Navigation

"In the world of sailing, navigation is not just a skill; it's the art of dancing with the wind, the stars and the waves to find your way." - George Davis, Navigational Officer

### ***Welcome to the Home of Navigation on the Sailwind Wiki***

Navigation is a core part of Sailwind. While navigating with no tools at all *is possible*, all players have to start by reading a compass, buying new tools and building their understanding of the mechanics of the game.

### **The Tools**

There are many tools avilable to buy in Sailwind, and their uses are varied. This table gives a brief look at them, and clicking their name will take you to the individual page with more detailed information.

### **The Fundamentals of Navigating**

To successfully navigate you need three pieces of information:

* Where you are
* Where you want to go
* How to get there

When accepting a mission in the Trade Office, 2 and 1/2 of these questions are answered. The end of the line on the map *without* a circle is **where you are**, the end *with* a circle is **where you want to go**. When you have an active mission, this same map can be accessed by pressing Tab (by default) > Logs > Current Missions.

To get to your destination, simply point the boat where you want to go and sail. To check your bearing (the direction you are going in) simply hold the compass and face forwards on your boat (or hold the compass, press Tab, and click one of the inventory slots. Then the compass is always available by pressing Tab, and is not lying in the bottom of the boat). Sometimes, the wind will be coming from your destination (some people say it always is...), and some upwind sailing is required. Help with this can be found on the in-game Tutorial Scroll (and maybe a later guide).

### **Navigating The Deep Blue**

Although the outer islands of Al'Ankh are not visible from GRC, all 3 archipelagos can be navigated by Compass and scanning the horizon. Using more advanced tools within these confined regions is not particularly useful, as the margin of error covers a significant area. If you get confused/lost within an archipelago, use the Compass to find your bearing from the Capital City, and draw an imaginary line on your map (If GRC is SE of you, draw a line to the NW). You are somewhere on this line. Try and find 1 other landmark that you can use for another bearing, draw this line, and where the lines cross is your location. This is known as triangulation.

Navigating between archipelagos presents a far more serious and foreboding situation. Following the red line on the map remains much the same; simply point the boat in the direction that the compass says is the right way. Note that tacking upwind will be a much more relaxed process; 1 tack per day is sufficient (after all, 1 day North followed by 1 day East covers exactly the same ground as 1/2 day North, 1/2 day East, 1/2 day North, 1/2 day East). However, as the nights add up, and the winds shift, relying on your boat pointing exactly the right way can start to become slightly unreliable.

#### *Dead Reckoning*

The method of sailing just mentioned can be elaborated slightly into a very primative form of navigation.

#### *Finding where you are*

Keeping track (or being able to find) where abouts you are on the open ocean is the most crucial aspect of accomplishing the goal of reaching dry land on the other side. This information is broken into 2 numbers:

* Latitude: how far North/South you are
* Longitude: how far East/West you are

By knowing these 2 values, you can pinpoint yourself at any point on the Ocean Map. Note that Longitude is not always necessary; when sailing between Al'Ankh and Emerald or vice versa, you will reach your destination by simply maintaining the correct Latitude. Reaching any other destination is also possible in this manner, so long as you can say with some certainty whether you are East or West of your destination when you reach the correct Latitude.

##### Finding Latitude and Longitude

There are many tools available to find Latitude and Longitude. A ✔ in the table indicates that is the primary purpose of the tool and a description of how to use it can be found on the tool's page. An \* with a number indicates the tool can be used in conjunction with another tool, and the number corresponds to the method below.

 Compass | \*3
 Suncompass | ✔

##### Tool Combinations

###### **Method 1** **-** *Chronometer and Suncompass Noons*

To detemine Longitude with a Chronometer and Suncompass, watch the Suncompass careful as the point of the shadow reaches the centreline. At this instant, note the time on the Chronometer. Work out the number of minutes *before* 12 Noon (if the time was *after* 12 Noon, this number will be *negative*). Divide this number by 4, and this is your Longitude.

This method works because the Chonometer is set to Global time at Longitude 0, but the Suncompass is subject to local noon. As the sun rises in the East, travelling to the East causes it to rise (and therefore reach noon) earlier than a place to the West, and therefore local noon arrives *before* Global noon.

###### **Method 2 -** *Measuring Stars at Set Times*

A less reliable (but no less scientifically sound) method of finding Longitude involves measuring the angle of stars at a specific time. Several stars and their corresponding angles have been published. It is worth calibrating your method and results at a known location ie a Capital City as Quadrant usage techniques can vary from player to player. This technique is not recommended for a beginner, but may be used in an emergency.

* At exactly 7:00 PM (19:00) measure the altitude of the star Milnead, which can be compared to the chart
* At exactly midnight measure the altitude of the star Witena, which can be compared to the chart
* At exactly 5:20 AM measure the altitude of the star Oriens, which can be compared to the chart

This method works for exactly the same reason as Method 1, except it uses a star at a specific time, rather than the Sun at Noon (actually, that is just a star at a specific time...). Rather than measure the difference in time, it measures the difference in angle.

###### **Method 3 -** *Quadrant During the Day*

While a somewhat redundant technique, the Quadrant can be used during the day as a makeshift Suncompass to find your Latitude. Watch your compass and wait for the Sun to reach directly South of you, then measure the centre of it with the Quadrant. Then use the equation *90 - Quadrant Angle* to find your Latitude.

This method (currently) works because the Sailwind planet has no axial tilt. This means the North Star (that the Quadrant is calibrated to) and Sun form a 90 degree angle with the planet. If it helps, imagine the planet drawn on a piece of paper, with the Sun to the left, and North Star directly up (above the North Pole). As the Quadrant measures the angle to the North Star, the remaining angle to the Sun must sum to 90, therefore 90 - Quadrant Angle gives that angle.

#### *When the Tools Go Overboard*

Almost every sailor has lost their navigation tool overboard, and if they haven't yet, they will one day. Usually it is a result of clicking the wrong mouse button with the Quadrant on the first Oceanic journey, or it may be opening the Log to double check the numbers and letting go of the Chronocompass (this is a game mechanic, but may or may not be a bug).

There are a couple of things to bring to mind in this situation.

1. The first is that you can (currently) sprint and jump faster than your boat, so you can always jump in the sea, pick up your tool, and catch up again with your boat.
2. Secondly, you are not lost at sea permenantly, and can always recover. In the early stages of a journey, this will put you back where you started. However, on longer journeys you may be able to tell from the colour of the sea, or your last known location, if you are over halfway and use this to teleport ahead.
3. The Sun rises directly in the East, and sets directly in the West. Even if your Compass has gone overboard, this lets you check your heading twice a day and gives you some sense of direction. Of course, the North Star is available directly to the North all through the night.
4. Finally, spare items around the ship can function as a makeshift Quadrant. This is particularly relevant to wine and beer bottles, which can be rotated and held up to the horizon to give some idea of the angle of a star using the label or neck of the bottle. To fully utilise this system, a catalogue of readings/measurements are needed to calibrate the bottle with the Quadrant which can be referred to when later required.

### **Resources**

#### *Maps*

There are 2 types of maps, those provided in the game, and online/interactive maps provided by the community that allow you to plot your course. Editing charts in-game is on the roadmap, but for now is not available.

##### In-Game Maps

###### Archipelago Maps

 Aestrin |  | Most Aestrin markets, as well as all Capital Cities

###### Ocean Map

The Ocean map connects the 3 currently existing regions of Al'Ankh, Emerald, and Aestrin. Oasis and Happy Bay are also on the map, but are not included on any archipelago maps. This map is available for sale in all Capital Cities.

Trade winds do exist across the Ocean, with knowledge of them greatly increasing the ease of long distance travel.

Other locations not on the map can be found here

##### Online/Interactive Maps

Various online resources have been generously created by members of the community, and those that we are aware of have been collected here.

###### Sycosys/Moffkalast Interactable Map (Currently Online)

There is an interactable online map available which you can zoom and pan seamlessly.

It currently allows you to:

* draw coordinate points and lines by clicking to help with navigation
* view known prevailing winds and trade routes
* import recorded data from the CoordinateViewer mod
* save and load your drawings via a browser cookie

Currently found at https://moffkalast.github.io/Sailwind-Map/

Github Repository: https://github.com/MoffKalast/Sailwind-Map

Previously hosted at https://sycosys.github.io/Sailwind-Map/Sailwind\_Map.html

###### Eurotrash Gaming Sailwind Companion

A tidy tool for plotting courses and measuring distances

Available at https://eurotrashgaming.github.io/sailwind-companion/

###### Ocean Chart and Compass File (GIMP)

Below you can find a link to a GIMP file with the Ocean Map and Layered Compass and Milnead Readings.

GIMP is a free photo editing software, very similar to the very expensive Photoshop.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/899738517876387892/911848038413254696/OceanChart.xcf