San Diego to Hilo

The track so far, solid; the rest of the way, dashed. Coasts simplified: not for navigation.

Kestrel, a 40-foot cutter, is fourteen days out of San Diego, bound for Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. Two days ago a squall flooded the chart plotter, and the handheld GPS went over the side with the bag it was in. You are the navigator. From here to Hawaii it is the sextant, the watch and the almanac.

It is 0600 on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Last night's star fix, carried forward, puts you at N 23°25.0', W 145°18.1'. Hilo is 587 miles away. Kestrel is steering 250° true at 6.5 knots through the water.

The ship's clock keeps zone time, zone description +10. Your watch was checked against the shortwave time signal: it is 15 s fast. The sextant has an index error of 2.1′ on the arc, and your eye is 9 feet above the sea.

Today

0839 Morning Sun line
0859 When is noon?
1144 The noon sight
1154 Running fix at noon
1209 What the current is doing
1808 Checking the compass at sunset
1813 Planning the star sights
1840 Star fix at twilight

Every voyage is different: the date, the current, the sights and the stars change each time you sail it. Later stages start from the correct work of earlier ones, so one slip does not spoil the day.