Monday, Bound for the New World
The weather broke this week from five inches of snow last week to 70 degrees this weekend. Time for sailing! This is the definition of an ancient nautical item fit for a woodworker.
Before latitude and longitude were printed on charts, a different recording device was used for navigation direction. Sailing is rarely for any length of time in a straight line. It is a series of zigs and zags (tacks) on rhumb lines with the hope of eventually reaching a destination. In older times, to provide some idea of a ships position in the open sea, the zigzags need to be counted, the time for each recorded, and in what direction. It needs to be understood by mostly illiterate helmsman sailors. One instrument did all that and could also record speed too. What is the name of the device?