If wishes were seahorses
“Sailing is a lot of boredom interrupted by panic.”—Heather Tomlinson
Dennis L. McKiernan recommended an out of print book called The Lore of Sail•, probably driving the price up even further. Devin Poore recommended Sea of Words, about Patrick O’Brian’s seafaring novels.
“God bless the person that invented Goretex.”—Shelly Rae Clift
Like many technological innovations, the great advantage of steam over sail is that steamships require smaller crews, so they are cheaper to operate even if in some cases they might be slower or otherwise inferior.
“Before there were guns, you can’t have a gunwale.”—Dennis McKiernan
Dennis also said that the term “knots” comes from throwing a weighted and knotted line into the water and watching how many knots become visible, to know how fast the ship was going.
From the sea monster panel:
“By the way, the term ‘octopi’ is a misnomer. Use it if you wish, but you’re an idiot.”—David Drake
“You’re an idiot.”
In response to World Fantasy Convention 2011, San Diego: I’m not sure if I’m at the World Fantasy Convention or the World Yarning Convention. Three of four people around me are doing things with yarn.
- Knot (unit) at Wikipedia
- The knot (pronounced not) is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile (which is defined as 1.852 km) per hour, approximately 1.151 mph.[1] The abbreviation kn is preferred by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), which includes every major sea-faring nation;[2] however, the abbreviations kt (singular) and kts (plural) are also widely used.[3] However, use of the abbreviation kt for knot conflicts with the SI symbol for kilotonne. The knot is a non-SI unit accepted for use with the International System of Units (SI).[4] Worldwide, the knot is used in meteorology, and in maritime and air navigation—for example, a vessel travelling at 1 knot along a meridian travels one minute of geographic latitude in one hour. Etymologically, the term knot derives from counting the number of knots in the line that unspooled from the reel of a chip log in a specific time.
- The Lore of Sail•: William Avery Baker
- Amazon.com: The Lore of Sail (9780871962201): William Avery Baker: Books
- A Sea of Words, Third Edition: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian•
- Amazon.com: A Sea of Words, Third Edition: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian (9780805066159): Dean King, John B. Hattendorf, J. Worth Estes: Books