NavList:

Just two weeks to the 2010 "Navigation Weekend" at Mystic Seaport! Since we've had a number of cancellations and changes, and since many people have expressed concern about spending money in these times of "economic uncertainty," I am trying to arrange to squeeze all of the "significant" presentations of the Navigation Weekend into one day: Saturday, June 5. We will still have some activities for Friday afternoon, but they would be largely informal (behind-the-scenes tour at Mystic Seaport, e.g., a pleasant dinner nearby, and a possible media event for NavListers). But for those of you trying to plan how to save money, you would have the option of arriving bright and early Saturday morning without missing much. A slightly revised schedule will be posted tomorrow if no one objects to that change.

Please note that David Burch has donated books for everybody. These will be distributed during our buffet dinner Saturday evening. Ken Gebhart will be donating some books from Celestaire, too, and we also have quite a few sets of Greg Rudzinski's neat navigation tools which will also be given away. So in short: lots of free stuff!

Unfortunately, David Burch will not be able to attend after all for personal reasons which I thoroughly understand, and I wish him well. Instead, I am putting together one more presentation from me for our dinner talk. Perhaps a detailed account of the celestial navigation, lunars and otherwise, aboard H.M.S. Bounty 1787-89. That's a fun topic, and since I've just finished working through that logbook a second time, it's all fresh in my head. So Saturday dinner becomes "Grub, grog, loot, and a mutiny".

For anyone relatively new to NavList, this "Navigation Weekend" is open to one and all, NavList and otherwise. This is the third biennial event and our focus, as always, is on advanced topics in traditional navigation. This year the primary foci will be the obligatory lunars and also aerial celestial navigation thanks to Gary Lapook's participation. There will be other presentations on complex analysis in celestial navigation (juicy math for those who like their math juicy!) and USN Navigational practice, as well as circular instruments of reflection and the "scandalous" or not so scandalous legacy of Nathaniel Bowditch in celestial navigation. It's not too late to reserve a place, so if anyone is interested, contact me by private email at FrankReed[at]HistoricalAtlas.com. There is a small fee for attendance as well as the cost of the buffet dinner.

-FER

----------------------------------------------------------------
NavList message boards and member settings: www.fer3.com/NavList
Members may optionally receive posts by email.
To cancel email delivery, send a message to NoMail[at]fer3.com
----------------------------------------------------------------