The Nautical Sextant

Bill Morris

Born in the U K and educated at Cambridge University, Bill Morris has spent most of his working life practicing medicine in New Zealand. Over the years he has written numerous articles for lay people, mainly on engineering workshop technology.

Since buying his first sextant in 1978 he has had a strong interest in these now-historic instruments, and currently has a collection of over 80 examples, nearly all of which he has restored to original working condition.

In this book, he aims to share his knowledge:

“Generations of sailors have been warned against tampering with their sextants, with such effect that many owners fear to make any adjustments or do any maintenance, still less do any running repairs.

At least one has written about the feeling of helplessness when contemplating a damaged sextant on the open ocean. Now that no one need depend on a sextant, the owner can have more confidence in restoring this wonder of hand-held precision to working order – with this book providing some guidance.”

Bill lives by the sea on the Houhora Harbour in the Far North of New Zealand, and invites fellow enthusiasts to get in touch at nzengineernz@gmail.com

February 2018:  I am sometimes asked to give a value to a found or inherited sextant. Please note that I am not a dealer and will not respond to such requests from now on.