For all references, I am using the red X as my location on the map.

The stars currently in game will not match with reality.

Latitude in Sailwinds is relevant between 30° and 41°.

There are three main ways of determining latitude.

1. Quadrant angle to the North Star

(North Star with nearby relevant star movement)

At night, you can use the North Star to determine your latitude. Take your quadrant and aim it towards the star and then right click to see the angle. This angle directly correlates to your current latitude.

All other stars rotate around the axis of the North Star, so be cognizant of this while looking for it.

(Aiming at the North Star)

(Angle reading from North Star)

(Reading with custom subdivided layer with Paint . Net)

2. Solar Compass

The sun compass is a method of determining latitude, the tip of the shadow will correspond with your latitude (except for early morning and late afternoon). You can use this to find exact noon and determine your longitude described in a method below.



3. Chrono Compass

Scroll until the indicator just barely touches the bar. The top number will be your latitude.

Longitude is a more difficult value to determine, in game and historically, it is relevant from -5 to +5 in Sailwinds.

1. Chrono Compass Shadow

With the chrono compass you can align the shadows of the bar and indicator to determine your longitude, however, you are measuring between a small range of angles, so this is far from precise.



2. Chrono Compass and Quadrant

My preferred method of getting a long fix is by a star I call Milnead. It is a star that is visible right above the sun when it sets to the west. The chrono compass is a 24 hour clock, and with an exact time measurement and angle to star, you can determine your longitude via this method.


At exactly 1900


Take a measurement of Milnead, and this angle will correlate with your longitude.


Image credit: FizzyGig

Chrono and Solar Compass

Use your solar compass and wait until exactly noon and then get the time from your chrono.

Noon at -5° is 1220
Noon at 0° is 1200
Noon at +5° is 1140

Gold Rock


Clear Mind


Lion's Fang

With the introduction of the chip log, you can use dead reckoning to determine the distance covered in a set period of time. Dead reckoning uses the compass, chronocompass, and the chip log. You may be able to use the sunrise/sunset or noon for your time measurements, however it will change depending if you're travelling West or East.



The speed measurement "knots" is actually nautical miles per hour. Therefore if you are travelling at five knots, your distance covered in one hour is five nautical miles.

The game will give you exact distance to various locations when giving missions, I have extrapolated distances on my own custom maps using this method.

You must have a known position and time to start dead reckoning.

1. Start with a known position at an exact hour mark with the chronocompass.
2. Wait one hour, maintaining a constant course and speed.
3. Plot on your map using a freeware program like GIMP.
4. Attain a fix using the chronocompass or celestial navigation when next available to verify your estimate.
5. Each time you attain a fix, through DR or CN, mark it accordingly so you can determine which data points are likely more accurate.
Trust your celestial fix more than your dead reckoning, there are multiple variables that go into dead reckoning, like waves, wind variation, drift, etc.