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Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings: How to Build and Use 18 Traditional Navigational Tools

by Dennis Fisher

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Build historic navigation instruments with practical guidance

$24.47 USD
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Paperback New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Build historic navigation instruments with practical guidance

Dennis Fisher organizes 18 hands-on projects around traditional tools once used in navigation, from a straightforward kamal or latitude hook to more involved instruments such as a pelorus and octant. The collection distinguishes between pieces intended chiefly for display, tools with practical small-craft uses, and instruments that bridge both roles. Clear illustrations and building directions support scratch-built construction with accessible materials and tools, while the projects retain the original instruments’ historical functions. Alongside the making process, the book offers a tangible way to examine how navigators measured position, direction, and depth before electronic equipment became commonplace.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Hands-on makers interested in nautical craft projects
  • Boaters and small-craft navigators exploring traditional equipment
  • History-minded readers interested in pre-electronic navigation instruments

Themes

Traditional navigationNautical craftsmanshipDIY instrument buildingMaritime historySmall-craft seamanship

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings is for people who like to work with their hands and who appreciate traditional nautical craftsmanship. You don't have to be the master of any craft to undertake any of these projects--from a simple kamal or latitude hook to the more complex pelorus or octant--just a careful and enthusiastic worker.

These 18 projects fall roughly into three categories: decorative, useful, and somewhere in between. Some, such as the astrolabe, are mainly for display. On the other hand, the sounding line is an important and practical tool for small-craft navigation, particularly in the absence of an electronic sounder. The cross-staff falls somewhere in between, equally at home in the den or the ditch kit.

Each of the devices discussed here--with simple, proven building instructions complemented by clear illustrations--has at one time or another been used for the practical business of navigation, and each is worth reviving for its beauty, historic value, or sheer usefulness.

Dennis Fisher has designed these projects with an emphasis on simplicity and reasonable cost. Everything can be scratch-built using easily obtainable materials and tools, and each is true to the spirit and function of the original instrument.

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