The navigators toolchest- sight and sound
Background The Navigator possesses 2 personal traits that greatly enhance his ability to navigate. His eyes and his ears. Both require he or she have the highest medical standards for sight and hearing. Colour blindness is not an option if you are to be a deck officer as you must be able to distinguish between the major navigational colours of red, green and white. The navigator is trained to identify conditions in his maritime environment. The sky, the horizon, sea surface and objects around him, all need to be analysed and translated into navigational decisions. He must be able to differentiate them by day or by night. By day During the day he normally has a focus on weather. [1] To start interpreting weather for navigation purposes, the navigator first turns to the barometer. The marine barometer [2] is quite special, not at all like the circular aneroid barometers seen on land. Instead it is a glass column filled with mercury. The scale on the side facilitates the r...