NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Looking for references on "aiming off"
From: John Huth
Date: 2010 Sep 11, 12:20 -0400
From: John Huth
Date: 2010 Sep 11, 12:20 -0400
You could look up Gatty's famous "Finding your way without map and compass" - he calls this "intentional error". It's page 76 in the latest Dover edition.
I also recall a book called "Be an expert with map and compass" - I probably have the title wrong, but it's something like that, and it also discusses the technique. This is in a non-nautical vein in both cases, but the principle is the same.
I've personally used this one several times. In one case, I wanted to skirt the eastern end of an island while kayaking to a more remote island off the Maine coast. I was planning on reaching the eastern tip and then turning south. As it turned out, a thick fog settled in, and the visibility was nil. So, I changed course to hit the north end of the island, mid coast and follow it east until I found the point and turned south. Otherwise, if I steered a direct course for the eastern tip, I might have paddled out to sea.
On Sat, Sep 11, 2010 at 4:36 AM, George Huxtable <george@hux.me.uk> wrote:
Referring to the aiming-off technique, Hewitt Schlereth wrote-
I used to know that tale well, but last read it many years ago. It would be
| Then there's Erskin Childer's novel The Riddle of the Sands, in which
aiming
| off plays a crucial part.
useful if Hewitt reminded us of the episode in which it played a crucial
part.
George.
contact George Huxtable, at george@hux.me.uk
or at +44 1865 820222 (from UK, 01865 820222)
or at 1 Sandy Lane, Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxon OX13 5HX, UK.
