NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Ed Hlywa
Date: 2021 Sep 18, 18:50 -0700
Reminds me of way back when… 5 days out from Marsh Harbour, BA, somewhere off the Carolina's, heading for the Chessapeake Bay... We were hove-to for the night to get some much needed rest. Early the next morning, the bulkhead compass showed a N-S heading and the GPS said North at 2 knots.
I mused that the boat does better by herself than when I try to steer. Then I noticed that first light was appearing on the port side! I know we’re in the Burmuda Triangle, but doesn't the sun rise in the East?
After a much needed cup of coffee, the dilema became apparent: After five days of North steerage, with a compass showing the full card, N-S can be mistaken for S-N in a morning head fog. While hove-to, she turned around, and were going stern-first in the North direction at 2 knots in the Gulf Stream.
Reading the Compass Rose is harder than you think!
