Approaching Magnetic North

August 11th, 2008 by Walt "The Skipper" Jones

Sunday, we had a quiet worship service on the boat, then went into town and borrowed Allen’s truck from the Co-op (another Peets award) to ferry water to Geraldine by Jerry can. If you have ever carried 150 gallons of water in 2 – 7 gallon containers, filling, loading the truck, transferring to the dinghy, lifting and filling the boat tank, you know what Sunday afternoon was like. I know some of you are concerned we are not getting our exercise. We are not losing weight by the lack of good food; that is for sure, but we are losing weight – all of us.

At 1:30 AM (Monday) the wind changed and the anchorage in front of Pond Inlet became uncomfortable so we arose & left. We went up Navy Board Inlet and saw some spectacular scenery including glaciers, bergs and mountains that looked desert-like. Oh, and through in the Tetons too. We are now in the midst of Lancaster Sound heading for Devon island enroute to Resolute.

We are told that the watermaker parts should arrive on THE Wednesday fight. There is only one. Thanks to Charlotte for chasing these parts all the way to us.

Our electronics are going crazy as we approach magnetic north – very close to Resolute. We are back to the old fashion navigation. These magnetic anomalies are a new experience for me.

One Response to “Approaching Magnetic North”

  1. M & M Alden Says:

    Dear Walt,
    If you have a marine sexant on board and have been winding your chronometer regularly, I recommend running sun sights as the most reliable mode of navigation in the far north if the electromagnetic interference is high. You should have a good feel for your dead reconning speed of advance by now. I would think a LAN sun line would give you great latitude accuracy using declination only. Other sun lines (when advanced for your DR) should give you a pretty good estimate of position. All you need to verify longitude is one good loran or loran-C line to verify your speed of advance. Ya’ celestial observations are a chore in a small craft but in calm seas not all that difficult.

    Good luck with fair weather and calm seas.

    Mike Alden

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