One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?

And what is the formula to calcuate it?

OZ, although your posts are mostly negative, for you it
would not be a negative number.
...

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message
...
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?

And what is the formula to calcuate it?

OZ, although your posts are mostly negative, for you it
would not be a negative number.
..


If the earth is assumed to be locally a sphere, it is the local radius times
one minute of angle in radians.

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Bart Senior wrote:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?

And what is the formula to calcuate it?

OZ, although your posts are mostly negative, for you it
would not be a negative number.
..

There are 1440 minutes to a day, regardless of what latitude or
longitude you live in. Divide that by 360 (degrees) you get 4 (mins).
Every degree of longitude you have 4 mins.

And, sorry, I wasn't keen to butt in on your conversation. But I am a
dinghy sailor and was generally browsing when I came across this post.
I sail the Enterprise and Laser class. I and my wife also co-own a
couple of 27 footers with a bunch of friends. We live in Chennai
(formerly Madras) on the East Coast of India.

Any sailor coming to this part of the world will be more than welcome
here!

Rgds
Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Where do you sail?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

wrote in message
ups.com...

Bart Senior wrote:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?

And what is the formula to calcuate it?

OZ, although your posts are mostly negative, for you it
would not be a negative number.
..

There are 1440 minutes to a day, regardless of what latitude or
longitude you live in. Divide that by 360 (degrees) you get 4 (mins).
Every degree of longitude you have 4 mins.

And, sorry, I wasn't keen to butt in on your conversation. But I am a
dinghy sailor and was generally browsing when I came across this post.
I sail the Enterprise and Laser class. I and my wife also co-own a
couple of 27 footers with a bunch of friends. We live in Chennai
(formerly Madras) on the East Coast of India.

Any sailor coming to this part of the world will be more than welcome
here!

Rgds
Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

wrote:

Bart Senior wrote:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
And what is the formula to calcuate it?

There are 1440 minutes to a day, regardless of what latitude or
longitude you live in. Divide that by 360 (degrees) you get 4 (mins).
Every degree of longitude you have 4 mins.

Rgds
Ravi

Incorrect Ravi. Perhaps I should have been more clear. I am looking
for a distance not a time measurement.

One minute of arc is 1 nautical mile where ever you are. The earth is
not a sphere, there is about a 1% difference between the values at the
poles. Close enough for us to call in a sphere.

This works out nicely because for latitude, the spacing between
lines of latitude is constant. This was defined as a nautical mile
because it was fairly close the the distance used on land, the
statute mile. It is easier to use the nautical mile to avoid
constantly
converting from one unit to the other.

So one minute of latitude is one nautical mile and one can read
this measurement off the edge of a chart as well as the distance
scale on the bottom of the chart and be equally accurate.

For longitude lines which converge at the poles things are different.
At the poles a minute of longitude is impossibly short and approaches
zero as you approach the pole. Moving away from either of the poles
to the equator, one minute of arc approaches 1 [1 nautical mile].

There is a formula for this:

1 minute of longitude = the cosine of your latitude in nautical miles.


I live at 41.265 North The cosine of which is: .752.

So 1 minute of longitude at my location can be approximated
as 3/4 of a nautical mile. It is a handy thing for me to know.

BTW, thank for the invite. Do you have any pictures of your part of
the world, and your boats you can show us?

Bart

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

You're being a bit free and easy with the math. Although the
curvature is small, the length of a minute of latitude varies from
1842.9 meters at the equator and 1861.57 at the poles. For the
nautical mile, many countries had their own version, the current
convention is 1852 meters. This is not enough of a discrepancy
(usually) to ruin your day, but with a GPS is should be easily noticeable.

The land based mile varied considerably throughout the "civilized"
world, much to the confusion of ancient navigators and modern
historians. For example, the Italian mile was about 4800 feet, but
the length of the Arab mile was 4000 cubits, which, depending on what
you took for a cubit (there were several versions) is about 6545 feet.



wrote:
wrote:

Bart Senior wrote:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
And what is the formula to calcuate it?

There are 1440 minutes to a day, regardless of what latitude or
longitude you live in. Divide that by 360 (degrees) you get 4 (mins).
Every degree of longitude you have 4 mins.

Rgds
Ravi

Incorrect Ravi. Perhaps I should have been more clear. I am looking
for a distance not a time measurement.

One minute of arc is 1 nautical mile where ever you are. The earth is
not a sphere, there is about a 1% difference between the values at the
poles. Close enough for us to call in a sphere.

This works out nicely because for latitude, the spacing between
lines of latitude is constant. This was defined as a nautical mile
because it was fairly close the the distance used on land, the
statute mile. It is easier to use the nautical mile to avoid
constantly
converting from one unit to the other.

So one minute of latitude is one nautical mile and one can read
this measurement off the edge of a chart as well as the distance
scale on the bottom of the chart and be equally accurate.

For longitude lines which converge at the poles things are different.
At the poles a minute of longitude is impossibly short and approaches
zero as you approach the pole. Moving away from either of the poles
to the equator, one minute of arc approaches 1 [1 nautical mile].

There is a formula for this:

1 minute of longitude = the cosine of your latitude in nautical miles.


I live at 41.265 North The cosine of which is: .752.

So 1 minute of longitude at my location can be approximated
as 3/4 of a nautical mile. It is a handy thing for me to know.

BTW, thank for the invite. Do you have any pictures of your part of
the world, and your boats you can show us?

Bart

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:

Bart Senior wrote:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
And what is the formula to calcuate it?

There are 1440 minutes to a day, regardless of what latitude or
longitude you live in. Divide that by 360 (degrees) you get 4 (mins).
Every degree of longitude you have 4 mins.

Rgds
Ravi

Incorrect Ravi. Perhaps I should have been more clear. I am looking
for a distance not a time measurement.

One minute of arc is 1 nautical mile where ever you are. The earth is
not a sphere, there is about a 1% difference between the values at the
poles. Close enough for us to call in a sphere.

This works out nicely because for latitude, the spacing between
lines of latitude is constant. This was defined as a nautical mile
because it was fairly close the the distance used on land, the
statute mile. It is easier to use the nautical mile to avoid
constantly
converting from one unit to the other.

So one minute of latitude is one nautical mile and one can read
this measurement off the edge of a chart as well as the distance
scale on the bottom of the chart and be equally accurate.

For longitude lines which converge at the poles things are different.
At the poles a minute of longitude is impossibly short and approaches
zero as you approach the pole. Moving away from either of the poles
to the equator, one minute of arc approaches 1 [1 nautical mile].

There is a formula for this:

1 minute of longitude = the cosine of your latitude in nautical miles.


I live at 41.265 North The cosine of which is: .752.

So 1 minute of longitude at my location can be approximated
as 3/4 of a nautical mile. It is a handy thing for me to know.

BTW, thank for the invite. Do you have any pictures of your part of
the world, and your boats you can show us?

Bart


Good tip. I was thinking is spherical projection rather than polar
projection. Thanks

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Using your figures it still works out to less than 1%
difference. Certainly close enough to approximate as
a sphere and avoid making the problem overly complex.

Jeff wrote:
You're being a bit free and easy with the math. Although the
curvature is small, the length of a minute of latitude varies from
1842.9 meters at the equator and 1861.57 at the poles. For the
nautical mile, many countries had their own version, the current
convention is 1852 meters. This is not enough of a discrepancy
(usually) to ruin your day, but with a GPS is should be easily noticeable.

wrote:
Bart Senior wrote:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
And what is the formula to calcuate it?


One minute of arc is 1 nautical mile where ever you are. The earth is
not a sphere, there is about a 1% difference between the values at the
poles. Close enough for us to call in a sphere.

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Bart,

I've managed to get by with a tandent of1 at the equator.




http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ThomPage

http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ILLDRINKTOTHAT

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Bart Senior wrote:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?

And what is the formula to calcuate it?

OZ, although your posts are mostly negative, for you it
would not be a negative number.
..

Sorry, I misunderstood the question. But in the process met an online
community of sailors! So I am happy.

Some of you wanted to know more about where I sail. I and my wife sail
in Chennai (formerly known as Madras) on the south eastern coast of
India. We have two sailing clubs here. One is the Royal Madras Yacht
Club (94 years old!) and one is the Tamilnadu Sailing Association (4
years old). We are members of both the clubs and sail from either.
Anyway both clubs are adjacent to each other.

We sail outside the harbour in the Bay of Bengal. General conditions
are 10 to 15 Ks of wind this time of the year. In another fortnight it
will go up to between 20 and 25 and we will be in for a season of
squalls. We will be having good swells too. About 2 to 3 metres. Not
much of tides though. We get to sail 365 days in a year! Temperatures
soar to a 112 F in the peak of summers and winters are a pleasant 80 to
85!

We have about 25 to 30 boats on the water on the weekends. And that
includes a clutch of Optis, Enterprises, Lasers and the couple of
Yachts (Maxi 77) I had mentioned. Will load up some pics this week and
let you all know.

Any one of you ever visits this part of the world? for work or
pleasure? Welcome all anyway!

Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

h. We get to sail 365 days in a year! Temperatures
soar to a 112 F in the peak of summers and winters are a pleasant 80 to
85!

We have about 25 to 30 boats on the water on the weekends. And that
includes a clutch of Optis, Enterprises, Lasers and the couple of
Yachts (Maxi 77) I had mentioned. Will load up some pics this week and
let you all know.

Any one of you ever visits this part of the world? for work or
pleasure? Welcome all anyway!

Ravi

Welcome Ravi,

Your weather and sailing sounds allot like Texas.
we have many lasers, stars, ect...here as well

Welcome to ASA..if your ever in Texas on business or even pleasure you
are two most welcome, with your wife to.

Is it true that there is two Indias, Hindu and Muslim?

Joe

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Making things overly complex is half the fun! Don't you find it interesting
that the oblateness is something you can observe?

But I'll admit I don't throw in an oblateness correction while doing
chartwork.



wrote in message
oups.com...

Using your figures it still works out to less than 1%
difference. Certainly close enough to approximate as
a sphere and avoid making the problem overly complex.

Jeff wrote:
You're being a bit free and easy with the math. Although the
curvature is small, the length of a minute of latitude varies from
1842.9 meters at the equator and 1861.57 at the poles. For the
nautical mile, many countries had their own version, the current
convention is 1852 meters. This is not enough of a discrepancy
(usually) to ruin your day, but with a GPS is should be easily
noticeable.

wrote:
Bart Senior wrote:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
And what is the formula to calcuate it?


One minute of arc is 1 nautical mile where ever you are. The earth is
not a sphere, there is about a 1% difference between the values at the
poles. Close enough for us to call in a sphere.

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

"Joe" wrote
| Is it true that there is two Indias, Hindu and Muslim?



Dumb question, Joe. Let's talk about sailing. Not politics or religion. What does religion matter when it comes to sailing?


Cheers,
Ellen

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Hi Ravi! I was so pleased to read your post.
So it is still the 'Royal' Madras YC.- that is nice because now that you
guys are independent I thought you would have done away with the 'Royal'
prefix!
I visited the Royal Madras YC in 1946 as an engineering officer on the 10000
ton cruiser HMS Glasgow which at the time was engaged in 'showing the flag'
around British territories around the Indian Ocean, following the end of the
war.
We would arrive and lay on a party aboard for local dignitaries and their
families. All took place on the quarterdeck under the shadow of the 6" guns.
The Royal Marine band would be playing during the evening.
.. The stern windlass was converted into a roundabout for the kids.
Our ship was very smart because as soon as the war in the Far East was
over we got rid off the grey and repainted her in the pre-war East Indies
fleet colours, white hull and yellow funnels. We floodlit her at night too.
Looked really good.
I have a photo of myself and a friend sitting on a jetty in Madras watching
a turtle swimming in the water.
We were based in Trincomalee and that is another place I would love to
return to, but sadly it is a war zone at present
Regards
Edgar


wrote in message
oups.com...
Sorry, I misunderstood the question. But in the process met an online
community of sailors! So I am happy.

Some of you wanted to know more about where I sail. I and my wife sail
in Chennai (formerly known as Madras) on the south eastern coast of
India. We have two sailing clubs here. One is the Royal Madras Yacht
Club (94 years old!) and one is the Tamilnadu Sailing Association (4
years old). We are members of both the clubs and sail from either.
Anyway both clubs are adjacent to each other.

We sail outside the harbour in the Bay of Bengal. General conditions
are 10 to 15 Ks of wind this time of the year. In another fortnight it
will go up to between 20 and 25 and we will be in for a season of
squalls. We will be having good swells too. About 2 to 3 metres. Not
much of tides though. We get to sail 365 days in a year! Temperatures
soar to a 112 F in the peak of summers and winters are a pleasant 80 to
85!

We have about 25 to 30 boats on the water on the weekends. And that
includes a clutch of Optis, Enterprises, Lasers and the couple of
Yachts (Maxi 77) I had mentioned. Will load up some pics this week and
let you all know.

Any one of you ever visits this part of the world? for work or
pleasure? Welcome all anyway!

Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

"Dave" wrote
| I think you got that backward, Bart. A minute of Longitude is always 1 NM.
| That's why you always measure distance by going to the side of the chart
| rather than the top or bottom. It's the length of a minute of latitude that
| varies with what latitude you're at, getting shorter as your latitude
| increases from the equator.


You know, I was thinking the same thing. But then I realized I might not know.
They call them parallels of latitude because they stay the same distance apart.
But the longitude lines get closer and closer together the closer to the north and
south pole they get. At the very north and south pole there's no miles at all between
them. So if that's true then the miles are different on each latitude. They're only
one mile long at the equator. That's why I haven't said a word till now. It's all very
confusing.


Cheers,
Ellen

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

A minute of longitude is measured East West, and read off
the top or bottom a typical chart.

"Dave" wrote

said:

For longitude lines which converge at the poles things are different.
At the poles a minute of longitude is impossibly short and approaches
zero as you approach the pole.

On second thought, I'll accept your formulation, Bart. When I say one
minute
of longitude, I'm thinking one minute on a longitude line. But I think
you're correct that a minute "of" longitude should properly be regarded as
a
minute measured along a parallel of latitude.

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

I can think of two ways God enters into religion.

First, God sails an Ericson.

Second, anyone who has crossed an ocean and seen how
insignificant humans are on the scale of an ocean, will come
to believe in God.

and Third. Joe's question is not without interest.

"Ellen MacArthur" wrote

"Joe" wrote
| Is it true that there is two Indias, Hindu and Muslim?

Dumb question, Joe. Let's talk about sailing. Not politics or religion.
What does religion matter when it comes to sailing?
Cheers,
Ellen

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Ellen has it right. Latitude is measured from the equator.
Lines can there for be parallel and equally spaced. One
minute of longitude will vary by the distance to the equator.

However, if you follow a line of latitude around the earth
the length is a function of latitude. i.e. at 60 deg South it
is quicker than at the equator.

Longitude lines are all the same lenght and converge.

"Dave" wrote

"Bart Senior" .@. said:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
And what is the formula to calcuate it?

I think you got that backward, Bart. A minute of Longitude is always 1 NM.
That's why you always measure distance by going to the side of the chart
rather than the top or bottom. It's the length of a minute of latitude
that
varies with what latitude you're at, getting shorter as your latitude
increases from the equator.

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

"Charlie Morgan" wrote
| Do you have trouble telling your left hand from your right?



No. Do you have trouble being nice to people? Do you have trouble acting human?

Cheers,
Ellen

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

wrote:
Sorry, I misunderstood the question. But in the process met an online
community of sailors! So I am happy.


Welcome to the community. This newsgroup has been compared
to a neighborhood pub with several conversations going on at
once, some about sailing, some indirectly about issues
related to boats and/or sailing, and some just plain
off-the-wall discussions and/or arguments about anything in
the world.


Some of you wanted to know more about where I sail. I and my wife sail
in Chennai (formerly known as Madras) on the south eastern coast of
India.

I am on the southeast coast of the United States, in North
Carolina... your clubs sound marvelous, do any cruisers call
in that port? To me it would be an exotic place to visit.


We have about 25 to 30 boats on the water on the weekends. And that
includes a clutch of Optis, Enterprises, Lasers and the couple of
Yachts (Maxi 77) I had mentioned. Will load up some pics this week and
let you all know.


That would be great. I have a number of sets of photos, here
is one
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...37908878jiBMxv

I assume you have races? Some American sailors will not be
familiar with the Enterprise but I know them; they are great
boats and seem well suited for your location. Some people
even use them for tiny cruisers, with camping gear.


Any one of you ever visits this part of the world? for work or
pleasure? Welcome all anyway!


Thanks very much and I also extend an invitation to you.
Years ago, Uncle Sam sent me to Mumbai but I did not get to
see much of the place (was a shipboard engineer and had lots
of work to do any time we shut down). I have sailed 470s in
the Red Sea, also while in the Navy years ago.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Making things overly complex is half the fun! Don't you find it
interesting that the oblateness is something you can observe?


It is interesting. I can also observe length deviations due to variations in
gravitational potential on the earths surface.

http://www.colorado.edu/GeolSci/Reso...ft/Gravity.htm


I wonder how frame dragging (Lens-Thirring) varies with latitude. Should see
it on the GPS.

http://www.phys.lsu.edu/mog/mog25/node11.html

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
Bart Senior wrote:
How long is a minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?

And what is the formula to calcuate it?

OZ, although your posts are mostly negative, for you it
would not be a negative number.
..

Sorry, I misunderstood the question. But in the process met an online
community of sailors! So I am happy.

Some of you wanted to know more about where I sail. I and my wife sail
in Chennai (formerly known as Madras) on the south eastern coast of
India. We have two sailing clubs here. One is the Royal Madras Yacht
Club (94 years old!) and one is the Tamilnadu Sailing Association (4
years old). We are members of both the clubs and sail from either.
Anyway both clubs are adjacent to each other.

We sail outside the harbour in the Bay of Bengal. General conditions
are 10 to 15 Ks of wind this time of the year. In another fortnight it
will go up to between 20 and 25 and we will be in for a season of
squalls. We will be having good swells too. About 2 to 3 metres. Not
much of tides though. We get to sail 365 days in a year! Temperatures
soar to a 112 F in the peak of summers and winters are a pleasant 80 to
85!

We have about 25 to 30 boats on the water on the weekends. And that
includes a clutch of Optis, Enterprises, Lasers and the couple of
Yachts (Maxi 77) I had mentioned. Will load up some pics this week and
let you all know.

Any one of you ever visits this part of the world? for work or
pleasure? Welcome all anyway!

Ravi


Welcome to ASA Ravi. I was going to ask you about Madras. I enjoy wearing
trousers made of Madras material when sailing. The brightly coloured pattern
is unique and pleasing to the eye. I also use plenty of Patek's Chili Pickle
relish on my sandwiches when sailing.

Have you sailed in Goa? I heard they have the nicest beaches in the world. I
hope you can get some pictures up of your boat and sailing locales. India is
a very exotic and mysterious place to some of us.

Gilligan

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Joe wrote:


Welcome Ravi,

Your weather and sailing sounds allot like Texas.
we have many lasers, stars, ect...here as well

Welcome to ASA..if your ever in Texas on business or even pleasure you
are two most welcome, with your wife to.

Is it true that there is two Indias, Hindu and Muslim?

Joe

Thanx Joe. I will take you up on your offer when I visit Texas! I did
visit Texas once. in 1997. Came to Dallas on work for just one day!

Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Joe wrote:


Is it true that there is two Indias, Hindu and Muslim?

Joe

India is a multi culture pot! Hindus are a majority. Muslims comprise
of about 14% of the total population.

Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Edgar wrote:
Hi Ravi! I was so pleased to read your post.
So it is still the 'Royal' Madras YC.- that is nice because now that you
guys are independent I thought you would have done away with the 'Royal'
prefix!
I visited the Royal Madras YC in 1946 as an engineering officer on the 10000
ton cruiser HMS Glasgow which at the time was engaged in 'showing the flag'
around British territories around the Indian Ocean, following the end of the
war.
We would arrive and lay on a party aboard for local dignitaries and their
families. All took place on the quarterdeck under the shadow of the 6" guns.
The Royal Marine band would be playing during the evening.
. The stern windlass was converted into a roundabout for the kids.
Our ship was very smart because as soon as the war in the Far East was
over we got rid off the grey and repainted her in the pre-war East Indies
fleet colours, white hull and yellow funnels. We floodlit her at night too.
Looked really good.
I have a photo of myself and a friend sitting on a jetty in Madras watching
a turtle swimming in the water.
We were based in Trincomalee and that is another place I would love to
return to, but sadly it is a war zone at present
Regards
Edgar


Nice post Edgar. I can detect overflowing nostalgia! There's a cure.
Come on over. And I can promise you that at RMYC you can still find
excellent hospitality! And Madras is certainly not war zone.
Trincomalee is. But that is another country!

And I would love to see that photograph you have mentioned. And others
too, of this parts, if you have.

Rgds
Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Gilligan wrote:


Welcome to ASA Ravi. I was going to ask you about Madras. I enjoy wearing
trousers made of Madras material when sailing. The brightly coloured pattern
is unique and pleasing to the eye. I also use plenty of Patek's Chili Pickle
relish on my sandwiches when sailing.

Have you sailed in Goa? I heard they have the nicest beaches in the world. I
hope you can get some pictures up of your boat and sailing locales. India is
a very exotic and mysterious place to some of us.

Gilligan

Hi Gilligan,

Goa is one of the most beautiful places in India. Miles of beaches and
beach shacks. Lots of live music, partying and great food.

Last year, I took a dozen children under 12 years for a Opti National
Championship. So, while all of them sailed, I kept a watchful eye from
a coach boat!

But yes, great sailing awaits anyone 9 months in a year. Jun, Jul & Aug
will be the monsoon season.

Pics of my boat will be up this week.

Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

DSK wrote:

I am on the southeast coast of the United States, in North
Carolina... your clubs sound marvelous, do any cruisers call
in that port? To me it would be an exotic place to visit.


That would be great. I have a number of sets of photos, here
is one
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...37908878jiBMxv

I assume you have races? Some American sailors will not be
familiar with the Enterprise but I know them; they are great
boats and seem well suited for your location. Some people
even use them for tiny cruisers, with camping gear.

Thanks very much and I also extend an invitation to you.
Years ago, Uncle Sam sent me to Mumbai but I did not get to
see much of the place (was a shipboard engineer and had lots
of work to do any time we shut down). I have sailed 470s in
the Red Sea, also while in the Navy years ago.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Hi there,

Not many cruisers come calling but I think Star Cruises has this
destination as a port of call.

We have only one 470 in our club. So, if and when you come over, we
can have it at your disposal! Next time Unc Sam sends you anywhere to
Asia do make it a point to visit Chennai. It will be an experience!
And thanks for the invite. In just a couple of days I have collected
quite a few :) Must plan my itinerary now!

Rgds
Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

You are right about the nostalgia Ravi! We went right around the Indian
Ocean, Mauritius, Seychelles. East Africa, Persian gulf as far as Basra,
'showing the flag'. Kuwait was a small walled city in those days and half
the population turned out to see us. Then Karachi, Bombay, Colombo Madras,
Rangoon, Singapore and back to Trincomalee. Didn't see much of Singapore as
we went into dry dock and most of my time was spent on the bottom of the
dock, checking propellers and underwater parts.
But I really liked Trincomalee. We were moored in line with the entrance
channel where there were 5 or six flashing buoys more or less in a line.
They all flashed different periods and as we slept on our camp beds on the
quarterdeck you could watch them and after 5/10 minutes there would come a
time when all the flashes came at the same instant. then the pattern broke
up and if you could stay awake you could wait another 10 mins for the next
time they synchronised.
We would take the ships whaler and go for a weekend picnic on 'Sober Island'
which was uninhabited at the time.
Our white tropical kit went to a local laundry and if you went into 'town'
you passed a small lake where you could see your shirts being bashed against
a rock to clean them. We had wondered why the shoulders always wore out
first...
There was a guy in the town who was selling a fine pair of ebony elephants
about 2' high. Every time I passed him i asked the price and it was always
lower. Just as they were becoming affordable to a young officer we were
called away at short notice so i never got them . Still have a smaller set
however. Shame such a lovely place is a war zone now.
Spent some time in Colombo later on selling engines to the railways, but
never got back to Trincomalee.
Maybe one day...
Edgar

wrote in message
ups.com...

Edgar wrote:
Hi Ravi! I was so pleased to read your post.
So it is still the 'Royal' Madras YC.- that is nice because now that you
guys are independent I thought you would have done away with the
'Royal'
prefix!
I visited the Royal Madras YC in 1946 as an engineering officer on the
10000
ton cruiser HMS Glasgow which at the time was engaged in 'showing the
flag'
around British territories around the Indian Ocean, following the end of
the
war.
We would arrive and lay on a party aboard for local dignitaries and
their
families. All took place on the quarterdeck under the shadow of the 6"
guns.
The Royal Marine band would be playing during the evening.
. The stern windlass was converted into a roundabout for the kids.
Our ship was very smart because as soon as the war in the Far East
was
over we got rid off the grey and repainted her in the pre-war East
Indies
fleet colours, white hull and yellow funnels. We floodlit her at night
too.
Looked really good.
I have a photo of myself and a friend sitting on a jetty in Madras
watching
a turtle swimming in the water.
We were based in Trincomalee and that is another place I would love to
return to, but sadly it is a war zone at present
Regards
Edgar


Nice post Edgar. I can detect overflowing nostalgia! There's a cure.
Come on over. And I can promise you that at RMYC you can still find
excellent hospitality! And Madras is certainly not war zone.
Trincomalee is. But that is another country!

And I would love to see that photograph you have mentioned. And others
too, of this parts, if you have.

Rgds
Ravi

One minute of Longitude--at your Latitude?
 

Edgar wrote:
You are right about the nostalgia Ravi! We went right around the Indian
Ocean, Mauritius, Seychelles. East Africa, Persian gulf as far as Basra,
'showing the flag'. Kuwait was a small walled city in those days and half
the population turned out to see us. Then Karachi, Bombay, Colombo Madras,
Rangoon, Singapore and back to Trincomalee. Didn't see much of Singapore as
we went into dry dock and most of my time was spent on the bottom of the
dock, checking propellers and underwater parts.
But I really liked Trincomalee. We were moored in line with the entrance
channel where there were 5 or six flashing buoys more or less in a line.
They all flashed different periods and as we slept on our camp beds on the
quarterdeck you could watch them and after 5/10 minutes there would come a
time when all the flashes came at the same instant. then the pattern broke
up and if you could stay awake you could wait another 10 mins for the next
time they synchronised.
We would take the ships whaler and go for a weekend picnic on 'Sober Island'
which was uninhabited at the time.
Our white tropical kit went to a local laundry and if you went into 'town'
you passed a small lake where you could see your shirts being bashed against
a rock to clean them. We had wondered why the shoulders always wore out
first...
There was a guy in the town who was selling a fine pair of ebony elephants
about 2' high. Every time I passed him i asked the price and it was always
lower. Just as they were becoming affordable to a young officer we were
called away at short notice so i never got them . Still have a smaller set
however. Shame such a lovely place is a war zone now.
Spent some time in Colombo later on selling engines to the railways, but
never got back to Trincomalee.
Maybe one day...
Edgar
Hi Edgar,

If you were to visit some of these locations now, you will likely be
amazed. How much things have changed and amazingly how somethings
haven't changed at all! In parts of India (and possibly Sri Lanka)
clothes are still washed in the same manner. We call them the dhobhi
ghats. And the washermen and women the dhobhis. But individuals in
homes seldom use their services any longer. All have gotten used to
the washing machine. Now its, the bulk users like hotels, hospitals,
railways are the ones who keep these dhobhis still in business.

Yes, I can well imagine how that flashing pattern of buoys could have
been mesmerising! If its a still and silent night I try to listen to
the clanging pattern a train makes as it chugs along to try and
identify whether its an 15 or 20 coach one, at what speed its
travelling at and so on. Long after the train has moved on the noise
pattern stays in my head.

With warm regards,
Ravi