Boxing the

compass
Rules:
Rank the points of the compass
Rank 1 : North and South
Rank 2 : East and West
Rank 3 : 2 letter cardinals (inter cardinals)
Rank 4 : 3 letter cardinals

Rank 1 cardinals are more dominant than Rank 2

cardinals, while Rank 2 cardinals are more
dominant than Rank 3 cardinals, and soon and so
forth.

When naming a cardinal the dominant cardinal

should be placed first before the lesser cardinals
(example Northeast – North is more dominant
than East thus North is place first before East)
Draw a cross first North
N
NNE
NNW
and name the four
main cardinals NW NE

Then draw the 4 WNW ENE

inter cardinals or
the 2 letter
West
W East
E
cardinals
WSW
Then draw the 3 ESE

letter cardinals
SW SE

SSW SSE
South
S
Lastly draw the N
NNE
NNW
last batch of
cardinals the “by NW NE

cardinals” N by WN by E
NW by N NE by N
WNW ENE
Nearest dominant NW by W NE by E

Cardinal W by N E by N
W E
W by S E by S
N by E SW by W SE by E
WSW ESE
SW by S SE by S
S by WS by E

Nearest Main Cardinal SW SE

(N,S,E,&W)
SSW SSE
S
No. Cardinals No. Cardinals No. Cardinals No. Cardinals

1 North 9 East 17 South 25 West

2 N by E 10 E by S 18 S by W 26 W by N

3 NNE 11 ESE 19 SSW 27 WNW

4 NE by N 12 SE by E 20 SW by S 28 NW by W

5 NE 13 SE 21 SW 29 NW

6 NE by E 14 SE by S 22 SW by W 30 NW by N

7 ENE 15 SSE 23 WSW 31 NNW

8 E by N 16 S by E 24 W by S 32 N by W
A
p
p
l
i
c
a
t
i
o
n
 MV Ungot is sailing
westward with a speed of
10kts. At 1000H the
conning officer noticed a
lighthouse that bears
north. At 1100H same
lighthouse is now on
northeast. How far is the
lighthouse at 1100H?
  Ship

 Lighthouse

st
a

North
e
rth
No

WESTWARD

1100 H 1000 H
Given:
Speed = 10 knots
Get the distance covered from 1000H to 1100H
Distance = Speed X Time
= X 1 hour

= 10 NM
Find the distance of the LH at 1100H 45˚
t
Ms
a

North
𝑎 2+ 𝑏2= 𝑐2 h2eN
o . 1rt4
=c N14
√
c = (10 𝑁𝑚)2 +(10 𝑁𝑚)2
= √ 100 𝑁𝑚2 +100 𝑁𝑚2
√
= 200 𝑁𝑚2
= 14.142 NM 45˚
10 NM
1100 H 1000 H