Nautical instruments Navigation
For thousands of years seafarers, who crossed the seas far from land, had only the sky to help them. They learned early on how to use the position of celestial bodies, the sun, moon and stars to guide their course.
The astrolobe is an ancient instrument for estimating the position of the sun and other planets with respect to the horizon and the meridian.
It was perfected by the Arabs and used widely, especially by Portuguese and Spanish seamen, up until the 17th century. Other similar instruments in use from the 16th century were the cross-staff and Davis’ quadrant.

Stigma
The position of any place on the earth’s surface is determined by its latitude and longitude…

Plotting the course
To determine the ship’s course, nautical charts and compass were used as well as the hand log that measured its speed…

Measuring speed - Hand log
In the ships’ books, distances were referred to in the beginning as days of the journey. Later they were calculated from the speed of the ship…

Measuring depth The lead
The lead is one of the oldest navigational instruments and was used to measure the depth of the sea. This measurement…
