Chrisrmas Nav. question

helixkimara

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Your yacht is well prepared for single-handed sailing. Out in the ocean your hit by lightening and ALL of your instruments are burnt out. Your compass and watch is fried too.
You clonk your head while putting out all the charts that caught fire and burnt together with your log. You go into a coma for 2 Months.
Eventually there is a bump and you come out of your coma and go up on deck.

You have landed on ice at the Antarctic or Arctic

You remember everything except where you were and what date it was when you went into the coma.

How do you know which end of the world you at? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif


My go first cos it’s my game

Polar bears Arctic, Penguins Antarctic
 

Gargleblaster

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[ QUOTE ]
You go into a coma for 2 Months /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
watch is fried too

[/ QUOTE ]
What I want to know is how you know you have been in a coma for 2 months? [Some of us would have a little trouble getting to either pole within two months - depending where we started from of course].

And if Noddy is right, he must be in Sydney for the sun to be in the North and setting over Lewisham, unless there are more Lewishams in the southern hemisphere than I am aware of.
 

2nd_apprentice

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- Southern cross: Antarctic, everything else that I know: Arctic.

- Ask the fat chap or one of his little helpers (Only works at North Pole)

- Look for a russian flag (again North Pole)

- check if flushed leftovers run down the loo the wrong way round (southern hemisphere)
 

JunkMing

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But what if there's too much cloud cover to see the night sky, your Baby Blake is bust (and by the way isn't that 'wrong way round ' bit a touch northernhemispherocentric?)and your binoculars are lost over the side???

Easy.

Watch out for the mighty albatross! Rarely seen in the northern hemisphere and certainly never in the Arctic.
 

helixkimara

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Yeh, you can tell from the sun (if you can see it) which way is N,S,E and W. But how do you know which end of the world you’re at? (you could be in a huge bay and the ice behind you might not be the direction to the pole).
Stars are good (if you can see them)
Water down the bog/sink is good (if you remember which way it’s supposed to go)
Albatross – Brilliant (if you can see any)
Fat chap and little helpers – very good, but you could still be in that coma.

Isn’t this fun !

There is still the most simple and accurate answer to come.
 

andlauer

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Bonjour
Avec des "si" on peut mettre Paris en bouteille (ou Lutece en amphore).
There are no question to raise as THE best solution is known: To dive in the ocean to shorten the agonie!!!
Eric
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 

damo

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Sea birds are a dead giveaway, and the moon appears "upside down"

Severe sunburn would indicate spring in the Antarctic, when the ozone hole kicks in.

You won't see many bergs in the Arctic, unless you are near Greenland, whereas they often cover the horizon n the Antarctic.

A large number of elderly tourists taking pics of you would tend to indicate you are in the south.

If you can remember when you fell into your coma, the change of day length two months later should tell you which way you went.

And how the hell did you drift across the Equator in the first place? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

And a Happy Xmas and fair winds to you all.... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

plankton

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having never personally been at the extremes of either hemisphere...i imagine the sun would noticeably traverse to your south viewed from the arctic and to your north viewed from the antarctic?
 

lumphammer

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Watch the water going down the plug hole - isn't it supposed to go clockwise in the north, anti-clockwise in the south, or perhaps it's the other way round?
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

andlauer

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Bonsoir
The magnetic field is not, as most persons think, horizontal. It also have a vertical component. The magnetic field is almost oriented under a 45° angle towards the pole.

In the north hemisphere it is oriented downwards when you are looking north and of course upwards when you are looking to the south.

In the south hetmisphere it is oriented downwards when you are looking to the south and upwards when you are looking to the north.

You are not really looking as the magnetic field is not visible.

If on board you have a classical magnetic compas (mandatory under french regulation) it may be used to determine in which hemisphere you are.

A classical magnetic compass is a magnet postionned on an arrow and stabilised by a liquid. The liquid is most often alcool (hic!).

To maintain the compas horizontal, an amagnetic mass is added or to the North side, or to the South side to balance the vertical force induced by the effect of the vertical component of the magnetic field on the magnet of the compass.

As a consequence classical magnetic compas are hemisphere dependant.

One of the consequence of the presence of this additional mass is the fact that the classical magnetic compass will also be sensible to accelerations or decelerations. When you are sailing westbound (THE only interesting heading in the Jester Challenge) the classical magnetic compass will rotate under a sudden acceleration. With a north hemisphere classical magnetic compass the additional mass is placed on the southern part of the rose. It will be to the right of the boat axis when the boat is heading westbound. As a consequence, if you are sailing westbound, in case of an acceleration the additional mass will create a reaction dynamic force that will rotate the compass rose and increase the presented heading.

For example, If you use a classical magnetic compass balanced for the North hemisphere in the south hemisphere it will be counter balanced and the rose will not be horizontal anymore but will bank to the pole. The south part of the compass rose will be down and the north part will be up.

Of course if you are using a southern classical magnetic compass (But only a Kiwi may use a southern hemisphere compass for the Jester Challenge) in the north hetmisphere the result will be the other way round. The north part of the rose will be down and the south part will be up.

Under the hypothesis that you are not amnesic and you know you were on your way to Newport in the north hetmisphere with a northern hetmisphere classical compass (normal way of life for a Jester Challenger) it is possible to determine in witch hemisphere you are by a single glance to your classical magnetic compass.

If it is horizontal you are in the artic!

If the southern part of the rose is banked downwards you are in antartic!

If you don't know what type of compass you have three possibility:
- if the southern part of the rose is banking downwards you are in the antartic with a northern hemisphere classical magnetic compass.
- if the northern part of the rose is banking downwards, first you are a kiwi, second you are in artic with a southern hemisphere classical compass.
- if the rose is horizontal you must find the type of your compass to be abble to conclude on your hemisphere.

You may easily find the type of classical magnetic compass you are equipped with, by creating an acceleration westbound (Eastbound would work also but be counter productive in your way to Newport).

Disassemble the classical magnetic compass. Take a heading to the west (of course the reference is the magnetic north and not the geographic one) with a reference on the ground or in the sky. Run to the west while handing the compass steadily while looking at the compass rose (Don't make a fool of yourself by falling in front of the wild life, you are there only reference in terms of human being!).

If the heading increase you have a northern hemisphere classical compass in the artic.
If the headind decrease first you are a kiwi, second you have a southern hemisphere compass in the antartic.

Bonsoir, dormez bien!!!
Eric /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 

helixkimara

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Eric, you are in the spirit of Christmas. That is the funniest thing I've read for months. Extremly enlightening but " THE COMPASS IS FRIED, GONE, NOT THERE ANYMORE . NOT EVEN THE NEEDLE
Pourquoi faire simple quand on peut faire complique ?
 

Saddletramp

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We had a quiz at our works do last night our team came last out of 17 - so I am not even going to attempt this one.

I would just have to wait on the ice until some smart arse turns up. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 

helixkimara

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Have we already mentioned the arctic winter/antarctic summer thingy? Wouldn't that give it away rather quickly?
-----------------------------------------
You don't know what time of year it is though !
 

andlauer

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Bonsoir
A stupid answer :
- in artic the sun is in the south, (turning clockwise),
In antartic the sun is in the north (turning anticlockwise).
Eric
 

2nd_apprentice

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Ask SWMBO, she always knows! Everything!


Alternative- since you'll be fairly dead after two month's coma without food and drink: ask St Peter
 
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