Re: Wind Directions?


"W. Watson" <wolf_tracks@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:K8Nlf.664$Tg2.124@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Dastardly Fiend wrote:
>
>> "W. Watson" <wolf_tracks@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:5vFlf.507$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.
>>
>>
>>
> Ah, a seafaring family. Thanks. I would have never guessed.
>
> Landluber? Not me. I paddle a kayak. We use commands like, over there,
> look out, rapid ahead, right, left, duck, strainer, overhang, rock left,
> giddyup, ... -- well, maybe not. :-)

That sounds more like
T'was a dark an stormy night, and the Cap'n said:
"Ahoy there, me 'arties, gather round and Oi'll tell ye a story..."
and this is the story he told.
"T'was a dark an stormy night, and the B'sun said:
"Ahoy there, me 'arties, gather round and Oi'll tell ye a story..."
and this is the story he told."
"T'was a dark an stormy night, and the First Mate said:
"Ahoy there, me 'arties, gather round and Oi'll tell ye a story..."
and this is the story he told."
"T'was a dark an stormy night, and the Second Mate said:
"Ahoy there, me 'arties, gather round and Oi'll tell ye a story..."
and this is the story he told." .... :-)

Yeah, I've done a little sailing... there is nothing quite like it.

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. -- John
Masefield
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded
with a sleep."-- William Shakespeare







.