© Duane A. Cline 1999
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Navigation: The Traverse Board The Traverse Board was used as a memory aid by navigators as early as the seventeenth century, and would certainly have
been used by the officers and crew on the Mayflower. With this simple device they were able to record how far and in what
direction they had traveled during each four-hour watch. It consisted of a simple wooden board, equipped with pegs which were inserted into a series of holes. The upper portion of the board was marked out in the thirty-two points of the compass. Notice there are a series of 8 holes
radiating out from the center to each of the thirty-two points of the compass on the outer circle. A set of eight pegs is
attached to the center of this circle. USING THE TRAVERSE BOARD At the end of each half-hour of the watch, the officer on duty would take a peg and stick it into the hole in the compass
bearing on which the ship had run during the half-hour just completed. The first half-hour of the watch was represented by the first circle of holes nearest the center of the compass, and so on. At
the end of the four-hour watch all of the pegs would have been used, with the last peg inserted in the outermost circle of
holes. To record the speed at which the ship had been traveling, the rows of holes at the bottom of the board were used. At the
center of this row of holes was another set of eight pegs on strings. The holes to the left side of the center were used for the
first two hours of the watch, while those on the right side were used for the last two hours. At the end of the first half-hour of the watch, the officer in charge would insert a peg at the hole which represented the
knots-per-hour at which the ship had been traveling. [Remember that this was determined by using the log-line.] If the ship
had been traveling at four knots-per-hour, the officer would count over from left to right on the first row of holes and place
the first peg in the fourth hole. At the end of the four-hour watch, the officer in charge would transfer this information from the traverse board onto a slate
-- or perhaps a piece of paper. At the end of the day the master or captain of the ship would use this information to write up
his log, which was a detailed record of the voyage. The navigator would use the same information to chart the progress of
the voyage on his maps. Traverse Boards provided a simple and relatively foolproof method of recording information which could be used even the
foulest weather. It is interesting to note that the use of the traverse board was adopted by the navigators from northern Europe and England
and was used as late as the beginning of the twentieth century. No examples of traverse boards from the Mediterranean
navigators has ever been found. Included in the worksheets is a Traverse Board pattern. To complete this project with the pupils, certain additional
materials will be needed. Make certain that you have the following supplies readily available. MATERIALS NEEDED: Assemble the traverse boards to resemble the illustration.
Last modified October 7, 1999
by
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