Mousing The Bow Roller

Bow rollers without bails need mousing of the anchor rhode to prevent chaff and hopping off the roller. Pictured is a figure eight mousing of a bow roller. An all chain tackle should be moused as well even if a snubber is in place.

Flieger Watch Face

The Flieger watch face as seen on the Seiko 5 is an excellent analog style for precise low light timing to the second. Best results are obtained by recording seconds first then minutes of time. Give the Flieger analog a go on the next time, speed, distance, and ETA calculation.

Manual Hand Drill

The hand drill offers a manual option for drilling into many materials found onboard. The Stanley has a metal gear and holds up to higher torques. The Fiskars is more ergonomic and will not pinch the fingers but does have the downside of plastic gears which will not be strong enough for higher torque applications. Both the Stanley and Fiskars drill nicely through aluminum. Using a sharp cobalt drill bit is an easy way to improve the drilling performance. So consider the manual drill the next time drilling and tapping is needed on the mast or boom.

A Fine Navigation Pencil

Laying down a track with a Pentel P207 mechanical pencil is a fine smooth experience for the navigator. The Pentel P207 tip is perfect for sliding along a straight edge and the 0.7 mm lead is fine yet won't dig into the chart. Use Pentel AIN/AIN STEIN replacement leads to insure best fit and smoothest line.

New Life for Old Pub 249 Vol. 1

An out of date Pub 249 vol. #1 Air Navigation (selected stars) is still extremely useful for general star finding, selecting optimal stars for twilight observations, and determining star azimuths to the nearest degree. Combine Pub 249 (to tabulate selected star azimuths) with a scientific calculator (to calculate altitude from a DR assumed position) and save a great deal of calculator button pushing with no loss of precision. A must try on your next round of stars.

Celestial Navigation by TI-36X Pro

The TI-36X Pro is an excellent value calculator for celestial navigation sight reduction. Enter the formula for calculating altitude into the NUM-SOLVE function then follow the prompts for variable entries.

Calculated altitude formula:
a=ArcSin(Cos(x)Cos(d)Cos(t) ± Sin(x)Sin(d))

Variables:
x= Latitude
d= Declination
t= Meridian Angle
a=Calculated Altitude

Use the OP function to solve for azimuth Z.

Key the SET OP function and enter the formula:
ArcSin(Cos(d)Sin(t)/Cos(a))

Once (a) is solved in NUM-SOLVE then azimuth Z can quickly be solved in the OP function with one key push.

Convert calculated altitude (a) into degrees minutes and seconds using the MATH menu DMS6 or multiply degree fraction by 60 to get minutes and tenths.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/376302/Texas-Instruments-Ti-36x-Pro.html

New Deck Shoe Break-in

Shorten the break-in time for a new pair of leather deck shoes using liquid lanolin rubbed onto the bare foot before inserting into the shoe naked and worn for a day. This will soften the leather inner sole so that it will mold to the bottom of the foot. A comfortable deck shoe equals a happy sailor :-)