It goes something like this:
Ancient
mariners used to gauge how fast their ship was moving by throwing a
piece of wood or other floatable object over the vessel’s bow then
counting the amount of time that elapsed before its stern passed the
object. This method was known as a Dutchman’s log. By the late 16th
century, sailors had begun using a chip log to measure speed. In this
method, knots were tied at uniform intervals in a length of rope (48 ft or 8 fathoms between knots) and
then one end of the rope, with a pie-slice-shape piece of wood (or
“chip”) attached to it, was tossed behind the ship. As the vessel moved
forward, the line of rope was allowed to roll out freely for a specific
amount of time, which was typically tabulated with a sandglass (30 seconds).
Afterward, the number of knots that had gone over the ship’s stern was
counted and used in calculating the vessel’s speed. A knot came to mean
one nautical mile per hour. Therefore, a ship traveling at 15 knots
could go 15 nautical miles per hour.
For a number of years, there was disagreement among various nations about the exact measurement of a nautical mile, which is based on the Earth’s circumference. In 1929, the international nautical mile was standardized at 6,076 feet; it was adopted by the United States in 1954. A nautical mile is different from a mile on land, which is based on walking distance. The Romans first defined a land mile as 1,000 paces or pairs of steps; it was set at its current measurement of 5,280 feet by Queen Elizabeth I in 1593.
We all had a good laugh and enjoyed the sail and the humpbacks.
For a number of years, there was disagreement among various nations about the exact measurement of a nautical mile, which is based on the Earth’s circumference. In 1929, the international nautical mile was standardized at 6,076 feet; it was adopted by the United States in 1954. A nautical mile is different from a mile on land, which is based on walking distance. The Romans first defined a land mile as 1,000 paces or pairs of steps; it was set at its current measurement of 5,280 feet by Queen Elizabeth I in 1593.
We all had a good laugh and enjoyed the sail and the humpbacks.
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