The Sextant Handbook [Paperback]

Loran and GPS notwithstanding, there will always 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 earth by gazing at the heavens. Here is the indispensable reference that should 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 buying, adjusting, using, and repairing sextants.

The Sextant Handbookis dedicated to the premise that electronic navigation devices, while too convenient to disregard, are too vulnerable 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 worldwide, a discussion of future trends, and numerous helpful hints, including sighting with eyeglasses and using a Rude starfinder. All in a thoroughly revised edition of a book acclaimed by navigation professionals.

Introduction

Chapter 1 A Short History

Astrolabe

Latitude Hook

Quadrant

Cross Staff

Back Staff

Sextant

Chapter 2 Elements of the Sextant and Four Vital Adjustments

Perpendicularity

Frame and Index Mirror

Frame and Horizon Glass

Parallelism

Index Mirror and Horizon Glass

Telescope and Frame

Adjustment Procedures

Chapter 3 Attachments and Accessories

Astigmatizers

Double Star Prism

Wide View Horizon Glass

Davis Prism Level

Bubble Horizon Attachment

Neck Straps