Wayne.B wrote:
On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 16:28:49 -0600, Skipper wrote:


Here's the situation: You're 100 miles offshore and bailing to the
liferaft. You've become disoriented and have lost your bearings. You
reach for the GPS-12 and find it's DOA. Among your options is the sun
compass. Do you know how to make and use one?

snip
There's another old trick with an analog wrist watch where you put a
matchstick (or similar) vertically over the middle. Rotate the watch
until the shadow falls along the hour hand (that's the little one).

North is roughly in the direction of 12 o'clock. Works best spring
and fall in the northern hemisphere.


No, think what happens at 6AM :-)

Its actually something like point the hour hand at the sun and SOUTH is
half way between the hour hand and 12 o'clock (or North in the Southern
hemisphere).

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:
'Stingo' Albacore #1554 - 15' Early 60's, Uffa Fox designed,
All varnished hot moulded wooden racing dinghy.

Bill McKee wrote:

You may remember the incident about a year ago where a fellow on the
West Coast lost all power and drifted for weeks off the Mexican coast
because he'd lost his bearings and had no idea where North was.
Knowledge of the sun compass method would have allowed him to ID North
and sail quickly to shore.

The point of this thread is to remind us of the easy to learn sun
compass skill for determining North.

He could not find his way to an Island 26 miles away, that can be seen from
the mainland. He could have looked at the sunrise and figured out which way
the closest land was. And he is going to be able to improvise a compass?

I thought so too at the time, but can also understand how someone can
become disoriented at sea. Had he been versed in emergency orientation
skills it's likely he would not have froze...hence a major reason for
*this* thread. If these methods are practiced *beforehand*, much less
chance of going dumb when it counts.

--
Skipper

Harry,
Do you keep a ditch bag in both of your boats, or do you transfer them when
you are going offshore?


"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Dan J.S. wrote:
"Skipper" wrote in message
...
Here's the situation: You're 100 miles offshore and bailing to the
liferaft. You've become disoriented and have lost your bearings. You
reach for the GPS-12 and find it's DOA. Among your options is the sun
compass. Do you know how to make and use one?

--
Skipper

check the backup gps first





Skipper apparently is too stupid to carry a hand bearing compass in his
ditch bag.

Oh, wait. Skipper doesn't have a ditch bag. He doesn't have a boat.



--
Hurricane Bush - the Real Disaster

On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 19:43:05 -0600, Skipper wrote:

Another simple method:

http://tinyurl.com/aub5l

===============================

Yes, when lost at sea without a compass,

find a tree,

and see which side the moss is on.

Perfect.

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 01:53:14 +0000, Ian Malcolm
wrote:

Its actually something like point the hour hand at the sun and SOUTH is
half way between the hour hand and 12 o'clock (or North in the Southern
hemisphere).

============================

What ever works for you. What I do at 6:00AM is roll over and try to
get some more sleep. If that doesn't work and I still want to know
where east is, I look to see where the sun is coming up.

Gene Kearns wrote:
Here's a quick hint: Sun comes up in the East and goes down in the
West.

Are you sure? Can you give us some references to back up
this assertions?

...Since you didn't specify that you had a chart, why would you
need more accuracy.

Why would one not have charts?
And a coast pilot would be just as useful anyway.


Your example reminds me of a Mayday call the Oak Island Lighthouse got
one evening. The captain of the boat reported that he was lost. The
Coastie manning the radio asked the boater if he could see anything
identifiable. The boater replied that he could only see some coastal
lights and a lighthouse.


It's always about the petty details, aint' it?

DSK

Gene Kearns wrote:

Why would one not have charts?

Because one is an idiot and/or has never ventured past the praise
except in one's mind.

And a coast pilot would be just as useful anyway.

And how would that be beneficial to the pilot of a praise schooner?

There was a time when this NG was a great source of boating information.
Plug just about any inquiry into Deja/Google and you'd find great
information from this group. Not anymore. Today...400 posts of
garbage...and from 'contributors' who have very little practical
knowledge of boats AND boating. The knowledgeable sources have gone to
saner climes.

Just look at the posts from the NG's most prolific offenders; Harry
Krause, Doug Kanter, Bert Robbins, Alt_man2, JimH, JohnH, P. Fitz, or
Gene Kearns. Research the archives for ANY relevant subject...these
folks are totally void of useful boating information in the archives.
You will not see this current crop of know nothings being the source for
anything useful.

Face it, rec.boats is a bad joke to serious boaters...as are those who
continue to contribute to the pollution. Go ahead fellas, make a name
for yourselves...

--
Skipper

"Skipper" wrote in message
...
Gene Kearns wrote:

Why would one not have charts?

Because one is an idiot and/or has never ventured past the praise
except in one's mind.

And a coast pilot would be just as useful anyway.

And how would that be beneficial to the pilot of a praise schooner?

There was a time when this NG was a great source of boating information.
Plug just about any inquiry into Deja/Google and you'd find great
information from this group. Not anymore. Today...400 posts of
garbage...and from 'contributors' who have very little practical
knowledge of boats AND boating. The knowledgeable sources have gone to
saner climes.

Just look at the posts from the NG's most prolific offenders; Harry
Krause, Doug Kanter, Bert Robbins, Alt_man2, JimH, JohnH, P. Fitz, or
Gene Kearns. Research the archives for ANY relevant subject...these
folks are totally void of useful boating information in the archives.
You will not see this current crop of know nothings being the source for
anything useful.

Face it, rec.boats is a bad joke to serious boaters...as are those who
continue to contribute to the pollution. Go ahead fellas, make a name
for yourselves...

--
Skipper

So tell us about your boat and your boating adventures in Derby, Kansas
Skipper. What sort of trips did you take these past years on your boat?

BTW: If I remember right *you* came here just recently after a prolonged
absence only to spread lies about several members here, most especially
Chuck Gould. This went on for weeks.

You have also not contributed one iota to any discussion about boats since
you came back. You have, however, dug up some old posts you made years back
about an adventure to the Sea of Cortez and fighting 20 foot waves in a 24
foot Bayliner. You have also bitched and moaned and started flame wars.

Go back to hiding Skippy. We were better off without you here.

" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Skipper" wrote in message
...
Gene Kearns wrote:

Why would one not have charts?

Because one is an idiot and/or has never ventured past the praise
except in one's mind.

And a coast pilot would be just as useful anyway.

And how would that be beneficial to the pilot of a praise schooner?

There was a time when this NG was a great source of boating
information.
Plug just about any inquiry into Deja/Google and you'd find great
information from this group. Not anymore. Today...400 posts of
garbage...and from 'contributors' who have very little practical
knowledge of boats AND boating. The knowledgeable sources have gone to
saner climes.

Just look at the posts from the NG's most prolific offenders; Harry
Krause, Doug Kanter, Bert Robbins, Alt_man2, JimH, JohnH, P. Fitz, or
Gene Kearns. Research the archives for ANY relevant subject...these
folks are totally void of useful boating information in the archives.
You will not see this current crop of know nothings being the source
for
anything useful.

Face it, rec.boats is a bad joke to serious boaters...as are those who
continue to contribute to the pollution. Go ahead fellas, make a name
for yourselves...

--
Skipper

So tell us about your boat and your boating adventures in Derby, Kansas
Skipper. What sort of trips did you take these past years on your boat?

BTW: If I remember right *you* came here just recently after a
prolonged
absence only to spread lies about several members here, most especially
Chuck Gould. This went on for weeks.

You have also not contributed one iota to any discussion about boats
since
you came back. You have, however, dug up some old posts you made years
back
about an adventure to the Sea of Cortez and fighting 20 foot waves in a
24
foot Bayliner. You have also bitched and moaned and started flame wars.

Go back to hiding Skippy. We were better off without you here.

Skipper has become the Jimmy Swagart (sp?) of the NG

Wayne.B wrote:

What ever works for you. What I do at 6:00AM is roll over and try to
get some more sleep. If that doesn't work and I still want to know
where east is, I look to see where the sun is coming up.

My bed faces the east, with a large window on the east wall, I have no
problem getting up and not knowing which way east is.

seeing the road in front of my house runs dead north/south, and I go to
work by turning right at the end of my driveway, I have no probllem
knowing which way north is.

Concerning sailing? I don't need to know which way north is, because I
only go to a large S. Illinois lake.