Your Position Line...

Picture below: Looks like one of my first few snaps with the Canon A10 Powershot. Perfect for a position line.
Note that the CanonA10 was my first love, sadly it drowned... pic in subsequent postings. Many may wonder what we navigators tinker while keeping bridgewatch. Yes The rule states " Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look out by sight & hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances & conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision"..... Rule 5 Look Out.
However travelling at roughly 50 km/h on high seas with zero traffic, one can sharpen the true artistry of being a sailor.

Knowing where you are is of utmost importance, hence if you do not know where you are, how can you know where you are heading. So your first question would be how do we plot our position. Through the advancement of technology our most accurate data on our position is of course from the GPS. Besides that, when nearing the coast and having adjusted the radar to its optimum performance, one can obtain two/three bearings, plot those lines on the chart, and some how or rather the position will magically appear. Visual bearings are always a necessary means of plotting ones position. Works the same way by pointing on a radar, but this works with your eyes through the assistance of an Azimuth Mirror.

Now we reach to the most intriguing device on the bridge. The Sextant, illicitly sexy it may sound, it has a far connotation of what it seems. The sextant purpose is to measure angles, either vertical or be it horizontal, this leads to the necessary data to determine a vessel's position. Latitude & Longtitude can be obtained through the threesome of the Sextant, Chronometer & Nautical Alamanac. The picture above shows the bridgewing (stbd) which overlooks a clear blue sky with the sun and horizon in perfect conditions to take "sight" *term used when using the sextant* The gyro compass is used with an Azimuth Mirror to obatain the bearing of the subject.I can reiterate on the details, for example the principle which govern the sextant is the "FIRST LAW OF LIGHT", meaning the angle of incidence of the ray equals the angle of reflection" (whatever the hell that means). From a layman's perception, the manner in which one can obtain a good reading from a sextant is as follows:

- Clear Sky, Clear Horizon... take out the sextant.
- Choose the appropriate shades so as to avoid one from being a blind pirate.
- Aim for the Sun, Moon, Stars or Planets.... the horizon has to be clear.
- "Bring Down" this cosmic objects to the horizon.
- "Swing the Sextant" so one will "kiss the horizon", be it the lower arc of the Sun, Moon etc or upper.
- Get the reading and after much tinkering with the chronometer, nautical almanac, and a formula which
befits a rocket scientist but actually made for dungus like you and me.
- One can obtain a position line..... few more formulas here and there, you can get your longiturde/Latitude and
bravo you would have got your position.
- Tell Captain Jack that the Treasure is North West of the Bay of Bengal with Bangali Baboons.
Above: A sextant
Dear camaraderies, I am well aware my description is a tad bit vague, but its only through some thought comes a clear idea. So I trust it is in your duty to meticulously decipher all links on this posting. Perhaps at the end of it all, you'll probably fit the criterias to be my bitch... oppps..I meant cadets on my ship!! HARDY HAR HAR!!

Just a passing thought,

.. I never had your nor I will I ever have you, I suppose. A few words, an approach.
As in the bar yesterday & nothing more.
It is, undeniably, a pity. But we who serve Art
Sometimes with the intensity of the mind and of course only
For a short while, we create pleasure
which almost seems real.
So as in the bar the day before yesterday - the merciful alcohol
was also helping much.

I had a perfectly erotic half an hour.
And it seems to me that you understood,
and stayed somewhat longer on purpose.
This was very necessary.
Because for all the imagination and the wizard of alcohol,
I needed to see your lips as well.
I needed to have you body close....

C.P.C