confusing terminology, was: Re: Daylight saving time


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Posted by Ed Kiser on May 08, 2009 at 15:12:31 user Kisered.

In Reply to: Re: Daylight saving time posted by Peter Ceresole on May 07, 2009 at 22:07:38:

This confusion about the way wind direction is properly addressed reminded me of a line in Ransome's stories that when I first read it, left me a bit confused. Then one day, when I actually was on my own new sailboat, that phrase happened to come back to me, and suddenly it all made sense. It was quite gratifying to feel that NOW I understood.

Here is the phrase that had me puzzling for a while:

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PP CH3
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"Might have been a job to find you," said Nancy. "Anyway, port your helm and head to starboard..."
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And they were not even on a boat at all, but were following the mine tunnel on the way in to see Slater Bob, and had come to a place were there were several tunnels and Nancy wanted to be sure everyone made the proper turn at this junction.

Another sailing phrase had me puzzled again for a while, but I finally figured it out. It is the concept of putting the helm DOWN. Now, I always thought that thing went sideways, not up and down, so forcing it DOWN just might break something. But after a while, I came to the conclusion that putting the helm down means to push the helm in a downwind direction to turn the ship to face more into the wind. At least, that is what I THINK it meant. Somehow, when sailing my own boat, I may not have always used the right words, but I did know what direction to move the tiller to get the desired effect. I was having fun, and that is what mattered.

Ransome has been quite educational to me, and you folks on this Forum have indeed enhanced that learning process by sharing with us all. Thanks for being a part of this process of appreciating All Things Ransome.

Ed Kiser, Kentucky


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