do people still use a compass?

Jun 8, 2004
2,929
Catalina 320 Dana Point
An Australian compass that points backwards in the northern hemisphere, which way does it point in Australia ?:confused:
 
Oct 2, 2008
3,810
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
You can always find the distance from shore with a compass and DR.

All U Get
 
Oct 18, 2008
45
Jeanneau 49DS Seattle
Our boat is in Australia!

An Australian compass that points backwards in the northern hemisphere, which way does it point in Australia ?:confused:
We are in Oz and North is STILL North even with our U.S. compass and the water down the sink goes the same way around!
 

SeaTR

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Jan 24, 2009
408
Hunter 22 Groton
ditto, we had just sold a number of them (SS 560s range) to the Iranian navy when I served in subs. The boat I was assigned to was NEARLY as old....USS Shark. And even though it was a nuke, it still had a diesel for backup power. And yes everybody used (gyro)compass in those days, backed up by NAVSAT, LORAN-C and shooting the stars / sun.
:-}
 

SeaTR

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Jan 24, 2009
408
Hunter 22 Groton
Hi Brezzin in Mystic, RE: "Am I living in fools paradise" comment. MAYBE...

Yes, I imagine that most boaters do not swing their compasses to card their deviation, and it would not hurt to do so periodically. When power is lost, for whatever reason, to THE primary navigation tool (GPS these days)..compass and paper charts will save your behind, whether it is in open water or only fog.

More emphasis (than seemingly none) should be placed on the backup nav methods.

TVMDC forever !

Oh, yes, DBF too !
 

SeaTR

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Jan 24, 2009
408
Hunter 22 Groton
RE: "dumb Roe vs Wade Joke"

Troutman, no excuses needed ! OK, call me corny, I loved your "dumb Roe vs Wade Joke" ! Thanks, it reminds me of a guy at work; he has a joke for nearly every topic / occassion...and just as 'dumb', er I mean, enjoyable.

OBTW, DR is a requirement for boating classes...albeit, only in its rudimentary application.

This is an interesting thread, in many ways, thanks for sparking up this topic again. I reckon' you'll get many a perspective...
 
Oct 17, 2011
2,809
Ericson 29 Southport..
This is an interesting thread, in many ways, thanks for sparking up this topic again. I reckon' you'll get many a perspective... -quote-

Well, 108 so far. Over whether to own a compass? On a boat?

(I don't know what DBF means in Navy jargon, but I DO know what DBFS means otherwise)...
 

SeaTR

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Jan 24, 2009
408
Hunter 22 Groton
Chris, It's not so much the (inane & obvious) topic of 'compass on a boat' as it is the varied 'piping up' responses, on and off subject.

Dilligaf's reference to DBF = "Diesel Boats Forever" ... harkens back to the days of WWI and WWII, when submarines spent a majority of their time as 'surface craft' that only occasionally dove under the waves to attack / avoid detection...powered by diesel engines on the surface (until the invention of the snorkel) and batteries under the waves.

OBTW, dilligaf = "does it look like I give a F*&%"

So, I give, what does DBFS stand for?
 
Oct 20, 2013
65
Hobie,Venture hobie 16,V21 Carlye lake
I know this is a sailboat forum but I bet most of the people have other boats such as fishing boats. If you have spent any time on the lakes in Ontario you will quickly get lost without something to navigate with. Every bay, island and inlet looks the same, you can not see the lodge and you may not see another boat all day, no houses or marinas. Even on a clear day you can get lost, add fog or heavy rain and the chances go way up. I use a map, compass and GPS.
 

SeaTR

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Jan 24, 2009
408
Hunter 22 Groton
Brezzin quote -- "Don't be f..in stupid"

Hmmm, wouldn't have ever guessed that...
I suppose there are acronyms out there for everything.

Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving!
At least we had rain yesterday in CT vs snow...don't want to start the winter season TOO soon.
 

RichH

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Feb 14, 2005
4,773
Tayana 37 cutter; I20/M20 SCOWS Worton Creek, MD
Its very strange that many think a compass is only a navigation instrument when one of the chief functions of a compass is a sailing instrument, especially when close hauled.

When beating towards a far distant waypoint, a compass will let you know when the wind shifts to a point making a tacking direction inefficient, thus a compass as a sailing instrument will tell you 'when' to tack or to gybe. Ditto too when even without shifting winds when the compass will show that youve entered into areas of adverse current, and you can see the tacking or gybing angles of the boat open up or close down. Without that compass or without looking at that compass, youre simply going to waste time and distance going off needlessly at a 'bad' angle and no matter what your masthead wind indicator or other 'gizmo box' is telling you.

Simply put, the wind is never from a constant direction and the use of compass as a sailing instrument will easily tell you WHEN its time to tack/gybe.
On my long distance crab crusher when closehauled, a compass change of 10 or more degrees, will have me thinking - is this a 'lift' where my sailing angle is now more directed towards my waypoint, or is this a header which puts me at a 'worse' angle to my destination? The second phase of this process is "should I now be tacking over (or gybing)"?

Precisely and technically put, a compass in combination with your simple speedo will show you your best "velocity made good - VMG", even if you cant do the involved 'trigonometry'.
 
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
I find it interesting that the compass is being refereed to as a backup nav instrument. What are you folks thinking is your primary nav instrument?
 
Jul 12, 2012
73
Beneteau 41 Kemah
I find it interesting that the compass is being refereed to as a backup nav instrument. What are you folks thinking is your primary nav instrument?
I hate to admit it but my chart plotter is my primary navigation instrument.
 
Oct 5, 2010
322
Catalina 30 mkII St. Augustine
Official dis of the compass. In my airplane I have two GPS and two IRS ses ( Global Positioning and Inertial Navigation)... I have a standby compass and that is what it is.. an emergency data base to monitor... but I havent yet in 32 years of flying and sailing. Seriously! Yeah it is on the binnacle. I KNOW how to use it... do I? Never. And if you people who use your compass havent done a "swing" to calibrate your deviation and variation then you will be the next grounding! Come on seriously, you people sail by a compass? How about buying a boat that was built after the turn of the century... 1800 I am floored. Think there is some serious BS in these responses. Sail to where... your jetty, favorite anchorage, compass.... I know Joshua would probably roll over but did you all know that there have been multiple circumnavs without paper charts? Set and drift is a thing of the past. IMHO. Sheesh... know how to read it yeah but enter the jetty in the fog on your compass... looking at your chart and your ELECTRIC depth finder.... I have three GPS's and a compass... which one loses. Troutman if you find a free compass on Criag'slist grab it... otherwise put the money towards a half kite! This is just bizaar. If you run out of all the above options its called Tow Insurance!
Anyone making a passage across a major ocean current in a slow moving vessel will want to use a compass so that they can navigate in the most efficient manor. Consider a Gulf Stream crossing from Lake Worth to West End. The distance is approximately 50 nm and at 5 kt the passage will take about 10 hours. In the stream current is about 2.5 kt setting to the North. On average a navigator can estimate 2 nm per hour set to the North on the Lake Worth to West End passage. Therefore by using a compass heading to a point 20 nm to the South of West End will result in a track that is somewhat "S" shaped ending at West End. Now on the other hand if one used a GPS set to West End, the heading would be the course actually traveled by the vessel not the direction the vessel is pointing. Thus as the Gulf Stream set the vessel North the autopilot or helmsman would compensate by turning into the stream. The GPS will cause the vessel to battle the Gulf a Steam where as the Compass will allow the vessel to take advantage of the stream.

On my vessel I have three compasses, one at the helm, one at the Navigation table, and a hand held and two GPS one at the helm and one at the navigation table.

For serious sailors on passage there are still very real advantages to navigating by compass heading rather than GPS headings.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,475
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Its very strange that many think a compass is only a navigation instrument when one of the chief functions of a compass is a sailing instrument, especially when close hauled.
Agreed. And it is completely underutilized. Please put mine on the mast with big digital numbers.
 

RichH

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Feb 14, 2005
4,773
Tayana 37 cutter; I20/M20 SCOWS Worton Creek, MD
Anyone making a passage across a major ocean current in a slow moving vessel will want to use a compass so that they can navigate in the most efficient manor. Consider a Gulf Stream crossing from Lake Worth to West End. The distance is approximately 50 nm and at 5 kt the passage will take about 10 hours. In the stream current is about 2.5 kt setting to the North. On average a navigator can estimate 2 nm per hour set to the North on the Lake Worth to West End passage. Therefore by using a compass heading to a point 20 nm to the South of West End will result in a track that is somewhat "S" shaped ending at West End. Now on the other hand if one used a GPS set to West End, the heading would be the course actually traveled by the vessel not the direction the vessel is pointing. Thus as the Gulf Stream set the vessel North the autopilot or helmsman would compensate by turning into the stream. The GPS will cause the vessel to battle the Gulf a Steam where as the Compass will allow the vessel to take advantage of the stream.

On my vessel I have three compasses, one at the helm, one at the Navigation table, and a hand held and two GPS one at the helm and one at the navigation table.

For serious sailors on passage there are still very real advantages to navigating by compass heading rather than GPS headings.
hvbaker's info is definitely right on for crossing any large bodies of water that have strong currents. For the Gulf Stream in the Straights of Florida, If you use and follow your GPS output to your destination waypoint you will definitely buck the current for most of the crossing, using your compass instead will cause your boat to 'squirt' across the Gulf stream in a soft "S" course trajectory and your total travel time will be considerably less.