[OSM-talk] Coastline

[David Earl]

Can someone tell me, is natural=coastline conventionally with the water on
the right in the direction of the segments. I see there is a discussion
about left/right elsewhere than on the map_features page, but the coastline
I see doesn't use it.

Why is coastline marked as node/segment/area in map_features but defined as
a way e.g. at
http://www.openstreetmap.org/index.html?lat=51.949199392009334&lon=1.2715342
094847748&zoom=13 (pasted from JOSM's URL - it's near Harwich)?

Presumably this isn't one huge way for the whole mainland UK forming an area
(the three bits of coastline in this region have different IDs, so they
can't be), so there must be some convention for which is sea and which is
land, yes?

Apologies if this was all discussed before I joined - I see the tag was
introduced in earnest in August.

David