Description

Loran and GPS notwithstanding, there will at all times 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 this planet by gazing at the heavens. Here is the indispensable reference that are supposed to 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 shopping for, adjusting, the usage of, and repairing sextants.

The Sextant Handbook is dedicated to the premise that electronic navigation devices, even as too convenient to overlook, are too liable 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 around the globe, a discussion of future trends, and a lot of helpful hints, including sighting with eyeglasses and the usage of a Rude starfinder. All in a thoroughly revised edition of a book acclaimed by navigation professionals.