Navigation Tools

Hello my name is Emiliano Hinojosa and this is my blog about navigation tools.

The term navigation tool refers to all the instruments used by sailors or nautical navigators in order to make their travel easier or to help them with all the problems they should have while sailing all over the open sea to export, import, travel, or just for tourism, it doesn't matter. 

Navigation tools were used since the XV Century, the same year in which Americo Vespucci discovered America in the ships La Niña, La pinta, and La Santa Maria. This event was accomplished by using a telescope, one of the most common tools in that moment.

One of oldest tools for navigation is the map, a map is a graphical representation of the earth’s surface, in this case used to see the land to identify your location in the sea.

Another tool is named compass, this uses the earth's center magnetic force to locate the four cardinal points (north, south, east, and west) so you can know where you are going.

navigation tools categories

Celestial Navigation Tools: This tools consists in locate your position by using angular measurements taken between celestial bodies (like the sun, stars, the moon, etc.) and the visible horizon to locate your position in the globe.

Timekeeping tools: This tools allow to take track of the time in order to calculate the moment in which the ship will arrive to the destiny.

Compasses: This tools use the earth’s center magnetic camp locating the four cardinal points; North, South, East, and West so you can identify where are you going.

Examples

Hadley’s quadrant

Astrolabe

Sand clock

Marine chronometer

Liquid compass

Hiking compass

My Opinion

I think this is a very interesting topic and also a very interesting subject because of all the information you can read and learn about.

This might be really basic for a marine or a sailor because this is fundamental for the job because it contains all they might know. But for us, it is a really amazing subject that never stops surprising and giving us a lot of new knowledge to talk about.

For example: Did you know that smartphones now at days have a magnetometer that allows them to work as a compass and locate the north, the south, the west, and the east, did you know that bees “dance” to indicate the location of a food source, did you know that when birds travel during the night, when they are unable to see shapes they use the starlight to help them to navigate by memorizing patterns in the sky; amazing right!

These are just some of the more amazing facts that you may know of the navigation tools and the way it is used every day.

Thank's your attention