My Dad was a radioman in the Navy in WWII, flying on patrol bombers searching for German submarines off the coast of Brazil and later over the English Channel. He flew out of an airfield at the small English village of Dunkeswell, a place I flew into myself in my around-world-flight in 2011.  He had become a ham radio operator as a teenager in the 1930’s so being a radioman in the Navy was a natural fit.  Morse code to him was a second language and part of the soundtrack of my childhood.

He had a long career in broadcast engineering, ultimately becoming VP of Engineering at KCET, the PBS televsion station in Los Angeles. He retired early to pursue a long-held dream to sail the world’s oceans with my Mom. As a retirement gift the PBS executives gave him this sextant.

They bought a suitable boat, moved on board, and started sailing along the California coast in preparation for bigger things. In 1980 they started sailing south along the Baja peninsula. They were a thousand miles into their voyage when my Mom discovered a lump in her neck.  They suspended their voyage and flew back to San Diego to have it evaluated.  It was cancer. My Mom put up a valiant fight, still living on the boat which was brought back to San Diego by a delivery skipper, but passed away in 1986.

My Dad sold the boat, eventually got re-married, and bought a house in Vista, California. This sextant was prominently displayed on a wall in the house.  When my Dad passed away in 2005 the sextant was handed on to me.

I’ve carried my Dad’s sextant with me everywhere I’ve sailed for the past 2 1/2 years, across the world’s oceans, to seven continents, several countries and dozens of harbors and anchorages around the globe. In this small way they were along with me, sailing the world as they once dreamed of doing.  I think they would have liked that.