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Re: Logbooks
From: Modris Fersters
Date: 2024 Feb 15, 11:38 -0800
From: Modris Fersters
Date: 2024 Feb 15, 11:38 -0800
Dear Lars,
You wrote:
“I have a personal note made some ten to fifteen years ago that in the logbook of Bounty, from 1788, F seems to be the number of ⅛ knot, which corresponds quite well to a fathom of 6 feet for a length of around 48 feet between the knots on the log-line. Then the eights could be easily "fathomed" from the nearest knot on the line.”
You are right. There was such a practice. I am attaching fragment from M.Flinder’s logbook kept on board HMS “Investigator” in 1801-1803. Under HKF columns he calculates the sum. And from this it is absolutely clear that units in F column are 1/8 of units in K column.
Flinders notes only even numbers of fathoms ( 2; 4; 6) therefore the maximum number in F column is 6.
Modris Fersters
File:
