And yet, not yet. My standard compass was amidships on the
companionway. My steering compass was aft, in the cockpit, near the
wheel. When the steering compass pointed west-by-south three-
quarters-south (the steering course), the standard compass pointed
west-one-half-north, which was certainly not the steering course. I
kept the Snark up till she was heading west-by-south-three-quarters-
south on the standard compass, which gave, on the steering compass,
south-west-by-west.
The foregoing operations constitute the simple little matter of
setting a course. And the worst of it is that one must perform
every step correctly or else he will hear "Breakers ahead!" some
pleasant night, a nice sea-bath, and be given the delightful
diversion of fighting his way to the shore through a horde of man-
eating sharks.
Just as the compass is tricky and strives to fool the mariner by
pointing in all directions except north, so does that guide post of
the sky, the sun, persist in not being where it ought to be at a
given time. This carelessness of the sun is the cause of more
trouble - at least it caused trouble for me. To find out where one
is on the earth's surface, he must know, at precisely the same time,
where the sun is in the heavens.
