessories
Astigmatizers
Double Star Prism
Wide View Horizon Glass
Davis Prism Level
Bubble Horizon Attachment
Neck Straps
Visual Aids
Chapter 4 Care, Maintenance, and Repair
Oiling and Cleaning
Immersion Bath Procedures
How to Hold
Where to Put Down
Mounted Sextant Boxes
Emergency Silvering Techniques
Applying Paint
Resilvering Horizon Glass
Chapter 5 How to Buy a Sextant
Where to Find Them
Prices
Five Ground Rules to Avoid Problems
Taking Test Sights
Interstellar Test Table
Discovering the Dropped Sextant
Reconditioning Costs
Chapter 6 Sighting Techniques
Inversion for Location
Precalculating Azimuths
Rocking or Swinging an Arc
Sun's Upper Limb
Shades for Sun, Moon, and Venus
Correcting for False Horizon
Rough Weather Sighting Techniques
Making a Monocle
Chapter 7 Correcting the Sight
The Thirteen Errors
Correcting for Moon, Venus, and Mars
Correcting for Wave Height
Chapter 8 Timing the Sight Accurately
The Hack Watch
Using a Tape Recorder
Counting Paces and Stopwatches
Attaching Stopwatch to Sextant
Chapter 9 Searching for Stars
The Necessity for Preplanning
Finding Sunrise
Using the Rude Star Finder
Converting Local Time
Using H.O. Pub. No. 249
Making and Using a Wrist Board
Chapter 10 Sextants of Tomorrow
Is the Sextant Doomed?
Coming Developments
Appendixes
A--Sextant Check Procedures
B--Sextant Manufacturers
C--Distribution and Dealers
D--The Navigator's Basic Tool Kit
E--Making and Using an Artificial Horizon
F--Table of Interstellar Angles for Practice Sighting and Sextant Testing
G--Useful Addresses
Bibliography
Index
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