This thread is an offshoot of another thread currently running (a very amusing one). One poster challenged the legitimacy of another by asking: “[I]Are you able to reduce a backsight in a celestial fix?” [/I]
Which is as salty a challenge as all Hell, and which got me thinking [B]“Does anyone nowadays, in their navigational life, reduce a backsight in a celestial fix?”[/B] I mean that as an actual question, not ironically.
I came out of the academy back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. I remember having my sextant all ready for my first job. Only to work in Alaska, where the only celestial objects seen between Labor Day and July 4th are to be found between the pages of Maxxim. (Not putting to use all the celestial training I learned at school is one of the few professional regrets I have).
Anyway, do you deep-sea guys still take your twice-daily celestial sights as part of your professional work? And if you do, when was the last time you reduced a backsight in a celestial fix? Again, I’m not trying to be sarcastic. I’m a sucker for all things traditional navigation.
(By the way, I think I sold my sextant in the '90s for some Powerball tickets. Seemed like a good idea at the time…)
No. I have’t seen anyone but cadets touch a sextant in forever.
[QUOTE=DeckApe;188754]No. I have’t seen anyone but cadets touch a sextant in forever.[/QUOTE]
I’ve seen people play with them occasionally, take some sights and do the computation in the computer program and compare numbers. I’ve never seen actual celestial plotting done in real life though.
I use to do celestial when sailing beyond coverage where two loran lines crossed. I have never done a Back sight. No reason to except under the rarest of peculiar circumstances. If I’m doing an offshore passage on a boat that has a sextant and tables, which is rare these days, I will play with the sextant.
Last time I did an actual backsight on a ship was 20 years ago on a cadet cruise when I was having to do extra credit so I wouldn’t have to do a third senior cruise. Could I do it again, mmmmmaybe… in a pinch with a gun to my head.
Before I came to the oilfield, every boat I shipped on still at least wanted LAN plotted, and if the captain was especially salty, a running fix each day. Morning and evening stars, not so much though.
[QUOTE=freighterman;188742]
Anyway, do you deep-sea guys still take your twice-daily celestial sights as part of your professional work? And if you do, when was the last time you reduced a backsight in a celestial fix? Again, I’m not trying to be sarcastic. I’m a sucker for all things traditional navigation.
[/QUOTE]
This topic comes up from time to time, it’s nostalgia.
The mates coach the cadets while they learn, otherwise it’s a recreational activity for mariners on long boring voyages. Staying sharp on terrestrial navigation or any number of other activities that reduce risk are a better investment in time/effort.