Sailing With Wind Orientation In Mind



What did sailors do before the invention of onboard electronics and gadgets? One thing, I learned, was that they sailed with both ears. When the sensation of the wind was equal on both ears, you were directly facing the wind.



Sounds simple and obvious. But my senses were completely dulled to the clues the environment constantly provides about its condition. Without gauges, I had no way of knowing the speed and direction of the wind and the boat, or the depth of the water and the strength of the currents in it.



My catboat Kirsten doesn't have any gauges, not even a Windex, which wouldn't work anyway because of the turbulence created by the gaff-rigged sail.


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