NavList:

   

Reply

| To pass the winter's day I frequently turn to novels concerning the British
| navy in the late 1700's.  I came across passage where a small boat became
| separated from the mother ship in a fog.  They in the boat had taken bearing
| fore and aft  on the way out but had lost the compass in scuffle with the
| French.  In the fog they had no idea of the direction back to the ship.  The
| moon was barely visible above the fog.  They computed the way back
|
| For any meridian the moon will cross just 49 minutes after the sun crosses
| and the moon falls back 49 minutes every day.
| By counting the days after new moon, multiplying that number by 49 and
| dividing by 60
| One arrives at the time in hours and minutes when the moon is due south.
| With south noted and knowing the reciprocal bearing back the ship they could
| safely return.
|
| I haven' had time to check out the reasoning and math but I thought it would
| be of interest  to the list.   The author also described lunars in an
| earlier novel.  Quite interesting reading.
|
| Dick
|

   

Reply