Sunset stirred my memory

[John Arton]

Last night we had a lovely sunset here with a few altocumulus clouds reflecting the sunset giving the Red Sky at Night. If you had been at sea it was the sort of sunset that would have you searching for the green flash. The quarter moon was also setting and as our house faces due north/south magnetically, watching the sunset started me wondering what direction was the sun setting in. Without thinking it just came straight into my head that if the rear fence was north then the sun set must have been around 20 degrees north of west and immediately it came into my head all the points of the magnetic compass, North, North by East etc. etc. so the in was setting somewhere around West North West.
Going inside to reveal this important piece of information to wife and daughter, I was met with blank stares and a "so", thus causing me to shut up and retire to my book reading.
rgds
J.A.

[Keith Tindell]

Remember taking my ABs ticket and having to read the magnetic right round in quarter points, also at training school i believe, kt

[Red Lead Ted]

Remember boxing the compass very well Kieth, In them days i could do anti clockwise, Not sure if the grey matter could manage it today

[Keith Tindell]

The only time I remember using it was on the old green peril, mv Cattaro, one of Ellerman Wilson,s coasters, should think it is virtually never used now, happy days 4 on 4 off etc, kt

[Red Lead Ted]

I remember the old Hain Norse trampers out of Cardiff, I took my steering ticket aboard the Trevaylor, Unless i am corrected they had no giro compass aboard. There was always a farmer on watch Happy Days Regards Kieth Terry.

[Lewis McColl]

Remember boxing the compass very well Kieth, In them days i could do anti clockwise, Not sure if the grey matter could manage it today

Wish I was still able to box this compass, my old pool I had built when we lived in SpainDSC_0638.jpgDSC_0177.jpg used to get some pretty good sunsets as well, but from the Balcony Sunrise was much better as it rose over a sea view.

[Keith Tindell]

Hi Ted, i also took my steering ticket on the old Hains tramper Treworlas, for the life of me i cannot remember what compass she had. I was peggy on her, and would go up in the evenings to get the required 10 hours? in. was also my first trip deck boy. I managed after three attempts to get the Hains museum in Cornwall this year, very interesting visit, kt

[Ivan Cloherty]

[QUOTE=red lead ted;300661, Not sure if the grey matter could manage it today [/QUOTE]

Soon come back to you Ted once you start reciting it. Brought up with it on trawlers where you had to read about one eigth of the card in a periscope mirror as the only compass was on the monkey island, sailed with it on a couple of deep sea ships and all the coasters I was on only had magnetic compasses. The most difficult to read and stay focused on was the trawlers as they yawed from port to starboard and back again and your particular steering point disappeared into the blind quadrants, and you were using rod and chain steering..........happy days!

[Trader]

Steered by quarter points on a few coasters that I sailed on years ago. The "Somme" of Wm.H. Muller & Co, on the Manchester/Liverpool to Paris trade comes to mind.

[j.sabourn]

Putting #1 with the others if you were the mate on watch you were probably on the monkey island getting an amplitude of the sun as it set with the azimuth mirror to get a compass error. one of many formulas one didn't forget. sin amp =sin dec. secant latitude. fastest way of getting a magnetic compass error. Today doubt it is very seldom done on many vessels. In those days it was quoted that at least when possible 1 compass error every watch, the compass obs. book was used many times to determine the deviation of the ships head on different courses, the variation could always be taken from a Mercator chart. thus you had a fair idea of the approx. compass error when celestial bodies { not like Marylin Monroe { were not visible, the quickest way of getting an error though which I suppose coasting men used a lot was to get the leading lights of a port or another two fixed bearings ashore in transit and knew straight away what the error was on that heading. JS