NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Time at Sea in 1703
From: Bill B
Date: 2004 Nov 3, 23:39 -0500
From: Bill B
Date: 2004 Nov 3, 23:39 -0500
> It is fairly common, however, for > the helmsmen to turn the glass before all the sand has > run through in order to shorten their watch a little. > This is called 'swallowing the sand'. I am not clear about this historically. Were the compasses then filled with alcohol, and ripe for being tapped for a drink as mentioned months ago in the list? Could this "swallowing the sand" have been an honest error after tapping the compass? Bill
