Around your ear to get to your elbow

21 July, 2006 (11:24) | Surfing, Costa Rica

So, a 220-degree swell in Costa Rica must come from a place that’s nearly due south on the map, right? Well, yes, if the map is the kind of projection that turns great circles into straight lines (Gnomonic).

Actually, a great circle from 22-degrees to a point on Costa Rica’s pacific coast will put you right near the southern tip of New Zealand, on your common Mercator projection. Check out this map from StormSurf.com - one of my new favorite sites for surf forecasting.

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