All a question of degree

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Resolution

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Listening to the news this morning, they played a reputed extract of a radio conversation with the oil tanker off Iran. The Iranian instructions were something like "steer a course of 360 degrees".
It has been too long since my VHF course. Is it more correct to say 360 degrees or 000 degrees?
 
Resolution said:
Listening to the news this morning, they played a reputed extract of a radio conversation with the oil tanker off Iran. The Iranian instructions were something like "steer a course of 360 degrees".
It has been too long since my VHF course. Is it more correct to say 360 degrees or 000 degrees?
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Theoretically, there isn't a 360 degrees. Anything between north and 1 degree is 0.xx degrees, so the base number must be 0. Which would mean while you can get to 359.9999n, you will never get to 360.
 
newtothis said:
Theoretically, there isn't a 360 degrees. Anything between north and 1 degree is 0.xx degrees, so the base number must be 0. Which would mean while you can get to 359.9999n, you will never get to 360.
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You are overthinking this, to avoid avoiding a cliche. When a clock hand is pointing upwards we say that it is twelve o'clock, not nought o'clock. The compass and clock are not the same of course, but since we naturally tend to think in terms of a clock face, it makes sense to use 360 degrees in order to make the meaning clear.
 
Resolution said:
Listening to the news this morning, they played a reputed extract of a radio conversation with the oil tanker off Iran. The Iranian instructions were something like "steer a course of 360 degrees".
It has been too long since my VHF course. Is it more correct to say 360 degrees or 000 degrees?
Click to expand...
Was there any mention of "steer true or ​magnetic"?
 
It might depend.
If your current course is 345, coming up to 360 makes complete sense.
If you are trying to average your course then you need to add or subtract 360 sometimes to make any sense. The average of steering 355 and 005 is not 180!
In yacht racing of course, 360 is a penalty turn for touching a mark, which might saved a lot of diplomatic fallout?
 
lw395 said:
It might depend.
If your current course is 345, coming up to 360 makes complete sense.
If you are trying to average your course then you need to add or subtract 360 sometimes to make any sense. The average of steering 355 and 005 is not 180!
In yacht racing of course, 360 is a penalty turn for touching a mark, which might saved a lot of diplomatic fallout?
Click to expand...
Back in the dream time, over 50 years ago, we were coming out of Ras Tanura, just the helmsman and myself on the bridge. Steering about 350º ... Abeam of the seabuoy... as I popped into the chartroom to put her on the chart I told the helmsman to steer 010º.... so he puts the helm hard a port... that was one of those moments in life when one truly learns something... esp when you are in a traditional chartroom when the helm goes hard over on a loaded tanker....

Always tell the helmsman how much helm you want and which way you want it... as in '5 degrees port helm... steer 250...'

Back on track.... for the OP... if initially steering west of north I would use 360... if steering east of north I would use 000 or maybe in either case just 'north'.

Compass, gyro, or true? no need to confuse people ... just the number on the card he is looking at... which will very rarely and only co-incidentaly be 'true'.
 
Frank Holden said:
Back in the dream time, over 50 years ago, we were coming out of Ras Tanura, just the helmsman and myself on the bridge. Steering about 350º ... Abeam of the seabuoy... as I popped into the chartroom to put her on the chart I told the helmsman to steer 010º.... so he puts the helm hard a port... that was one of those moments in life when one truly learns something... esp when you are in a traditional chartroom when the helm goes hard over on a loaded tanker....

Always tell the helmsman how much helm you want and which way you want it... as in '5 degrees port helm... steer 250...'

Back on track.... for the OP... if initially steering west of north I would use 360... if steering east of north I would use 000 or maybe in either case just 'north'.

Compass, gyro, or true? no need to confuse people ... just the number on the card he is looking at... which will very rarely and only co-incidentaly be 'true'.
Click to expand...

Many years ago when I was Third Engineer/Electrician on a bulk carrier we were on a berth in Tripoli when a very decrepit Syrian-owned coaster came in and berthed ahead of us. Her captain came on board and begged us to try and repair his autopilot. He had no money and his owners wouldn't provide any for repairs (not that he would have had much chance of finding a firm to repair it there). The poor man was exhausted after a long passage with an unqualified makeshift crew, none of whom could read a compass card. When the autopilot failed he had had to resort to sticking a bit of paper tape on the compass and telling the helmsman to keep the needle lined up with it but they were not much good at that and he had done most of the steering, catnapping on the bridge when he couldn't carry on.
 
penberth3 said:
Is that 12am or 12pm?
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Perhaps it should be 0am and 0pm? The problem, as Richard has seen, is that we mark the head of our clock faces with the final and not the initial (zero) whole number.

The Iranian radio operator was as confused about his compass rose as he was about his rights.
 
Graham376 said:
In aviation, north is expressed as 360 degrees and degrees less than 100 would include the zero - ie 045 degrees. I use the same expressions on the boat.
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Your aviation comment suggests that there is some (semi?) official protocol for radio usage. In starting the thread I was hoping someone here would know.......:encouragement:.
 
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