NYC January Mappy Hour: Natural Navigation
Last month we gathered at Solas Bar in the East Village for our monthly NYC Mappy Hour to hear from Captain Spencer Merlis on natural navigation, meaning navigation without classic assists such as a map and compass.
Captain Spence of Hudson River Community Sailing warmed the crowd up with the classic mnemonic Never Eat Shredded Wheat and quickly moved to declination, latitude and the angle of the sun.
Five Natural Navigation tips from Captain Spence
- During mid-day, 10-3pm the sun is in the southern part of the sky.
- The sun is south at noon
- Clouds can be used to determine directions
- Since only the brightest stars can be seen in New York City, it makes it easier to find the North Star!
- Sky color can be used to tell West from East
After a bit of learning (and a pop quiz!) we split up into adventure corners. This month we had Sue talking snowshoeing, Mollie talking distance biking, Sarah on skiing and Spence on… well… natural navigation of course!
If you missed Captain Spence he also teaches natural navigation at Brooklyn Brainery and trains captains and other sailors at Hudson River Community Sailing (Discount code: OutdoorFest15).
Our next Mappy Hour is February 25th at Filson in Soho where we’ll be learning about a new app that saves trees from The Nature Conservancy. Sign up here.