ShipStore.com Beacon: Weems & Plath Clocks, Lamps and Instruments
Issue 100, December 7, 2006
http://www.ShipStore.com
Floating your boat since 1982 TM
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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~ WELCOME ABOARD: First Snowfall
~ CAPTAIN'S TIP: Weems & Plath Clocks, Lamps and Instruments
~ CAPTAIN'S SPECIALS: Precision Marine Navigation Instruments
~ CAPTAIN'S CONTEST: "Win a Shopping Spree" Drawing
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~ WELCOME ABOARD: First Snowfall
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The first snow to stick! That's an annual threshold in our beloved Adirondacks, tangible proof that global warming isn't totally victorious yet. Sure there've been swirling snowflakes in recent weeks, but this morning is the first when the world beyond my window is whitewashed with a couple of inches of sticky snow.
Pretty in the morning, but less so while it's falling out of the ether. The road conditions last night could best be described as "greasy", but my little Subaru did its best to slip and slither me home safely. My wife called from the Charlotte Ferry on her way across Lake Champlain after a day in Burlington, Vermont. The boat was pitching and crashing, massive plumes of spray sweeping across the cars. My wife clung to the steering wheel with one hand and her cell phone with the other, offering me a play-by-play commentary so that I could worry alongside her. Fortunately she too made it home safely.
We chuckled as we rolled into bed after dinner about how tentative even the most seasoned bad weather drivers can be during the first snow. Nature's way of reminding us to slow down and appreciate the splendor of the season's change. Today we'll pull out of the driveway, confident behind the wheel once again. But distracted by the postcard scenes we'll enjoy as we drive: pine trees heavy with vanilla frosting, whitecaps out on the lake echoing the drifts along the roadside, the first lumpy snow people populating front lawns, snow hills slick from sledding and neighbors shoveling off their sidewalks.
Watch out for snowballs!
George Davis, Beacon Editor
editor@shipstore.com
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~ CAPTAIN'S TIP: Weems & Plath Clocks, Lamps and Instruments
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Are you familiar with Weems & Plath? Think of beautiful brass nautical clocks and barometers, navigation tools and timeless brass yacht lamps. Weems & Plath produces a full spectrum of precision marine instruments for sailors, boating enthusiasts, commercial vessels, cruisers, serious yacht racers and the military.
Since 1928, Weems & Plath has played a key role in the rich history of navigation and is committed to building and supplying the world with the finest navigation tools available while maintaining the highest quality possible. Every step of this building process; from development to production is taken with meticulous care. All Weems & Plath products are meant to be enjoyed for a lifetime, and most offer a limited lifetime warranty.
Weems & Plath's rich heritage as a global navigation innovator with superior quality and service has propelled it through the decades. The Weems & Plath history begins in May of 1919, eight years before Lindberg's famous solo flight, when three small planes set out from Newfoundland headed for London in an attempt to make the first trans-Atlantic flight. Only one of them made it. Twenty-five hundred feet below on board a station tracking ship, a young navigator, Lt. Cdr. Philip Van Horn Weems, U.S. Navy, gazed up and thought there must be a safer and simpler way than using a small armada of ships as beacons for the flight.
For centuries, man had relied on the heavens, on the circling planets, and the constant horizon to guide him in his travels. An accurate clock, a compass, a sextant, and charts were the necessary tools for plotting a course, but these required time for computations and a place to spread out and study the charts. The timeworn system of celestial navigation was ill suited to the cockpit, but the airplane was here to stay. Lt. Cdr. Weems, a brilliant, inventive, and determined young man knew as he tracked that first flight that navigation was his destiny, and he went on to revolutionize the field with his ideas, writings, and inventions. The challenge he undertook was complex and involved the invention of new methods and new tools. It required a horizon system independent of the sea horizon that was often not visible from the cockpit of a plane. Weems worked for years to develop a new kind of sextant and to find someone to manufacture it. When an accurate timepiece was needed, Weems invented the Second Setting Watch with its inner rotating dial. He produced the famous Weems Plotter, the more precise and easier to use plotting tool which is still one of our most popular plotters. All his life Weems continued to improve the instruments and broaden the applications of his methods until they came to include radio astronomy, polar exploration, and even space navigation. He published numerous articles and taught navigation at the Naval Academy in the 1920's. He went on to establish his own school in Annapolis to teach The Weems System of Navigation. Charles Lindberg studied with Weems before attempting his trans-Atlantic flight. Admiral Byrd, a classmate of Weems at the Naval Academy, came to Weems for instruction before setting out for the North Pole, as did many others.
A century earlier, Carl Plath's company in Hamburg, Germany, C. Plath, had been manufacturing the finest commercial sextants and magnetic compasses available. C. Plath developed the first gyrocompass installed on a commercial vessel in 1913. Weems school for navigation had become the purveyor of Weems' instruments. It was a natural development for Weems' company to become the North American source for C. Plath's fine instruments; hence the alliance of two distinguished names: Weems and Plath. The exceptional workmanship that both Philip Van Horn Weems and Carl Plath required in developing the manufacturing of precision navigation tools remains at the heart of all our products today.
Today Weems & Plath is still located in the Chesapeake Bay town of Annapolis where it began so many years ago. They are committed to supplying the world with the finest nautical products available while maintaining the high standards of service that have distinguished Weems & Plath from its inception. Be sure to take a look at all of the impressive items we've recently added to ShipStore.com.
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~ CAPTAIN'S SPECIALS: Precision Marine Navigation Instruments
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We've recently started carrying the Weems & Plath line of precision marine navigation instruments, and I think you'll agree that there are some ideal Christmas gifts waiting to be discovered! What about a beautiful clock? Take a few moments to browse Weems & Plath's legendary products now.=============================================================
~ CAPTAIN'S CONTEST: "Win a Shopping Spree!" Drawing
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Win a $100.00 credit at ShipStore.com. To be eligible for future "Win a Shopping Spree!" drawings all you have to do is subscribe to the Beacon. All current subscribers are eligible for the random drawing. If you're not already subscribed, then visit http://www.shipstore.com and scroll down the light blue column along the left hand side of the page until you see the link "Win a Shopping Spree!". Click on the link. A new window will open with an email addressed to beacon-on@list.shipstore.com and "Subscribe" written in the Subject Field. All you have to do is hit send.
You'll be sent a confirmation email which you must respond to in order to activate your subscription and be added to our mailing list. This double opt-in procedure enables us to prevent accidental subscriptions and spam. As soon as your confirmation is confirmed, you will be entered into the "Win a Shopping Spree!" drawing for a $100.00 free merchandise from ShipStore.com. Good luck.
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