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He did lift all his sea stories from the Nautical Gazette, as pointed out 
previously.  That could include navigation stories.  He was pretty wide 
ranging as far as time was concerned, so, while his stories are set over a 
period of about 12-14 years, they are lifted from actual events that occurred 
over a much longer period.

Fred

On Jun 21, 2011, at 6:05 PM, Wolfgang Koeberer wrote:

> This has been a lively discussion - but leading nowhere. Does anyone really 
believe that Patrick O'Brian had any realistic notion of astronomical 
navigation - leaving aside the finer points of lunars etc.? What would be the 
basis of such a belief? Could one show from his books that he had a solid 
grasp of these matters? He was a gifted writer as far as the actual workings 
of a ship is concerned; and he was as - a writer - at liberty to shift the 
actual time (and place) of events if they fitted the tale - and he really did 
so as he confessed in some forewords. So I wouldn't try to match his writings 
with actual events.
> 
> Wolfgang
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