NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Left-handed sextants
From: Joe Shields
Date: 2001 Apr 23, 11:03 AM
From: Joe Shields
Date: 2001 Apr 23, 11:03 AM
You mean all navigators are NOT lefthanded? Actually being left-handed/left eyed but using a sextant built for a righty, I feel I am more in balance holding the sextant in my right hand up to my left eye. I wonder if more right-handed navigators have fallen off the starboard side of their boats being so right-sided heavy? Of course, you righties would have your watch on your left hand, so that could help balance things out ;-) Actually that is probably the biggest inconvenience for a lefty... trying to look at your watch on your right hand while still holding on to the sextant, but then maybe that is better... a righty would have to put the sextant down to write while we lefties can pull the pencil tucked behind our left ear and write down the time and sextant reading with a twist of our right wrist. I wonder... were there ever right-handedness requirements for navigators in any Navy? -- Joe -----Original Message----- From Will O'Neil [mailto:will.oneil@POBOX.COM] Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2001 10:59 PM To: NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM Subject: Re: Left-handed sextants Steve, Bruce Bauer, in his The Sextant Handbook, wonders the same thing, and shows an antique left-handed sextant that he found. He makes the argument that a left-handed sextant makes it easier and quicker for a right-hander to write down his sights, which makes some sense. On the whole, though, I think I agree with Bill. I wonder if there are any lefties who would care to comment? Do you find using a "right-handed" sextant easy and natural? Will O'Neil