Some Nautical Knowledge

Degrees

As is common the Earth is divided into patches by our agreed upon coordinate system of longditude and latitude.

Both of these are measured in degrees. Latitude has a range of 0-90° (North and South). Longditude has a range of 0-180° (East and West).

There are 360° in one revolution (as is common), and each degree is further divided in (arc)minutes, each minute being 1/60 of a degree.

The main unit of distance

The nautical mile is the primary unit of distance used at sea.

• nm means nautical mile
• 1 nm = 1852m (exact)
• 1 knot = 1nm/h
• 1 nm ≈ 1 minute of latitude
• 1 min ≈ 1/60 of a degree of latitude

Thus, travelling 60 nm towards the Equator gets you one degree of latitude closer to it.