christmas navigation – The Natural Navigator

A Riddle for Sailors

12 December 2010 by Tristan Gooley

Just back from a bracing and invigorating couple of days on the water. My wife and I sailed from Chichester to Cowes, where we met up with the Contessa 32 Association’s Christmas Rally.

The sail back today allowed us to revel in one of those winter days that make the others more bearable. Barely a cloud in the sky, Force 3 or 4 sailing all the way.

Here is a riddle for nautical navigators:

At about lunchtime today I took this photo from our yacht. What is slightly strange about this picture?

As usual answers on a postcard or by email.

UPDATE:

The answer, which Captain JP got spot on, was that if we are looking towards the sun at lunchtime then we must be looking close to south. Ie. The picture was taken from the north of a south cardinal.

Tags: christmas navigation, cloud, contessa 32, cowes, force, navigators, sailing |

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Southern Sun and Christmas Fun

09 December 2008 by Tristan Gooley

If someone had casually asked me to draw up a list of the people I was most likely to use as sources for my blogging over the coming week there would have been some predictable names. Nowhere in the top ten thousand names would the words ‘Nigella’ or ‘Lawson’ have appeared together. Regular blog readers will know how much I enjoy understanding the connection between phenomena such as the earth’s orbit around the sun and our daily lives. Christmas is such a time and, almost unbelievably, this is where we hand over to Nigella in her Christmas cookbook,

‘Biblical scholars generally tend to believe that Christ’s birth probably fell about six months after Passover, which would make it nearer September than December. However, the Roman Festival of Saturnalia – a time of merry-making, excess and misrule, precursor to the office party and much else besides – fell around the…

Tags: christmas navigation, nigella lawson, saturnalia, winter solstice |

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Welcome to the home of natural navigation on the Internet.

Natural navigation is the art of being able to find your way solely by using nature. It encompasses using the sun, moon, stars, weather, water, land, sea, plants and animals.

The Natural Navigator is the school set up by Tristan Gooley to research and teach natural navigation. It is also the title of his book on the subject.

If you would like to know more about natural navigation you can browse the website, read about Tristan’s natural navigation book, or listen to a BBC Radio 4 interview with Tristan.

BBC beech trees birds book cirrus cloud clouds compass contessa 32 courses dawn direction east equinox finding direction gps horizon jupiter land rover latitude lichen moon moss natural navigation nature navigation navigation book navigation course navigation courses north north star orion polaris royal geographical society sea shadows Sirius snow navigating south south downs southeast stars sun sunset trees venus west west sussex wind wind direction

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