Sextants, data worksheets, and plotting sheets will be provided, along with a Duotang folder to hold all your papers together.
If you already own a sextant, you are of course welcome to bring it along. But you don't need to bring a sextant of your own to enjoy this class to its fullest.
Required items – things you must bring with you to class:
LED headlamp with red light - you will be unable to perform sights at night if you have no light at all, or a white light (which ruins your night vision and that of the people next to you). You must have a red light.
If you do not have one of these, this one will do.Parallel ruler.
If you do not have one, this will do.Sharp pencil with eraser. For plotting positions, I think there is nothing better than a mechanical pencil. It has a very fine point on it.
If you don't have one, you can get a box of a dozen mechanical pencils for 50¢ each here.Yellow highlighter.
Drafting compass. You will find that something like this works much better than this. A compass that is screw operated, and so will not change its width on its own, is good.
There is nothing more maddening than using a compass and having your fix go wonky because the compass spread out a little on its own without you noticing.
Protractor. The cheapest one you can buy will work just great. This will be fine.
You don't need the triangles and ruler that come in this set, but bring them along anyway. If we find we are bored during a coffee break (not too likely!!), I can show you how to use them in plotting your position. Parallel rulers are easier/quicker to use, but triangles are smaller to pack in a briefcase. If you are willing to pay an extra $3, you can get this and have everything in a box.
I bought a little box-set like this...maybe even at a Safeway store; I can't recall. I threw out the included drafting compass and divider, and the smaller of the two triangles. The box holds my good drafting compass (see requirement above); the protractor, the triangle with the longest hypotenuse, and the eraser and ruler that came with it, and a mechanical pencil. That gives me a little fix-plotting kit that fits in a pocket. I bring it aboard a yacht charter in case the sailboat I get doesn't have a parallel ruler. Put it in your checked luggage. There is a long, dark history of celestial navigators who hijack airliners using their drafting compasses and yellow highlighters to intimidate the flight-crew.
A navigator's notebook. Every student will need to be able to write down sight data while outside in the dark. It will not be feasible to share notebooks when it comes time to plotting your sights. So everybody needs a notebook that will fit in his hip pocket or shirt pocket.
I like this as a navigator's notebook, but it is pretty expensive. To be honest, you can get a little spiral bound notebook for probably $1 or less at the Safeway store.
This brings up a related issue: students all need to wear clothing that contains either a hip pocket on the pants or breast pocket on the shirt.
Women, particularly, sometimes wear clothes that lack pockets completely. A navigator, however, needs pockets regardless of gender or sartorial preferences.
An optional item that you may find helpful:
I will do my best to help you find stars like Procyon or Pollux, but it is easy for me to point and say "Do you see THAT one there?" and have you say "Yes"...when really, we are both looking at different stars.
It will help you if you have a hand bearing compass. That way, if your I say, "Look for a star bearing 96° magnetic that is around 34° above the horizon" you will more likely be able to pick out the proper star.
If you don't have a hand bearing compass yet, but would like to purchase a quality item to use during sailing trips yet to come, coastal or offshore, I really like this one. It's pricey, but you can read bearings to the nearest 1/2°. And at night, you can flash it for a moment with the white lights from your headlamp, and it will glow for several minutes...allowing you to read the bearing in the dark.
If you already have one of these, then bring it along. If you have been thinking it was about time to purchase a good compass, this could be the right time to take the plunge.
But if you have no real use for a hand bearing compass except for in this class, don't bother. It is a pretty expensive item for a course where our windows for star sights are just minutes long out of a class that only lasts for 15 hours total. You can get by without it.
Required items you must bring are:
Parallel ruler.
Protractor.
Sharp pencil with eraser.
Yellow highlighter.
Drafting compass.
A navigator's notebook, together with a pocket to stash it in.
A bit of cash to purchase your lunch with.