Measuring speed?
Are they measuring the ship's speed when they're throwing boards into the water and yelling out numbers? What is this technique called and how does it work?
shareI am just passing through and have not yet seen the movie, but I imagine it was supposed to be an early version of this... I wonder if they used some dramatic license since this article at least indicates it might not have been in use in 1492.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_log