Over the years, we've acquired a nice little collection of navigational instruments here at the Ocean Navigator office. These gems have been "curated" into a deluxe display occupying its own special corner. The collection is a veritable navigational museum with wonders from all the ages of marine navigation. Up until recently the existence of these august items has been largely unknown. Now, however, we present them to the world.
The collection includes a fancy Weems & Plath lighted hand bearing compass; a multi-axis, latitude adjustable, azimuth bearing thingamajig; a 1944 U.S. Navy BuShips "ball recording sextant" (don't ask) manufactured by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company in Brooklyn, NY; a Furuno paper-recording depth sounder; a Walker Mark III Knotmaster Log with replacement spinners in its own pine box, a simple plastic emergency sextant and a Trimble Navigation 200 "High Accuracy Loran," with the original instruction manual. A cornucopia of fabulous items that had useful maritime lives way before the letters "GPS" were ever ganged together to describe anything.
If you find yourself in the Portland, Maine area and are overwhelmed with the odd desire to see the museum in person, slide a handwritten note under our door and we'll add you to the exclusive list of official museum supporters and we'll send you an appointed time (in GMT) to drop by and see it in person — or you could always just walk in and ask!
