The natural Navigation: The Right Course, Naturally

A great review of The Natural Explorer came out on Friday, which capped a pretty good week.

“The Natural Explorer takes us on a multi-sensory, literary journey intent on heightening awareness of our surroundings. An ambitious combination of Gooley’s own insights and those of countless other writers, explorers and philosophers, this is serious armchair adventuring.” Prospect Magazine

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I spent Thursday morning at the sparkling new headquarters of Ordnance Survey in Southampton. I was fortunate enough to be given a tour of the work they are very busy doing (Did you know that there are on average 5000 daily changes to OS maps? On Wednesday last week there were over 12,000 – maybe strange things happen on Tuesdays?).

I learned a lot during my precious few hours at this wonderful hub, but I think the overriding lesson that I will take away concerns the fluidity of mapping…

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Following on from my last blog post about the windvane self-steering marvel, comes another wonderful piece of sailing technology. Although this one also works closely with nature, you will be delighted to read it is brilliant in its simplicity.

A couple of weeks ago I had the immense privilege of accompanying Eric Staples in Oman on a small voyage. Eric and his team restore historic Omani boats and build many from scratch. From fantastically detailed models, through small reed boats to great vessels, Eric brings back to life craft that might have feared their days had been ushered away. Many are now to be found on the water once more.

Two such vessels, named ‘zaruqas’, were used during the final leg of an ambitious expedition by young Omanis, under the auspices of Outward Bound Oman. It was a great pleasure to see these young adventurers climb ashore from…

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Although microchips have a childlike tendency to steal our attention away from almost anything else, I am not against technology itself. Once we have steeled ourselves to the risks of using any device, it is possible to have the best of all worlds: convenience, information, safety and awareness.

If I was forced to choose my favourite piece of navigation technology, I would find it hard. The GPS, for all its many known vices, really is an extraordinary piece of kit. But it will never be my favourite, because… of all its many known vices. Also, because I’m very fond of any technology that harnesses nature, instead of rudely ignoring it.

I think my favourite would be an unusual contraption, which on first inspection appears to defy the laws of physics. When I first came across this device I thought it must be the impossible fruit of some wire-haired professor. ‘Very…

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Over the next 48 there will be an opportunity to witness the passing of a classic cold front system in the UK.

A cold front is the leading edge of a mass of cold air as it displaces a warmer mass of air at ground level.

Cold air is denser than hot air (hot air balloons rise) and so as a cold front advances it slides under the warmer air forcing it up. As the warm air is forced up its moisture condenses. This movement of moist air upwards is often quite dramatic and this can lead to bad weather: heavy downpours, often thunderstorms.

This brief band of very unsettled weather and high winds is typically followed by three things. There will be a shift in wind direction, often from a wind from the southwest to one from the northwest. There will also be a drop in temperature and a…

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One of the most rewarding things about natural navigation is that it shuns any attempt by the seasons to quieten things down. There are many interests in the natural world that are closely shepherded by the seasons; foraging, birds and wild flowers will have their peaks and troughs, but some things are immune. Geology will reveal many of its fascinating faces regardless of whether it is February or August.

But natural navigation is a little different to all of the above, because it keeps its interest throughout the year, without too many troughs, and unlike geology it does it by constantly changing.

I’m often asked when is the best time of year for an outdoors natural navigation course and I can honestly answer that there isn’t one. Summer is pleasant for all the obvious reasons, but it is a poor time for stargazing. Midwinter can be bracing, but it is…

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The last astro quiz proved so popular that I thought we’d do another.

This fantastic photo was taken by the expedition photographer, James Walker.

Thanks, James, for permission to use it here. Do check out James’ website, there are some stunning images, but only after you’ve had a go at answering the questions below.

Which way are we looking in this picture?

Bonus: roughly what latitude was the photo taken at?

Good luck! I’ll post the answer here in a few days.

Photography tip from a pro: The tomb in the picture was not illuminated and James achieved this effect by keeping the shutter open whilst he climbed up to the tomb. Whilst there, he used a flash to illuminate the tomb, making sure that his body was always between the flash and the camera, to avoid any of the light from flash spilling directly into the lens.…

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