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I had referred in a posting to Henry Halboth's long past experience,
describing it as dating back to the US Navy in World War 2. to which he
recently replied-

>By-the-by George, I recall making no experience claims publicly on this
>List - although it is quite true that naval navigation can be included in
>my resume, this is but an infinitesimal part of my overall exposure to
>the subject over a rather extended period. I still have sextant +
>chronometer and will travel, although in recent years the chronometer
>rate has not been checked daily.

My comments related to my imperfect memory of an interesting posting he
made on 21 Jan 2004, threadname "American octant", which included the
following-

"During WWII, when personal sextants were difficult to come by in the USA,
I was able to luckily locate in a New York instrument shop, an octant of
apparent considerable age offered at the second hand price of $35.00 on
consignment for private sale - by Captain Oakland of Seas Shipping
Company. At a monthly salary of $175.00, this was not an inconsiderable
outlay, however, having recently paid-off, I rushed to the Captain's
offices (he tried to hire me right-off), obtained from him a bill of
sale, and returned to the store to claim my prize. And what a prize it
was - it navigated me from North Russia to the Cape of Good Hope in all
weathers on every type ship, boat, and launch, in most favorable
competition with any other sextant produced by whatever manufacturer you
may name - and by the way still does so today. It is really a wonderful
heavy weather resource."

Re-reading that passage now, it appears that he must have then been in the
merchant service rather than the US Navy. Sorry if I got it wrong.

But whichever, there's no doubt that Henry's navigational experience is
formidable, and it shows in his postings.

He hasn't responded, yet, to my request for an estimate of the difference
that measuring at sea makes (from a small craft), compared to observations
from on land. I hope he will.

On another matter, many on this list would be interested to hear about his
navigational career. No doubt he has many interesting stories to tell.

George.

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contact George Huxtable by email at george@huxtable.u-net.com, by phone at
01865 820222 (from outside UK, +44 1865 820222), or by mail at 1 Sandy
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