The Art Of The Sextant
The sextant is an item of great significance to the navigator. Even in the modern day the sextant manages to cling to life as a navigational aid. However, the introduction of the sextant required an evolutionary process of its own. The creation of the sextant evolved through several other inventions prior to it. However, new innovations come along and make the old obsolete. As such, sextants are viewed rather primitively in relation to the GPS, though traditional travellers prefer the analog nature of the sextant.

Sextants weren't always around, however. Before there was ever a tool to help, sailors knew how to use Polaris to their advantage. The Arabs in particular were proficient in using this technique. Arab sailors used to their advantage a device which they called a "Kamal". The Kamal was composed of a tiny rope and an object used for positioning Polaris and the horizon. The navigator would then tie a knot in the rope to align the two (Polaris and the horizon) to get his bearings. The return home from a voyage prompted the navigators to adjust their sailing path to bring them back to the position in which they measured Polaris and the horizon.

By the 10th century, the Arabs gave the Europeans two critically important astronomical devices that would pave the road to the first working sextant. These two vital instruments were known as the astrolabe and the quadrant. The astrolabe could function accurately even with the unreliable conditions of the ocean. The astrolabe remained in use for over 200 years because of its incredible accuracy and reliability. The astrolabe uses a circle-like scale and rotating alidade with pinnules for sighting. The astrolabe is then held at eye level, where one views through the sighting pinnules to locate the altitude of the celestial object on the alidade.

The quadrant was the other instrument that the Arabs introduced. The quadrant was used to great extent by the Portuguese in particular. A little known man by the name of Christopher Columbus enlisted the help of the quadrant to navigate the ocean easier. The quadrant was used similar to the Kamal, by marking off Polaris and recording the alturas (latitude). The publishing of the alturas gave sailors a guide to travelling the coasts of Europe and Africa.

The necessity for a navigational instrument of accurate value arose as explorers began taking to treacherously uncharted seas. There had to be a large amount of leg work done first before a sextant could be used properly. For instance, there had to be an almanac which included the location of celestial objects and bodies in relation to our planet at every single hour of every single day for countless years. Also, there had to be an instrument capable of measuring time to an exact point. The chronometer proved useful as the time measuring device. The plotting and charting of maps was done by a cartographer. A simple mathematical formula to transform the relation of the celestial body and the horizon with the navigator's position would also be needed. With all of these key components filled, the sextant was the final piece in the navigational puzzle. Find out more about the latest nautical decor here.