Day #10: Just before we first started cruising in 1994 we bought a $1000 sextant and an $800 GPS. It took me weeks to learn to use the sextant. We lived in Utah at the time and I was happy, if after a practice session, it located me anywhere within the surrounding four states. Months went by before I could determine my position as actually being within the borders of Utah. The GPS? Turn it on and read the latitude and longitude--it gave an accurate position within 100 yards. (Henry the Navigator would have killed for a GPS.) Our poor sextant. It was only used once at sea and even then we were hundreds of miles from land where a large position error wouldn't matter. Today GPS' are ubiquitous. The photo above, taken of an iPhone's screen, not only shows Nellie's position but also the houses that are for sale around her. Nope, no way a sextant can do that. Good riddance.
Update: our sextant is mounted on a walnut plaque and hangs in a prominent place in the house. That first GPS? It was relegated, long ago, to the silicone junk heap in the sky.
Irony aside, thanks to our GPS we know we anchored in Toogoodoo Creek, SC, which is 22nm south of Charleston. 67nm today and 563nm into the trip. DBH
