NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: gipsy moth iv
From: J Cora
Date: 2006 Jul 10, 22:01 -0500
From: J Cora
Date: 2006 Jul 10, 22:01 -0500
I bought a globe (cheap one) recently and had to study it for awhile just to find tahiti. Interesting that
the tuamotu archipelago forms somewhat of a barrier
to the east of tahiti about 11 deg of lat and 15 deg of long. From reading a few mariners accounts, the
archipelago is subject to strong currents so a lack of wind can be fatal to a sailing vessel swept into the area. Not having any charts of the tuamotus but given the position and the large area that it encompasses, I would speculate that the group is volcanic in origin and that the depths are great until one encounters one of the pinnacles of the archipelago (please correct if mistaken)
By implication, sounding are useless because the reefs rise from a great depth to pose a hazard to navigation. Perhaps a polynesian trained navigator could avoid the reefs by sensing the change in the ocean swells after reflecting off an obstruction.
In the tradition of publications that provide details and analysis of accidents if would be most useful if a similar publication were available for mariners.
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the tuamotu archipelago forms somewhat of a barrier
to the east of tahiti about 11 deg of lat and 15 deg of long. From reading a few mariners accounts, the
archipelago is subject to strong currents so a lack of wind can be fatal to a sailing vessel swept into the area. Not having any charts of the tuamotus but given the position and the large area that it encompasses, I would speculate that the group is volcanic in origin and that the depths are great until one encounters one of the pinnacles of the archipelago (please correct if mistaken)
By implication, sounding are useless because the reefs rise from a great depth to pose a hazard to navigation. Perhaps a polynesian trained navigator could avoid the reefs by sensing the change in the ocean swells after reflecting off an obstruction.
In the tradition of publications that provide details and analysis of accidents if would be most useful if a similar publication were available for mariners.
On 7/10/06, Peter Fogg <peter.fogg@gmail.com> wrote:
hellosailor wrote:
Someone made a mistake, perhaps a math error, perhaps a reading error, perhaps a wrong chart datum. I suspect they will be rather more cautious in the future.
Actually, I think that rather more, not fewer, similar accidents are just begging to happen through such slavish dependence on technology. The problem here, I suspect, was not amenable to avoidance by best practice use of the items you mention.
Personal experience backs up the common sense approach to coral and reef studded waters: best approached slowly with the sun behind, a calm sea, and polarising sunglasses to see underwater obstacles before an even closer encounter. Bit of a problem at night, at the wrong time of day/weather, if the sea state does not cooperate, and especially if coral/reefs are not expected.
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