The old ways — fishing by wits, sailing by stars 



George Bedsworth's Dolphin I is 

 equipped with a newfangled depth 

 recorder to let him know when his boat 

 is passing over fish. His electronic 

 navigational system guides him there 

 and back. 



But he still looks for the sight of div- 

 ing gulls, still smells the air for the 

 odor of fish, still watches for an oil 

 slick that will tell of a school of fish. 

 And, he can still navigate without 

 fancy electronic equipment. 



For nearly 50 years, Bedsworth has 

 taken charters out of Morehead City. 

 And for nearly as long, he's relied on 

 his own senses to find fish and to find 

 his way around the water. 



It's only been in this generation that 

 we've learned to rely on electronics for 

 fishing and navigating. Bedsworth, 

 just one fisherman who's been around 

 long enough to learn the old and the 

 new methods, says it's not time to 

 throw away tradition yet. What elec- 

 tronics has done to fishing, he says, is 

 to make it more convenient. Depth 

 recorders will let you know if there are 

 fish under the boat, but you've got to 

 know where to find them first. 



It takes time to recognize the signs 

 of fish, says Bedsworth. A trained eye 

 can spot the darkened blob of a school 

 of fish. For example, menhaden swim 

 in a tight bunch and appear black 

 against the water. 



A trained nose can sniff the smell of 

 a school of fish. Bedsworth says he also 

 watches for the oily film on the water's 

 surface — the sign of a large school. 

 And, the old standby of watching for 

 birds feeding on fish still works, he 

 adds. 



It's not time to give up on the old 

 ways of navigation, either, says 

 Charles McNeill, director of the 

 Hampton Mariner's Museum in 

 Beaufort. He says he's amazed at how 

 little navigating experience some of the 

 younger fishermen and sailors have 

 these days. 



Traditionally, North Carolina 

 fishermen have stayed close to shore, 



says McNeill. They used land bearings 

 such as lighthouses for clues about 

 where they were. 



But trade vessels were sailing out of 

 the state as early as the 1700s, using 

 celestial navigation to guide them to 

 their destinations, says McNeill. 



Celestial navigation is a means of 

 determining a ship's position by star 

 sighting. The navigator chooses three 

 stars he can recognize. With a sextant, 

 he measures each star's angle above 

 the horizon and notes the exact time 

 each angle is measured. The Nautical 



