Sailing Ship and Sextant Weathervane - Aptos, CA
Posted by: 
DougK
N 36° 57.543 W 121° 53.142
10S E 599200 N 4090909
This weathervane tells the wind direction in a most unusual fashion. The turning of the wind blown mechanism causes a wheel with the direction letters to rotate as well.
Waymark Code: WMEKQC
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 06/10/2012
Views: 3
I spotted this weathervane while looking for a
nearby sculpture. It is one of the more interesting weathervanes I've seen.
The mounting was unusual since the letters of the compass points were more in a vertical plane than a horizontal plane. The N-E-W-S letters are mounted on an eight-spoked wagon wheel. On the vertical mounting shaft for this whole mechanism is an eight-petaled gear of sorts that meshes with the holes on the wagon wheel.
Since the axis of the weathervane was horizontal, that rod through the center had an object at each end. At one end was a sailing ship with three sails and at the other was a mariners sextant, acting as a counterbalance, and matching the theme.
When the wind blows against the sails of the ship at one end, it causes the horizontal arm to rotate, which in turn causes the wagon wheel to turn along its axle, as the wheel meshes with the petals of the "gear" on the vertical shaft. This causes the letters for the direction to rotate with the wheel. The direction letter at the top, then indicates the wind direction!
The weathervane is mounted on a hand railing around a second floor deck of a residence. It can be seen in Google Street View.
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