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Explanation: if the ship is heading south by east and the wind is coming from the west, it must be taking the wind on the beam...
the buoys are set up so as to have the wind on the beam all the time. However, the bay of St Tropez is notoriously difficult to sail in, with light airs. ... www.woodenwidget.com/Copacabana.html
When the ship sails with the wind blowing directly across her, she is said to have the wind on the beam; and her course is 8 points from the wind. ...
archimedes.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/archim/dict/hw?lemma=SAILING&step=entry&id=d006
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 39 mins (2007-01-07 16:24:55 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
further research tells me that the ship's 'épaule' ('knuckle' in English) is BEFORE the beam, however this does not correspond to the heading and wind direction given in the sentence, the latter implying that the wind is slightly ABAFT the beam - no googles for 'wind on the knuckle' or 'knuckling the wind'
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 46 mins (2007-01-07 16:31:38 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
On January 13, it was fine and clear, and, with some sail set and the wind abaft the beam, the little schooner was sailing comfortably, albeit slowly. ... www.sky-net.org.uk/kelvin/articles/ae/index.html
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 47 mins (2007-01-07 16:33:10 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The SE trade winds in the South Atlantic were in fact from SSE for me, so I had the wind forward of the beam all the way to Salvador which I reached on 30 ...
harrier.users.netlink.co.uk/2001/salvador.htm
Usually "épauler" means "to help", but I leave to the native to find the best way to put it.
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
29 mins confidence:
to have the wind on the beam
Explanation: if the ship is heading south by east and the wind is coming from the west, it must be taking the wind on the beam...
the buoys are set up so as to have the wind on the beam all the time. However, the bay of St Tropez is notoriously difficult to sail in, with light airs. ... www.woodenwidget.com/Copacabana.html
When the ship sails with the wind blowing directly across her, she is said to have the wind on the beam; and her course is 8 points from the wind. ...
archimedes.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/archim/dict/hw?lemma=SAILING&step=entry&id=d006
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 39 mins (2007-01-07 16:24:55 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
further research tells me that the ship's 'épaule' ('knuckle' in English) is BEFORE the beam, however this does not correspond to the heading and wind direction given in the sentence, the latter implying that the wind is slightly ABAFT the beam - no googles for 'wind on the knuckle' or 'knuckling the wind'
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 46 mins (2007-01-07 16:31:38 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
On January 13, it was fine and clear, and, with some sail set and the wind abaft the beam, the little schooner was sailing comfortably, albeit slowly. ... www.sky-net.org.uk/kelvin/articles/ae/index.html
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 47 mins (2007-01-07 16:33:10 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The SE trade winds in the South Atlantic were in fact from SSE for me, so I had the wind forward of the beam all the way to Salvador which I reached on 30 ...
harrier.users.netlink.co.uk/2001/salvador.htm
Graham macLachlan Local time: 02:45 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 317
Grading comment
Thank you. This seems accurate, given the heading and wind direction
Explanation: To luff
is to turn the head of a ship towards the wind. Luff!- i.e. Put the tiller on the leeside. This is done to make the ship sail nearer the wind. Luff round! Throw the ship's head right into the wind.
rousselures Local time: 20:45 Native speaker of: French, English PRO pts in category: 4
starboard quarter astern, 1 point starboard astern
Explanation: Possibly "3 points abaft the starboard quarter".
Probably "to keep the wind starboard quarter astern" is precise enough, given that they say the wind is from the west (with no more precision), so we can probably assume a latitude (!) of up to 90°.
BEARINGS: Direction relative to the ship Relative bearings. Though for navigation the seaman usually uses compass bearings to indicate direction. For day-to-day purposes he more often uses relative bearings based on the ship's fore-and-aft line. There are eight principal directions (each separated by four points): ahead, starboard bow, starboard beam, starboard quarter, astern, larboard quarter, larboard beam and larboard bow. For greater precision, these can be qualified by saying: right astern; fine on the larboard bow; broad on the starboard quarter; abaft the starboard beam, before the larboard beam and so on. For greater precision still, the basic directions can be qualified by points: for example, 2 points [22°] before the larboard beam, or 3 points [33°} on the starboard bow. The use of degrees instead of points to indicate relative bearings is a comparatively modern innovation. (Note: From the 1840s, 'port' would have been used instead of 'larboard'.) http://www.cbyc.co.uk/club/documents/be0105.pdf
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2007-01-07 18:30:46 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Maybe "épauler" is not a marine term. The Encyclopédie Visuelle Bilingue, Marine d'Hier et d'Aujourd'hui" by Gallimard, originally The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing by Dorling Kindersley, shows "au grand largue" as "fine on the starboard quarter" for a wind from the precise direction indicated, or alternatively "allures du grand largue" for "points on the starboard quarter"
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 19 hrs (2007-01-08 11:11:35 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Other meaning of "latitude"!
xxxBourth Local time: 02:45 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 483
Notes to answerer
Asker: The latitude was approximately 45 degrees North, if that makes any difference, and the ship was somewhere in the Atlantic.
The translation workplace 
