[pct-l] Astrolabe!

[Jason E. Gillikin]

The funny thing is, as I prepare a PCT thru-hike (oh, this is my first post
to the list despite spending a while as a lurker, so ... hi!), one thing I
*actively* considered was bringing along a sextant just so I could brush up
for when I am sailing.

I opted against, mostly because of weight and delicate nature of the device,
but I did give it some thought!

-- Jason

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of CHUCK CHELIN
Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 5:53 PM
To: AsABat
Cc: PCT MailingList; Paul Magnanti
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Astrolabe!

Good afternoon,
Being myself a navophile I'm always interested in technology, but the
astrolabe is very arcane; difficult to understand and use, particularly for
such a plebeian as me.  Above my desk as I write, hanging from the horn of
an unfortunate hoofed animal, is a simple and useful tool that probably
pre-dates the astrolabe by upwards of 850 years.  It's a nondescript
gray-black rock about the size of a walnut which is suspended several feet
by a strand of horse's tail hair.  The rock is magnetite -- a "lodestone" --
which, no matter how I spin it, always reorients itself to its original
north/south position.  With a mark on its "north" side I could use it for
navigation today.  I could even hold a printed compass rose beneath it in
the process.  Modern magnetic compasses differ from that lodestone only by
their convenience of use.



Steel-Eye