More on helm positions .... or semi-worthless nautical information ....

I never knew this until we had the Grand Banks. By tradition, dating back
to the great sailing ships, the helm had one spoke that was marked in some
fashion to indicate that the rudder was midships when the marked spoke was
in the upright position.
There's a name for this mark that escapes me, but the Grand Banks carried on
this nautical tradition.

Here are pictures of the lower and upper station helms. In the case of the
GB, one spoke had rings turned into it on a lathe to mark the midship spoke.
They are indicated by the red arrows:

The GB had cable steering. I can guarantee that the marked spoke would be
in different positions when maintaining a steady course in different wind
conditions.

http://www.eisboch.com/lowerhelmmark.jpg

http://www.eisboch.com/upperhelmmark.jpg

Eisboch