maritime

  2-The sextant The Navigators tool chest Is full of objects and competence that enable him to determine where the ship is on the maritime globe, whether it is within the sight of land or in the middle of one of the world's large oceans. Not only that, he or she could interpret their visible maritime world whether it be sky, sea or weather to help them make a forecast and adjust their position, all without external support. The sextant was one of the most important tools the navigator had to enable him to fix the ships position anywhere on the ocean. They're also precious because it was a personal instrument that every budding junior deck officer needed to invest in. In the 1950s or 1960s you either bought a German Plath model or the Kelvin Hughes from the UK. [1] The principle of the sextant is relatively simple. It is used to measure the altitude of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the sun and moon. Altitude being the angular elevation of the object abov...

 Three generations of seafaring A seamen’s discharge book is a record of the employment of a seafarer. All seafarers need one and it is issued by the maritime authority of the country the seafarer is a citizen of. [1] I am lucky to have the discharge books of my grandfather, father and myself over a period of 80 years. Collectively they tell a story of ships, employment and voyages from the 1890’s to the 1970’s. This article will describe the changes in discharge book entries over three generations. The hard bound cover of the book has changed little over this period. The colours and wording may have changed on the covers but from the black edition of my grandfather through the red one of my father to my blue one, they all serve the same purpose, to catalogue the voyages of the holder and provide a character reference for each voyage. You might be wondering why there are 4 books for three mariners. The twist and turns of our time at sea through two world wars will reveal ...

  As a seafarer The magnetic compass has been the main directional tool in the seafarer’s toolbox to try and determine true north and then use that information for steering a course or take a bearing to fix position. The problem is that it has errors [1] . Let us take a closer look at a  ships magnetic compass. Today it is likely to be found on the monkey island as a backup to satnav systems but is still a requirement on ships. The compass card is a magnet overlaid with a card holding the points of the compass. The card has a pivot and is mounted in a bowl filled with alcohol and water to dampen the movement of the card. The bowl is then mounted in a   set of gimbals so that the compass remain as horizontal as possible with   the ships motion and the complete magnetic compass is installed in a wooden stand called a binnacle. The binnacle provides housing also for important tools to minimise compass errors. ...