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Old 16-03-2006, 11:38   #1
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Boxing the compass--pop culture's against us..

I must have become a curmudgeon, it sorta irritates me when some entertainment event is named "South by Southwest", or "North by Northwest", or ("Cardinal point by intercardinal point", pick one).

This from someone who grew up steering by degrees, why should I care if some PR types can't box the compass correctly? The names above must just sound better, you seldom see anything named "Northeast by East", for example, though you do see the opposite.

Besides, South by Southwest (music fest in Austin) is probably an excellent event, and North by Northwest an excellent movie.

Any other misapplied nautical terms out there? I once had a student say "Sara Lee" as he put the tiller over, we all cracked up.
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Old 16-03-2006, 11:51   #2
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Its funny what bugs people

I get bugged by the name "Pacific North West." You see I live on the Canadian South West Coast, which of course is north of Pacific North West. Some one here told me it was from the Lewis and Clark days; my thinking is that the name should have been forwarded on to Alaska on its inception into State hood. But then, what do I know?
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Old 16-03-2006, 13:22   #3
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PNW

Being on the East side of the Pacific, we should be the Pacific Northeast. It's amazing Lewis and Clark found it at all.

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Old 16-03-2006, 18:05   #4
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On our boat we don't say "helms a lee". We say "Grab the Burrito" Not very nautical, but we know what it means and what to do next. Of course when people are sailing with us for the first time we get some odd looks.

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Old 16-03-2006, 18:39   #5
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Old 16-03-2006, 19:04   #6
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North By Northwest has nice alliteration, but I always assumed that the northwest part of the title refers to Northwest Airlines. That is the airline they flew on. If I remember correctly, the trip was from Chicago to Mt Rushmore, so I guess it maybe should have been called "Northwest by Northwest". That doesn't quite sound as cool, though.
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Old 16-03-2006, 20:00   #7
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So When exactly did Loise and Superman find Canada And when was it ever lost
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Old 16-03-2006, 20:14   #8
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Really hard to tell why such an abstract description would become popularized. I guess some people cant steer a course, so south by southwest is as close as they can come
As for including Alaska in the PNW, never! Alaska is so unique it needs to be in a class by itself.
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Old 16-03-2006, 21:05   #9
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Out West

We actually call it the Left Coast, sometimes the Wet Coast, and BC is often Lotus Land, except when it is La La Land. A thin strip of Alaska comes a long way down the BC coast. We loan them salmon. Louise and Superman were trying to find a trail from the East through all the mountains. Further North in BC they were doing the same thing trying to find a path through the Rocky Mountains. The Clark expedition had an Indian lady and her husband from Quebec to show them the way. The really big mountains are further South in Utah and The Sierra Nevada. Bishop on the California Nevada broder is at 8000 feet.
I used to work for a place called Recreation West.
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Old 17-03-2006, 08:01   #10
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If the Chinese were living there when Louis and Clark "found" it, did they really find it?
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Old 17-03-2006, 11:07   #11
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That could be said for any land on the face of the earth. Many explorers have heralded, "hey look what I found" and the natives of the land have been trying to say ever scince, "but we were never lost".
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Old 17-03-2006, 11:12   #12
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Lost and found

Latest issue of National Geographic has good info on tracing the movement of people based on the DNA trail. This is about the early explorers starting about 90,000 years ago.
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Old 17-03-2006, 18:11   #13
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I'm here. It's mine
Last night, I was tired enough this thread made perfect sense. Got some sleep, now I am totally lost. Started with something about compasses? At least electronic compasses still read in degrees
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Old 18-03-2006, 12:05   #14
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Last night, I was tired enough this thread made perfect sense. Got some sleep, now I am totally lost. Started with something about compasses? At least electronic compasses still read in degrees
Ah, it was a good-natured hijack anyway. No one uses those compass points anyway, I was just being a pill.

Went for my first post-Katrina sail this morning, teaching some students in a Flying Scot out of the New Orleans West End marina. What an absolute mess, the destruction is unbelievable. Still lots of sizable boats on the shore, in the road, in the park, and sunk in the harbor for us to tack around.

Exhilarating sailing, though, in a lumpy 15-20 knot easterly (maybe I should say "East by North"?), the students liked it. It was kind of a disaster tour, though.

No compass on board, either ;-)
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Old 18-03-2006, 15:06   #15
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Ah yes, all I need is a good ship and the stars to steer her by
Nolatom, good to see you back on lately. Hope your damages weren't too bad. Good to hear you are out there running the obstacle course. Another 30kt+ day here so no sailing. Intersting you would mention points. Another obscure reference these days. If I recall, a point on the compass is 11degrees. I used to know why, but like so much other rarely used knowledge, I have forgotten.
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