"Looking up" may be a personal desire, and agreed is a lost art. We only feel nastolgic about it at present because a) it is a technique not too long used and b) sailors more then any one else I know are drowned in tradition and can't let go (not always a bad thing)
Somebody mentioned above a sextant is useless for open passages but good for costal cruising. I reckon most people can get a visual positive fix within a few hours to half a day at the most if cruising coastal these days, making a sextant next to useless these days. People need to start embracining the new world. Sure, back it up on paper, but if you can't DR navigate to the nearest safe port after a total loss of modern nav equipment, you ain't a snow balls chance in hell going to navigate by a sextant.
This bloke was not really lost though. Apparently asleep when he found his boat full of water. He really was just unprepared. Normal reaction would be to don a likejacket, clip on your floating handheld VHF and your floating Garmin gps. Grab your Epirb and attach the cord. Then grab your tote bag prepared earlier and head for the cockpit to asses the situation.
The major problem these days is making sure you have replacement batteries for the handheld gps.
Excellent points SirG. My point is that you need to practice these skills regularly for them to be useful. Accuracy with a sextant is difficult to achieve. It is a motor skill like flying a plane and degrades without practice. Few of us do go to the effort of practicing sextant use. The chart plotter and GPS positions are just too convenient.
Good thread here this morning on astro nav. I would recommend Mary Blewitt's book. Sextants are cheap on eBay, I have seen Ebbco's go for $20.
forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/astronavigation-what-do-i-need-to-take-besides-a-sextant.426552/
Just to hijack the thread slightly! Link from PBO forums along the lines of "would not have happened if he had carried paper charts"!
It seems there is some skepticism about this blokes story!
edition.cnn.com/2015/04/02/us/rescued-after-66-days-at-sea/
He does look to be in too good a nick.
