Boxing the compass

North. North and a quarter east. North and a half east. North and three quarters east. North by east. North by east and a quarter east. North by east and a half east ...


Exactly. And, for completion, be able to rattle off any 180 degree reverse bearing without even needing to think about it.
 
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"About as dim as a TOC H lamp...." ;)

They were still putting those in Lifeboats till quite recent ... there used to be an old trick of reversing the view by fliiping it both ways in the gimbles at one time ... confuses hell out of people !

Also I don't know if HMS Victory still has one 'supposedly' her compass ! but it used to be displayed as steering compass !! Well the average punter would never know ...
 
Boxing the compass ?

I remember the catalogue of mind bending excercises we had to do when I studied at Merchant Navy College in Tower Hill, London, in 1972 - 1974.

The first hurdle was to memorise the 32 points...

Then the next hurdle was to memorise the 32 points expressed as degrees...

Then to express the points as quadrantal notation...

We were required to do this because the weather (wind) is expressed in points, not degrees...

Then another hurdle....memorising the 96 "varieties" ...and being able to rattle them off..

...and...as my syllabus of studies included square rig...

....then the final hurdle...to be able to assess the heading of another sailing ship by night or by day using points to work out...the arc of direction she could be heading in..relative to one's course and the direction of the wind itself...cor !:eek:

Nowadays thankfully no more...:D
 

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