Compass location

[fred1diver]

Hey everyone, dreaming about summer and I was wondering where your compass is located on your bulkhead? Port, starboard, high, low? At the moment mine is on the low side of my starboard bulkhead, I have a non working knotmeter on the high side of the port bulkhead, I was thinking of putting my compass in place of the knotmeter and buying a cover to close the hole on the starboard bulkhead, what do you guys think?

I want to remove them anyways to redo the teak base

 

[Ken Cross]

It makes sense. You may want to hold it there to determine if you have any compass interference due to DC wiring passing nearby. On a previous boat, I made my own cover from a dollar store cutting board. It worked great and I could make it any shape I wanted.

 

[Captain Ron 18]

I mounted both my compass and depth sounder on the starboard side, and rather high up which I find easier to see when I’m out at night. This picture has the compass cover on.

 

[Captain Ron 18]

(Sorry - accidentally hit post...). Patching covers are fairly easy to make and install. Make sure you have no magnetic interference wherever you decide to place it. Let us know what you end up doing and post a picture. We all love before and after pics!

 

[Serenity on Hudson]

On the starboard side with the depth gage. Never use the compass as I only day sail in the Hudson River in fair weather. I can always see land and know it well where I am going. Occasionally use the compass to check that I am on a constant heading.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Mine is in the cockpit, on the rear bulkhead of the cabin entrance

 

[rgranger]

Mine is in the cockpit, on the rear bulkhead of the cabin entrance

View attachment 174036View attachment 174037

Did you build that yourself? If so

If not, where did you buy it?

 

[shemandr]

It's a pet peeve of mine to mount a compass on the cabin bulkhead where most compasses are found. Mostly because it is so uncomfortable to lean against while using the bulkhead for back support lounging in the cockpit. But also because under was someone is usually sitting there blocking the view of it. And if you're crew, being told to move so the skipper can see the compass is annoying and leaves me thinking and sometimes saying "Why don't you move the compass to where it should be..." That location is on the mast for a digital compass with large numbers. Flat mounted in the cockpit is good too. Of course, if you have a binnacle that's were it would be.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Did you build that yourself? If so

If not, where did you buy it?

Yes- built it myself- that's what I do

 

[rgranger]

That is sweeet.

 

[Will Gilmore]

As the owner of a small trailersailer, I have been thinking about that very question too.
I'm not inclined to use the bulkhead for similar reasons stated by shemandr, but mostly, on my Mariner, with her larger cockpit, I think it would be farther away than comfortable to read.

While reading the original post, I was left wondering how hard it would be to mount a digital readout right in the benchseat on both sides? Are they too expensive to consider two? I'm not so much worried about anyone sitting on it while sailing because anywhere I want to sail where I would need a compass, I wouldn't likely have but one other passenger. In a limited sized cockpit, it is an important question. I've even been thinking of mounting one on top of the hatch or even a binnacle. I could hang a small removable cockpit table off of that.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[RussC]

Hey everyone, dreaming about summer and I was wondering where your compass is located on your bulkhead? Port, starboard, high, low? At the moment mine is on the low side of my starboard bulkhead, I have a non working knotmeter on the high side of the port bulkhead, I was thinking of putting my compass in place of the knotmeter and buying a cover to close the hole on the starboard bulkhead, what do you guys think I want to remove them anyways to redo the teak base

Do you sail in areas where you really even NEED a compass?

Fiberglass is so easy to work with why not glass in the holes and start over. a blank slate, so you're free to place things where you want them rather than be dictated by some funky covers.




as purchased..................in progress.............blank slate

 

[PaulK]

Charlie and Shemandr have the right idea. Why not center it at the base of the hatchway? People won’t block it as much when they’re sitting in the cockpit (you can ask them to move their feet if you have to, not a big deal) and you and everyone else will be able to lean much more comfortably up against the bulkhead/end of the cabin trunk.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

I don't know about the others, but when did my singlehand 32 hours offshore in the Gulf of Mexico it was sure nice

Ad I liked having it on BOTH my gulf stream crossings

 

[fred1diver]

I could try center mounting it, it WOULD be the optimal spot, just have to be sure because it's also where my serial number plate is located.
RussC, you did a great job glassing it over, any pointers?

I thought having a compass aboard was mandatory, at least in Canada

 

[RussC]

I could try center mounting it, it WOULD be the optimal spot, just have to be sure because it's also where my serial number plate is located.
RussC, you did a great job glassing it over, any pointers?

I thought having a compass aboard was mandatory, at least in Canada

Why? do Canadians have a harder time with directions?

Pointers? nothing special on glassing in the holes. it does save some time if you have a piece of scrap fiberglass laying around to cut out to fill the hole with. but not mandatory. from there it's just a matter of filling the voids around the edges and sanding it down. I use rattle can paint to blend in, just on the area ground away. might take trying a few cans to find a good color match, but not that hard.

 

[rgranger]

Why? do Canadians have a harder time with directions?

 

[fred1diver]

I do admit that some canucks aren't good with directions, just take our PM for example

 

[Will Gilmore]

I do admit that some canucks aren't good with directions

Could it be because there's no such direction as 'North' from Canada?

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[rgranger]

Hey @fred1diver

I have done a lot of fiberglass work over the years. Here are my steps for filling a hole (b.t.w. I'd also recommend this for the through hull valve you showed us for your head on a different thread).

1. First grind the edges of the hole into a flared disk around the hole. Do this on the INSIDE of your boat. In the pic below, the yellow is the bulkhead, the black is your hole and the grey is your ground out flare.

2. Next tape some sort of backing plate on the OUTSIDE of the hole. I like to use those plastic sheets that your teachers used to use for overhead projectors because it leaves a very nice smooth finish when it is removed later.

3. Cut a series of circular pieces of fiberglass with increasing diameters. The smallest one should be the size of the hole. Each successive circle slightly larger in diameter. Keep cutting rings until the stack will lay flush in the hole and come even with the original bulkhead. Step 3 is the tricky part because cutting the correct number of rings is a bit of trial and error and if you don't get it right your hole will look crappy.

4. Wet all of the circles with epoxy resin and lay them in a stack on a second sheet of overhead projector film so that the smallest circle will be on top. As you stack the circles use a resin squeegee push out the excess resin from the cloth and move the resin off of the plastic sheet.

5. Push the set of circles into the hole and then tape the plastic sheet in place until the resit sets.

6. Wait 24 hours and remove the two plastic sheets. You will now need to do a little bit of light sanding and painting but your hole is now filled and stronger than it was before the hole was cut.