Navigation Before Satellites? How did they use a Sextant?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
- Sextant is what people used for centuries for marine navigation. In this video, I look at what is a sextant and how is it used for navigation? Before GPS navigation became the standard for boat navigation, sailors, open water boaters, and ocean crossing boaters used a sextant to help navigate and determine their location in the ocean. A marine navigation sextant can be used to identify longitude and latitude and our location on the open water. With practice, it can be used to calculate a position out in the ocean with under 1 nautical mile of accuracy.
Using a sextant for marine navigation is challenging and takes practice. But on open waters, it is a useful tool if you are skilled enough with it especially if GPS navigation systems fail. Marine navigation, blue water boating, nautical navigation, navigation by the stars, and solo sailing without electronics are all possible with a working sextant, tables, nautical charts, accurate clocks and a compass.
00:00 Introduction
01:16 What replaced the sextant
02:14 Looking at my 60 year old Davis Mark 3 Standard Marine Sextant
03:12 How a sextant works for nautical navigation
07:00 Conclusion
If you're interested in purchasing some sextant related items from Amazon I have provided some links below:
- Buy a new version of the Davis Mark 3 (like mine) amzn.to/4aLLsg9
- Buy a Davis Mark 25 (a much better one!) amzn.to/41TWQCw
- Brass vintage looking sextant for decoration or display amzn.to/3vypNba
- The Sextant Handbook amzn.to/3tNIoiM
- GPS Backup with Mark 3 Sextant (book) amzn.to/3HgGElc
- Celestial Navigation Home Study Course amzn.to/41RY3tW
As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
Sextants and other old forms of navigating the ocean were used before we had satellites which gave us the ability to develop global positioning (GPS) to determine our location in the ocean and other open waters away from shore. Navigating a boat without GPS was a much more technically challenging way to determine a boat's location in the ocean or large bodies of water.
▶︎▶︎▶︎Playlists About Boats
🚤 Tiny Boat/Jon Boat Stuff • Tiny Boat - Little Boa...
💰 Boat Shopping • Boat Shopping
🐋 Boston Whaler • Boston Whaler Videos
🛥 Boats, Boat Trips & Boat Accessories • Boats, Boating Trips, ...
⚡️ Electric Boats & Electric Boating • Electric Powered Boats...
🛶 Kayaks & Kayaking • Kayaking & Kayak upgrades
🪦 Curtis Creek Maryland Ship Graveyard • Curtis Creek Maryland ...
🎲 Boating Shorts • Boating Shorts
▶︎▶︎▶︎Boat Engines & Motors Playlists
💭 2 Stroke Outboard Motors • 2 Stroke Outboard Engi...
🔌 Electric Outboard Motors • Electric Outboard Motors
⛽︎ Mercury 2.5 hp two stroke outboard videos • Mercury 2.5 hp Two Str...
⚙️ Volvo Penta Maintenance & Repairs • Volvo Penta Maintenanc...
🌎 Newport NT300 electric outboard • Newport NT300 3 hp Ele...
🚽 Evinrude 2 - 2 hp engine • Evinrude 2 - old Evinr...
🔒 Seized Suzuki DF20 • Suzuki DF20 Short Shaf...
🔧 Inboard/Outboard Maintenance • Inboard Outboard (Ster...
▶︎▶︎▶︎ Boat Repairs & Projects Playlists
🛠 Low Cost Boat Repairs & Projects • Low Cost DIY Repair & ...
🔨 Boat Transom Projects • Boat Transom Projects
🧰 Boat Repair & Maintenance • Boat repair, maintenan...
🛞 Boat Trailer Projects • Boat Trailer Repairs &...
▶︎▶︎▶︎New Boater Playlists
📌 Boating Education & Tips • Boating Education and ...
📓 Boating Basics • Boating Basics for New...
🆘 Boat Safety • Boat Safety - videos t...
❄️ Boat Winterization • Boat Winterization
#sextant #navigation #sailing #celestialnavigation #gpsnavigation
Sound effects and additional music is copyright free from iMovie - Розваги
I've always though of a sextant as being a very cool navigational instrument and now I have a better idea of how to use one
Thanks!
Great explanation of the use of a sextant. So glad we have GPS.
Brings new meaning to "lost at sea" doesn't it!
Super simple explanation, really enjoyed the post.
Great job explaining the sextant, they are a interesting piece. I grew up pre GPS navigating the Chesapeake . But they only work on clear sky's .
Thank you!
I shot stars and calculated ship position in the Navy of the 1980's. We also had Loran and the early SatNav system but the quartermaster shot stars every clear morning.
That's pretty cool!
Terrific video! You might want to get an "Artificial Horizon", and set it up by your house. Taking sun shots is really neat, and you can confirm where your house actually is! You can also shoot the sun when out on your boat. I bought a practice sextant some years ago, and have confirmed where my house is many times!
Years and years ago I taught my self celestial navigation, and borrowed a sextant when going offshore one summer on an Oceanographic Ship!
I put more details in in a previous post, but it may have gotten deleted somehow!
Yeah there’s certainly a lot to learn and play with!
Wonder who developed that instrument pretty amazing. We worked with one of those when I got my sailboat merit badge in Boy Scouts, we got the very basic method.
Very interesting info Wayne! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it
good in determining the time of the day. when all you have is the hand, accurately determining this time by the shadow whiten 5 min deviation (most just look at the watch is far easier)
OMG amazing video thank you so much ( I've never even been on a boat , and I think this is worth learning , just in case )
Cool video Wayne! Never knew how these things worked!
Was that music in the beginning from Prometheus? 🤔
It was just some free music from the UA-cam library!
I bet that's a real trip on a rough sea!
I got a Saxton, and it's class books on how to use it, it's a good think to know how to use that's fer shore 😅
Very interesting but thank god for GPS.
Yes indeed!
Great segment Wayne. I've always been intrigued by Sextants. I used to fly in C-130s up and down the Berlin Corridors in the late 70s in West Germany. we used to fly from Rhine Mein to Berlin and back. knowing the position of the aircraft was paramount for crew safety. The navigator would periodically use a sextant as a backup aid to the radar navigation. when i got a boat, on the bay, i initially purchased the Loran system. it was a little clunky compared to the GPS of today. When GPS became affordable it was one of the first mods i did on the boat. Thanks for sharing.
On my to buy and learn to use list
They're pretty neat!
I don't know if you get out on open water but I was just wondering if you have a mirror on board? It s the best piece of safety equipment you can carry.
I don't ever get out on open water - but that's a great tip!
You might do a video on safety equipment for boaters@@WayneTheBoatGuy
Is that a new boat behind you?
No. I’m just storing it.
LORAN preceded GPS by quite a few years.
yep, Loran was around for a long time before GPS. I had a Furuno LC90 in the mid 80's. Loran I thing was completely shutdown around 2009 or so
Do bread crumbs float?
They only work to get you home. We can't discover new worlds with them!