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Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:06 pm
by Currie
I have devised my own 3-tier system for communicating speed....we are going 'slow', 'really slow', or 'really ******* slow"
~Bob
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:16 pm
by Don T
Hello,
For me it's about perception. Someone may know what 30 MPH of wind feels like on their face but not correlate KPH or KTS directly to the feeling or a sense of what it means or the force it represents. Really, how stiff is a piece of steel .8mm thick and will it be strong enough? How big is a #27 drill? If you are used to a certain metric you find yourself converting. Kinda like translating a language as opposed to knowing and thinking in a different language.
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 4:02 pm
by Catigale
..my observation monitoring cockpit chat on ATC is that almost all commercial chat is in knots
Your mileage in liters per 100 furlongs may vary
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:24 pm
by kmclemore
Well, you all can go ahead and use miles, knots or even bow-ties, if you like.
I measure my speed in angstrom units per zeptosecond. And sometimes for fun I even measure my distance in parsecs.
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:33 pm
by Hamin' X
I do know that when ATC tells me to decend to 1800 feet, they don't tell me 600 fathoms.
I suspect that it is the same with commercial trafic.
~Rich
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 10:20 pm
by Wind Chime
Wouldn't that be 300 fathoms ?
by Hamin' X » Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:33 pm
I do know that when ATC tells me to decend to 1800 feet, they don't tell me 600 fathoms. I suspect that it is the same with commercial trafic.
~Rich
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 11:02 pm
by Divecoz
Currie wrote: I have devised my own 3-tier system for communicating speed....we are going 'slow', 'really slow', or 'really ******* slow" ~Bob
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2012 11:21 pm
by Divecoz
WindChime.. Have you got a Speedo that reflects speed in Knots? Humm I didn't think so.. Marine Forecast ... are as I have heard them broadcast , are often expressed in MPH and knots. We can all GUESS.. though poorly no doubt, how fast something may be moving at MPH or KPH..
I'll put money on the table NONE can do that well, in Knots.. Well Unless You Never Drive Car with a Speedo in MPH /KPH..
The Measurement of Knots has its purpose but NOT to Any Pleasure Craft Operator.... NOT IMHO
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 6:37 am
by Freedom77
Saw a cartoon in a magazine showing a pirate ship captain giving the order for "Warp Speed".
Make it so number one. Fair winds and Full Sails...Old Salt
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 6:40 am
by beene
I am loving this thread.
Live in Canada, so use Kmph on the roads.
Work in aviation, so used to knots mps statute etc.
I am always reading charts maps sig wx TAF METAR etc
Flight plan at x 000 feet or x meters depending on what part of the world I am flying over
At the end of the day, especially on my Mac, I also use the 3 speed method mentioned above.
G
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:04 am
by Hamin' X
Wind Chime wrote:Wouldn't that be 300 fathoms ?
Oops!
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:28 am
by Divecoz
Hahahaha PILOT ERROR
Hamin' X wrote:Wind Chime wrote:Wouldn't that be 300 fathoms ?
Oops!
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:06 am
by Wind Chime
Divecoz,
As you are from the USA, here is how your government discribes a "Small Craft Warning":
A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY MEANS THAT WIND SPEEDS OF
21 TO 33 KNOTS
ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE HAZARDOUS WAVE CONDITIONS TO SMALL CRAFT.
INEXPERIENCED MARINERS...ESPECIALLY THOSE OPERATING SMALLER
VESSELS SHOULD AVOID NAVIGATING IN THESE CONDITIONS.
Taken from and 2012 weather broadcast at :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_craft_advisory
Not saying ... just saying
by Divecoz » Fri Jun 15, 2012 12:21 am
WindChime.. Have you got a Speedo that reflects speed in Knots? Humm I didn't think so.. Marine Forecast ... are as I have heard them broadcast , are often expressed in MPH and knots. We can all GUESS.. though poorly no doubt, how fast something may be moving at MPH or KPH..
I'll put money on the table NONE can do that well, in Knots.. Well Unless You Never Drive Car with a Speedo in MPH /KPH..
The Measurement of Knots has its purpose but NOT to Any Pleasure Craft Operator.... NOT IMHO
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:39 am
by C Striker
Anyone remember that scene from lethal weapon? Aft? aft? what the #$^% is aft? Oh in the back, why didn't you say so? Get anywhere near water and everything has a new name. This is a huge pain in the arse for me. I grew up on skiboats, etc on a lake. Somehow I never picked up on the jargon because my dad and uncle never used it. Maybe they thought it was totally lame, but they were just pleasure boaters, not sailors like us (note sarcasm)
Sorry but I'm a pleasure boater. Love the 3 ways to describe speed! I have 2 ways to describe wind : 1 not enough wind 2 holy crap there is enough wind!
Re: NOT using KNOTS (pet peeve)
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 11:35 am
by vizwhiz
This is a great thread...too much fun!
These conversations also make me think about so many confusing things and when it is "right" to use sailor-talk...
For example: The water depth may be in fathoms, but the length of anchor rode needed to reach the bottom is in feet!
The water depth may be in fathoms, but the length of my boat is in feet!
The water depth may be in fathoms, but the height to the bottom of the bridge, which my boat's mast has to clear, is in feet!
I have long skinny flexible things on my boat that hold things together...they're called lines, but they're made out of rope. But when I am looking at a chart and working out my coordinates, I don't draw a rope on the chart, I draw a line. So when I'm standing on deck holding a...line...rope...thingy...
My boat speed may be measured in knots, but when someone asks how far away I am and when I'll get there, I tell them I'm 5 miles south of the marina...but is that nautical miles or imperial miles I'm talking about?
