Using Real Navigation - Where am I?

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by MiniSmith

In Real Navigation, so far as I can understand, the only way to know where you are is to let your navigator calculate it through celestial (if your above water, and have 30 minutes to spare) or have him do it by reckoning, if your underwater. My problem is that when I spot a ship, I seldom do have 30 minutes to spare before diving, and once under water, the dead-reckoning positions seems very uncertain, and at times, way off.

My question is if there is any other way to know your position, or if I just have to trust my navigators reckoning skills? :p

You should know your position at all times, you are Captain aren't you? If you keep track of time travelled since last celestial fix and haven't had any heading changes then you can easily calculate the distance you have travelled. Add this distance to the last celestial fix (on your current heading) and you can plot where you are. If you make heading changes then it gets a little more complicated as you need to record what time you made each heading change and the new heading and previous heading so you can go back and figure out where you are.