The ‘Box’ or Pocket Sextant

• Published in: Journal of Navigation
• Main Author: Wright, Frances W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1957
• Subjects: Ocean Engineering; Oceanography; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0373463300016738; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0373463300016738

Last summer I sailed in R.M.S. Newfoundland from Boston to Liverpool and took the opportunity of keeping up a navigational plot using a minimum of charts and instruments. The sextant I used was a box sextant and it occurs to me that some description of this instrument may be of interest to navigators. Box sextants are lightweight and usually have a sling case which enables them to be carried or packed away easily. They are much less expensive than the standard sextant, and since they are precision-made instruments will last just as long. Good results can be obtained with them both in coastal navigation and offshore.