A 17th century astrolabe from the Museo Galileo

It is difficult to imagine that getting from Point A to Point B was ever any more difficult than pushing a “Go To” button, but maritime historian Randy McDonald gave an excellent lecture on Ancient Navigational Techniques in Key West this week reminding us that it wasn’t always so easy finding our way at sea.

Randy is a craftsman as well as a historian and he has replicated instruments used by ancient mariners thousands of years ago. Included in his collection are 14^th century cross staffs, latitude hooks, astrolabes, quadrants, and a remarkable Polynesian stick chart.

Maritime navigators have always made due with whatever materials were available to them and with ingenuity they navigated safely across thousands of miles of ocean. Singlehanded sailor Steve Callahan spent 76 days adrift in an inflatable raft after his small sloop sank near the Canary Islands in 1981. He found his way to safety in Barbados by measuring the angle of the sun and stars using three pencils bound into a triangle.

My 1981 singlehanded transatlantic crossing in the 23-foot sloop Betelgeuse was made just before the era of GPS became prevalent among offshore sailors. I had no electronics. I used a sextant, passed down from my father, for the celestial navigation from Florida to Portugal.

The voyage of Flying Fish, scheduled to begin next year, will be different. The navigation station on the new IP460 will have an array of computers, flat screens, radios, and electronics. Prudent sailors, however, think about worst-case scenarios and if all those fancy electronics go blank… I’ll always have Dad’s sextant to help me find my way.

I may choose to use the sextant anyway, just to be a little closer to the sun and the stars.

My specifications for the new construction of a transoceanic sailboat were simple:

Build me a boat that is not going to break apart when I am 2,000 miles from the closest land. And build me a boat that if it rolls over in heavy weather will return upright, quickly. Hull integrity and safety in mid ocean were non-negotiable factors in my selection of a design for Flying Fish. I have confidence that the Island Packet 460 is going to keep me upright and afloat.

Island Packets have established their ocean cruising credibility by logging millions of sailing miles around the globe. The owner of the company, Bob Johnson, holds a Master of Science degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from MIT. At the core of each of his designs are construction features chosen with an unwavering focus on the demands of sailing offshore in safety. The International Marine Certification Institute has awarded them its highest rating—Category-A Ocean—meaning the boats qualify for ‘unlimited offshore use.’

Much more will be written here about the details, construction, and ultimate performance of Flying Fish but as her first fiberglass is being laminated I’m sleeping easily with the confidence that Island Packet is building me a good boat.

For more information read the chapter on IPY in: The World’s Best Sailboats Volume II, by Ferenc Máté. He is one of the most widely read and respected of sailing authors. His books, From a Bare Hull, The Finely Fitted Yacht, Best Boats, Shipshape and The World’s Best Sailboats Volume I are all nautical classics.

Construction begins on the new Island Packet 460 Flying Fish

The boat’s internal structural grid will be fitted and fiberglassed into the hull mold