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Help with nautical term
If a boat is a "cable's length" away from another, how far apart are the
two boats?Is it true that a sea mile is a little longer than a land mile and a lot
wetter?
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'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
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JohnH
Mar 8
2006
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| There are slight variations depending on country, but it's roughly 600 feet. |
Mys
Mar 9
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| considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats: |
Gene
Mar 9
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| I've always considered it a nautical term for a tenth of a mile. "JohnH" <jherring1@yahoo.com> wrote in message |
otnmbrd
Mar 9
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| A cable length or cable's length has four commonly accepted
definitions: Common definition: 1/10 nautical mile, i.e. 185.2 m for international
nautical mile, was used with other precise definitions of the nautical
mile as well.
Standard definition: 100 fathoms, 182.88 m., 17.9999 hands. US Navy definition: 120 fathoms, 219.456 m., 720 ft or
2.337018489253847e-17 light years.
Royal Navy definition: 1/10 Admiralty nautical mile, 608 feet, i.e.
185.3184 m., 400 cubits.
The unit is named after the length of a ship's "cable". |
Shortwave
Mar 9
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| --
Reggie "That's my story and I am sticking to it." |
Reggie
Mar 9
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_mile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_length
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capt.bill11 |
capt.bill11
Mar 9
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| Ah, why didn't I ask this question a couple months ago. Thanks! Two
football fields. I can envision that.
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'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
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JohnH
Mar 9
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| No. Mys Terry got it right. In the O'Brian series, the distance between a
couple sailing ships is often referred to in 'cable lengths'. For some
reason I was picturing about a football field's distance. I should have
been thinking two of them. I do appreciate the attempted help though/
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'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
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JohnH
Mar 9
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| Well, at least you and Mys Terry are in the same ballpark, but would you be
thinking a land mile or a sea mile. If a sea mile, then the 1/10th would
bring a 'cable's length' to about 608 ft, if Reggie is correct, which is
not far from Mys Terrry's estimate of 600 feet. Very interesting. Thanks.
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'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
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JohnH
Mar 9
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| Thank you, sir, and I should use the Royal Navy definition as it is the
subject about which the novel was written!
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'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
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JohnH
Mar 9
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| Only one smitten with the sadism bug would do that, Tom. "The natural logarithm is the logarithm to the base e, where e is equal to
2.718281828459..." or, were you simply referring to exponential notation, i.e. 2.3... to the
17th power? In either case, shame on you. I've spent the last few days teaching some very nice students polynomial
division, synthetic division, and graphing rational functions. Lots of fun.
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'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
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JohnH
Mar 9
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| It would also help in your research to use the terms "Nautical mile"
and "Statute Mile" A Nautical mile is equal to one minute (1/60 degree) of latitude, and
is essentially unrelated to the term "cable", which was originally
derived from the standard length that rope was manufactured. A full
piece of uncut rope was called a cable and was about 600 feet long. It
had to do with the length of the ropewalk where the ropes were made. A statute mile is 5,280 feet. |
Mys
Mar 9
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| Your point is well taken, however, I was using the terms from the books I
am currently reading. Actually, the second question was made in jest!
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'Til next time, John H ***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
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JohnH
Mar 9
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