The Sextant Handbook

by Bruce A. Bauer

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 Handbook is 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:

Genres: Engineering, Maritime, History

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Fred Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was interested in this charting and surveying instrument because my father learned how to use one in WWII, as a US Navy navigator on a Catalina PBY seaplane. Everything you basically need to know about the history, maintenance and use of this fascinating instrument is in this book. Next time you're lost at sea, or marooned on a desert isle ... with the help of this book, a beautiful brass sextant, and the stars above you ... you can locate your precise position on this vast Earth. "I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by ..." Sea Fever -- John Masefield.

[Hunter Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first half of the book, going over the history and changes of the device and the author obviously cares a lot about teaching, but I became completely lost in his description of how to use the sextant practically. I appreciated the illustrations there, but could have used more helpful ones (maybe from different perspectives than the ones shown). I hate to rate the book low, maybe it was just my video-spatial problem and other people could learn something from this book. If so, sorry.

[James Livermore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously the author knows his stuff! Enjoyed the history of the sextant. Lots, and lots of photos, pictures, diagrams. Almost impossible to be helpful unless you have a sextant with you while reading. Otherwise, very difficult to understand some sections.

[Xdw · Rating 3 out of 5]

packed with a lot of useful info in only 160 pages.