Boxing of Compass
Boxing of Compass
Boxing of Compass
But
traditional mariners reckoned that by compass points.
I would say that Boxing the Compass is a necessary sea-going skill even for the
modern navigators. During my college days, it was pride among cadets to recite
all the 32 points in clockwise and then in anticlockwise direction without pausing.
Still, some of the Maritime Academies are training their cadets to do so.
Before dive in to know about Boxing the compass, I would like to explain the
math of compass points. There are 32 points in the Compass of 360°. So the
angular range of one Compass point is,
360°/32 = 11.25°
Therefore it is 11.25° between each point on the Marine Compass.
Let’s start with the big guys. The four cardinal points are the main directions of
the compass.
north (N)
east (E)
south (S)
west (W)
These Cardinal points are at right angles on the compass.
Intercardinal Points
The Intercardinal points are formed by bisecting the angle of the cardinal points.
northeast (NE)
southeast (SE)
southwest (SW)
northwest (NW)
The Cardinal and Intercardinal points together forms the eight principal
directions of the Compass.
Half Point
The Half-points obtained by bisecting the angles between the eight principal
points.
north-northeast (NNE)
east-northeast (ENE)
east-southeast (ESE)
south-southeast (SSE)
south-southwest (SSW)
west-southwest (WSW)
west-northwest (WNW)
north-northwest (NNW)
Quarter(By) Points
Further sixteen points are obtained by bisecting the angles between the above 16
points. These are called as Quarter points or By points.
North N 0(360)
Northeast NE 45
East E 90
Southeast SE 135
South S 180
South by west S by W 191.25
Southwest SW 225
West W 270
Northwest NW 315