Navigation

avigation Instruments Before sailing as a master or a mate, sailors had to take a navigation course. These men were given a set of maps and all kinds of navigation instruments such as a compass, a log, an hourglass and a graduator. Most important were the maps and the master had to indicate the position every day. The compass was used to check the direction. A disadvantage was that the compass needle did not always point exactly north which led to inaccuracies. The log (indicating the water pressure) and the hourglass (time) the speed of the ship was calculated. By measuring the height of the stars with an octant the north-south position of the ship was indicated. However, a fair amount of luck was required to reach Batavia.