Prøve GULL - Gratis
Out of the fog and into the future
Practical Boat Owner
|July 2025
Paul Jones, a dab hand with a sextant, was reluctant to get to grips with electronic navigation-but now he teaches both methods!

Sailing the diminutive Cal 20 in a fog bank past the Golden Gate, we started to feel the boat rise. Using eyeball navigation, we had tacked into the ground swell of the notorious Four Fathom Bank. Like some sort of giant, it lifted the hull and suddenly the little sailboat seemed very small to the three of us who had ventured out for the first time into the Pacific Ocean.
Four Fathom, known locally as the 'potato patch shoal' for its proclivity of rolling ships in the bygone era to the point of dumping potatoes from baskets out through the scuppers, was merciful that day. Ignorant of its dangers and unaware of where we were exactly, we rode the aquatic rollercoasters for a few minutes, then swung the boat east and went wing-on-wing back into the bay. We were happy to make it home safely. The only navigation components on board were clip-on nav lights powered by D-cell batteries. A backup kerosene lamp was stowed somewhere below. That was 1970.
After an elementary course in boating safety offered by the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, I decided to take a celestial navigation class. It wasn't a logical progression, but it matched my naive aspirations. Our instructor, a master mariner with decades of experience, passed on a lot of valuable advice, not a lick of it based on electronics. He imparted in me a lifelong love of celestial navigation. I started teaching it close to 30 years ago-right when modern electronic navigation was coming to the fore. And I still love teaching it.

Denne historien er fra July 2025-utgaven av Practical Boat Owner.
Abonner på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av kuraterte premiumhistorier og over 9000 magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
FLERE HISTORIER FRA Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner
Keep your boat dry this winter
Ashore or afloat, winter cold and damp can have a detrimental effect. Jake Kavanagh looks at options for keeping condensation and moisture at bay
9 mins
November 2025

Practical Boat Owner
First time above the Arctic Circle
JoJo Pickering is wowed by mountains, deep anchorages, fjords and endless daylight while sailing a 48ft yacht on Norway's west coast
7 mins
November 2025

Practical Boat Owner
Legendary boats
Saša Fegić shares his pick of the boats that shaped sailing history and transformed the sport
13 mins
November 2025

Practical Boat Owner
Diesel engine fluids
The key to a smooth-running diesel engine is making sure you look the fluids, as John Panye explains
10 mins
November 2025

Practical Boat Owner
Dismasted off the Lizard
Richard Ayres makes his first Mayday call when his yacht is dismasted and prop fouled close to the Manacle rocks
6 mins
November 2025

Practical Boat Owner
Safer boarding quidance for small craft
Skippers and crew of small boats are being advised to consider boarding aids such as additional ladders, handholds, and alternative means of access, such as a tender.
1 min
November 2025

Practical Boat Owner
The new old navigation
You can do it with your eyes shut
3 mins
November 2025

Practical Boat Owner
Ex-lifeboatman's nine year solo voyage
A former Plymouth lifeboat volunteer has returned from his 30,000-mile circumnavigation on his 36ft yacht, nine years after setting off.
1 min
November 2025

Practical Boat Owner
Island of dreams
Modern intrusions vie with the trill of oystercatchers close to Dave's dream home
3 mins
November 2025

Practical Boat Owner
Ella's Arctic record attempt on pause
Ella Hibbert, who is the first British woman to sail the Northwest Passage single-handed, has halted her solo sail around the Arctic due to safety concerns ahead of attempting the Northeast Passage behind schedule, but vowed to continue again next summer.
1 min
November 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size