28 June 2010 by Tristan Gooley
Another very enjoyable Beginner’s Guide to Natural Navigation course at West Dean College on Saturday. There were sailors, walkers, a forager and an army officer among the ever-varied student backgrounds. My thanks to all for coming.
Last night, shortly after 10.30, I took this photograph of the moon rising above the woods and emerging from behind thin clouds. It looks very much like a full moon, but is actually one day after full, a waning moon. It does highlight the difficulty of judging the phase of the moon accurately.
From an aesthetic perspective there is no need to be able to judge the moon’s phase, but if you are trying to use the ‘phase method’ of finding direction from the moon then it is vital. I go into a lot of detail of this method in the book, because it is very satisfying but no less challenging. In…
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Tags: army officer, beginner's courses, forager, full moon, lunar navigation, moon's phases, natural navigation, phase method, sailors, sun, sunset, walkers |
06 October 2008 by Tristan Gooley
One of my secret hopes when launching the beginner’s courses was that it would attract a varied gang. I am delighted to be able to write that the early indications are very promising. Those walking away with a certificate already include a submariner and Royal Navy officer as well as a brace of desert-crossers, holidaymakers, engineers and writers.
This really adds to the day as everyone’s varying backgrounds and experiences allow them to offer fresh perspectives on new and familiar territory. It also means that the learning never stops for me too. On the course last Saturday I learnt something new about archaeoastronomy and the ancient observatory at Chichen Itza in Mexico and found out about the Geochron clock, which shows in real time the areas of earth that are in light and dark.
Tags: archaeoastronomy, beginner's courses, chichen itza, geochron, observatory |
