Yes, but you can make a correction for that. In fact and in practice, that is what is always done. Even if you're on a small sailboat, your eye (and the sextant) might be, say, nine feet above sea level. You need to measure that in port on a calm day with a regular old tape measure. The correction for that will be part of your computations. And so after three years, you have your answer. :)
Hello Mr Cunliffe,,,,,,,jim wyatt , southampton. I have a question If i am on a vessel in the middle of nowhere and all i have is accurate time, ie GMT and a sextant with pencil and paper,,,with nothing else at all in the way of almanacs and tables etc. Is there any information i can glean from the equipment at hand and how do i get it.
Hello Jim, maybe 3 years too late for your question but with no almanacs or tables you have two possibilities: (1) You can shoot the pole star (N. hemisphere) and get your latitude (= angle from horizon) without any corrections at all. One minute of arc will be about 1 nm as one degree = 60 nautical miles. (2) You can do a series of sun shots before and after noon, say one every five minutes to get the maximum at noon, this will give you your longitude and and approx. latitude, as you need the so-called equation of time table to get it more precisely. This could give you a position to within 10 nm - enough to see land on a clear day.
I could watch this guy explain how a shoe lace works. I'm sure his galley smells of scotch, leather and rich mahogany.
I've drunk scotch with Tom on a boat - was a great night with great entertainment. Tom has a great voice for singing sea shanties! :-)
Tom Cunliffe you are the man... Thankyou for the lesson on how the sextant works. You make learning easy.
Thanks very much Tom - loved the casual explaination and story.
there is no finer man of the sea
You throw batterys in to the Atlantic sea?!?!
nice...
No such thing as the Atlantic sea. It's the Atlantic ocean.
The Alan Partridge of the sea…
I hate it when I learn something and enjoy it all at a time. Thanks.
So we have a "fix", how do we use that to navagate. Land lubber!
very helpful, I picked up a few more clues, Thanks Tom.
Thank you Captain for your 🔥 presentation. Much respect.
Can send ur num
Never new it was that simple
simply wonderful explanation!
This guy is amazing
Would elevation above sea level throw off the exact latitude? In other words, on land.
Yes, but you can make a correction for that. In fact and in practice, that is what is always done. Even if you're on a small sailboat, your eye (and the sextant) might be, say, nine feet above sea level. You need to measure that in port on a calm day with a regular old tape measure. The correction for that will be part of your computations.
And so after three years, you have your answer. :)
Whoa really good information there too , my friend . Thank you .
very big mistake to catch the sextant by right hand !!
ahmed elsissy a ex sex
Good one Tom
J
Spoken like a true professor. A good one at that :)
Hello Mr Cunliffe,,,,,,,jim wyatt , southampton.
I have a question
If i am on a vessel in the middle of nowhere and all i have is accurate time, ie GMT and a sextant with pencil and paper,,,with nothing else at all in the way of almanacs and tables etc. Is there any information i can glean from the equipment at hand and how do i get it.
Hello Jim, maybe 3 years too late for your question but with no almanacs or tables you have two possibilities: (1) You can shoot the pole star (N. hemisphere) and get your latitude (= angle from horizon) without any corrections at all. One minute of arc will be about 1 nm as one degree = 60 nautical miles. (2) You can do a series of sun shots before and after noon, say one every five minutes to get the maximum at noon, this will give you your longitude and and approx. latitude, as you need the so-called equation of time table to get it more precisely. This could give you a position to within 10 nm - enough to see land on a clear day.
Leslie Nielsen!