NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Averaging sights on commercial vessels
From: Doug Royer
Date: 2004 Oct 7, 11:00 -0700
From: Doug Royer
Date: 2004 Oct 7, 11:00 -0700
Alex, You can,for all practical reasons,discount that averaging sights are the standard proceedure onboard Merchie vessels in this day and age. By this I mean the duties of the nav watch are such that having this as a standard proceedure is not practiced.The nav watch is more concerned with navigation,chart position and collision avoidance by useing radar and sonar.The nav watch on commercial vessels usually consist of the OOD(3rd officer or above), 2 but usually 1 ABS ratings on duty(all officers must also be rated as ABS,so usually only 1 ABS and 1 officer are on the bridge) around the bridge area and 2 S ratings on forward and/or roving lookout.Conditions will dictate how many are called to nav watch duty at a given time.On most merchies I doubt seriously if any celestial sights are taken on a daily basis.The company I used to work for left most of the operating proceedures up to the master.Some masters I've served with required at least 1 sight be taken and LOGGED each 24 hrs while others had no such requirement. We would have training schedules for all personnel intrested in learning cel nav and other aspects of navigation but these were,for the most part,conducted on their off duty hours.Averaging sights is taught(especially when an inexperianced member is practicing to become proficiant with the equipment and reduction proceedures)and used when practical.Only if a rating was rated for standing as a member of the nav watch would we have on duty training in the cel nav and other disciplines so they could become proficiantly skilled to meet the standards set by the company and Coast Guard to advance.One was taught and trained(through repitition,trial and error)to become proficiant in taking 1 cut and 1 cut only in a sighting session.This takes time and practice.Not always the most accurate method even by officers but duties elsewhere leave not much time while on watch because of the reduced number of crew personnel onboard.The reliance on the interpretation and use of electronic postion finding equipment is paramount on today's merchy vessels. Even though the Coast Guard requires each vessel to carry the needed equipment AND have as a crew's complement people who are proficiant in position finding by celestial navigation it is not practiced on a scheduled daily basis throughout the industry today.It is practiced,for the most part,now as a matter of professional pride for both officer and rating. Joel,thanks for shareing the pictures of the Vero Beach area.That will give us all a glimpse of the power,especially in the dangerous quadrant,of typhons or hurricanes.