Navigation and spherical objects.

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billmacfarlane

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I'm reading Jonathan Raban's Passage to Juneau. In it he describes how the ancient Polynesians ( who probably knew nothing about stability curves ) navigated before the advent of the compass needle. They used things like the wave size and height , bird types and flight path , and water colour to get from A to B. I short they were utterly in tune with the elements in a way we can't possibly understand now. For example if they were near a land mass but couldn't see it they could detect the difference in wave patterns caused by the land mass. The way the navigator did this was to put it mildly , interesting. Because the subtle way the wave pattern changed , something your modern day navigator probably wouldn't notice , the navigator needed a VERY sensitive organ to detect the change. He ... er ... used his bollocks. He would sit with the aforementioned organs on the boat's stempost and feel the boat's movement due to the wave train , and could detect any changes in the wave pattern. Like to see him do that in a Solent chop ! Ouch !!! Jonathan Raban omits to tell what he used to point with !!!!
 
Yet another nautical term used in modern english " Its a load of old bollocks"
I think someone started a thread about nautical terms used did not see that one

Beth
 
Rather like the appreciation of the scenery if you ride a bycycle along a route you normally travel by car. Slower speeds, closer to the surface ... you have the time and involvement to sense the detail.

Added to that, we do rather enjoy our cabins, oilskins etc., all of which distance us from the "detail". Still further, we are distracted from noticing things by VHF, CD players, beeping plotters, flashing depth sounders and land masses with lighthouses and other lights.

I also suspect it was easier in days long past because the skies were infinitely less polluted, likewise the seas. These days we are lucky to see the stars, and the water has so much content which is artificial we wouldn't see the subtle differences in water colour even if we tried, at least in most parts of the World.

We're also in much more of a hurry.
 
thought that thread was something to do with having your bits snipped

Beth
 
Then when they ran aground he turned in to a Gargoil and gently chided the helm in a very high voice.
 
Cojones

Quite apart from the testicle content, Passage to Juneau is an excellent book.
Also very good on the hapless Vancouver who never got over his admiration for Cap'n Cook, who he had served under, but could not emulate.
Most Jonathan Raban I've read is first class stuff.
 
Indeed a most excellent and true-to-life book, being not one but four separate accounts woven into one. The theory about Indian art being influenced by the fragmented images reflected by waves is fascinating.
 
Have to admit that I enjoyed most of the book, but the last chapters seemed to collapse into excessive self pitty and angst. The insights into Vancouver's exploits along the coast were fascinating reading and gave the early parts of the book an extra dimension to travel writing. Of all the Raban books I have read this was the most disappointing.
 
You read it first in YM

As always, YM was well ahead of the game. Bill Beavis commented on the Polynesians' aptitude for spherical geometry and navigation in an issue of the magazine in, I think, about 1979. However, I seem to recall he attributed their skill to an ability accurately to sense the swing of their pendulant attachments in relation to their thighs.

I find I have acquired a related skill such that, when I sense a tightening and associated skrinking in a specific region I know it is time to head for shelter.

JJ
 
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