Palmer Map: Same Island, Same Rocks, Same Procedure, Different Target

gjb · Jul 25, 2025

Simply do what’s implied by the instructions and, specifically, do so based on what’s been learnt previously. It turns out that these instructions are targeting a different point in the same area.

Once more, I’m prohibited from explaining all this because it’s been declared off-topic, that is, it's been decided that attempting to identify the island based on what the instructions are telling us is deemed irrelevant and that anyone who tries to do so is a crank.

Once again, maybe we should figure out what the instructions are saying and use this to identify the island that they apply to. Why start off by guessing at the island’s location or who owned the maps?

You may not like it, and you may well not want it to be the case, but from all this the island looks distinctly like Oak Island. So, maybe stop declaring that the search for the island referred to by the instructions is off topic, and be prepared to consider that if Kidd didn’t visit Oak Island then maybe these are not Kidd’s maps.

Bocaj · Jul 25, 2025

You can have a complicated or a much easier solution:

its clearly a nautical instruction (called dead reckoning)
'and by' means: "close to" - it is done to avoid running aground on the anchorage. After it continue (with a smaller longboat if you come in by a bigger vessel after anchoring) two times 36 NE. I guess its written two times to avoid some shallow or reef in the middle. Rock refer to the cliff that probably has some rock broken off it which is a quite visible landmark.

The measurements would be in yards, cables or similar (tenth of yards maybe?). The last unit would make sense as "360 Yards V.R North" is mentioned in the Key Map. V.R. is a typical nautical term.

Frankly I get a bit annoyed that everyone tries to ignore the nautical base of all those maps and that Kidd or whoever draw those maps was a navigator and so are the instructions.

For those with nautical knowledge those instructions are quite clear and help not only in pointing to the treasure site but also help to identify the island itself.