Perhaps this subject has arisen before, however it might shed an interesting light on choice.
Given the fact that in this day and age we have the absolute best navigation tools ever devised, we, as purest CN lunatics, long for technology of bygone days - nevertheless we still welcome the chronometer as a standard piece of gear.
Granted the chronometer greatly improved the accuracy of early navigators, Slocum - unable to afford one - used an old tin clock. So how did he navigate? There was no WWV or radio beacons, etc. The answer - The lunar method. He didnt need a chronometer, and although a goat ate his charts, he made the trip without much difficulty. Of course the lunar method is more cumbersome mathematically than our present day single shot table methods, but he still needed a sextant - and circle the globe he did. HOW COOL IS THAT? I once (ignorantly) used nothing more than a road map to navigate the great Yukon River in Canada by canoe. The HMS Bounty captain, after mutiny, had but a very limited supply of NAV tools to usher his surviving crew thousands of miles to safety - avoiding known islands of inhospitable natives - without chart table or enclosure within to work.
My question for you: What is the absolute minimum navigational equipment list and navigation technique you might feel comfortable with if circumnavigating the earth solo or with a minimal crew? (include any and all paper references, tools, recording implements (pencils etc.), space requirements, support equipment (table, chart room, etc), and lighting. Exclude supplemental emergency devices or implements.
Have fun
joe
Given the fact that in this day and age we have the absolute best navigation tools ever devised, we, as purest CN lunatics, long for technology of bygone days - nevertheless we still welcome the chronometer as a standard piece of gear.
Granted the chronometer greatly improved the accuracy of early navigators, Slocum - unable to afford one - used an old tin clock. So how did he navigate? There was no WWV or radio beacons, etc. The answer - The lunar method. He didnt need a chronometer, and although a goat ate his charts, he made the trip without much difficulty. Of course the lunar method is more cumbersome mathematically than our present day single shot table methods, but he still needed a sextant - and circle the globe he did. HOW COOL IS THAT? I once (ignorantly) used nothing more than a road map to navigate the great Yukon River in Canada by canoe. The HMS Bounty captain, after mutiny, had but a very limited supply of NAV tools to usher his surviving crew thousands of miles to safety - avoiding known islands of inhospitable natives - without chart table or enclosure within to work.
My question for you: What is the absolute minimum navigational equipment list and navigation technique you might feel comfortable with if circumnavigating the earth solo or with a minimal crew? (include any and all paper references, tools, recording implements (pencils etc.), space requirements, support equipment (table, chart room, etc), and lighting. Exclude supplemental emergency devices or implements.
Have fun
joe
