Re: Wind Directions?


"W. Watson" <wolf_tracks@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5vFlf.507$Tg2.468@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> The offical wind directions around the compass clockwise are:
>
> North - North North East - North East - East North East - East
>
> East - East South East - South East - South South East - South
>
> South South West - South West - West South West - West
>
> West North West - North West - North North West - North
>
> Is there actually some order to this nomeclature?
> --
> Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
> (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
> Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
>
> Web Page: <home.earthlink.net/~mtnviews>

South of Southwest is SSW, not ESW, but it could be.
West of Southwest is WSW, not NSW but it could be.

Assume a ship is heading SW.
If the cap'n says "Set the helm East South West", the helmsman needs to hear
the instruction clearly, and we don't want him setting the rudder for North
or East, the friggin' frigate will capsize. A cap'n will never say that and
keep his license. Instead, the cap'n says "Set the helm West South West" (or
"South South West"). If helm mishears and gets it wrong, then he either
changes direction to South, West, South West (no change) or "West South"
(never happen), maximum error from deafness or drunkeness 22.5 degrees.
If the course change is more than 45 degrees then someone has to run out the
yardarm and reset the rigging.
The yardarms on a sailing ship are the horizontal timbers or spars mounted
on the masts, from which the square sails are hung. At certain times of year
it will seem from the deck that the sun has risen far enough up the sky that
it is above the topmost yardarm. In summer in the north Atlantic, where the
phrase "when the sun is over the yardarm" originated, this would have been
at about 11am. This was by custom and rule the time of the first rum issue
of the day to officers and men (the officers had their tots neat, the men's
diluted, which is grog). Though the days of sail are far behind us, the
expression has a surprisingly wide currency still, especially in North
America. Despite its apparent antiquity, it wasn't recorded in print until
the end of the nineteenth century.
So the nomenclature is more to do with change of heading, not heading, and a
hangover from the days of sail. Landlubber! :-)

My grandfather's ship:
http://www.hms-arethusa.co.uk/
When he served as an able seaman:
http://www.hms-arethusa.co.uk/november42.html

He survived the torpedo, not the cancer. Remembered with pride.
Androcles.



.