Steering (Magnetic) Compass

[Andrew]

Cheers ozzie, Just got back from a 3 night shakedown trip off Townsville. It was supposed to be an easy trip in theory..but..

At one point, had to do a 7 mile, 2 hour night leg in rough conditions to get to a calmer anchorage. The red-lit compass certainly helped stay on course (although other cues such as shore lights were also good points of reference, easier to look at while the boats pitching about wildly in the dark.! a few stars were also sometimes visible between clouds to lock onto ) Motored with sails down, as had to go upwind into 15-20knots and keep it simple as possible. Got a horrizontal salt shower. Only one rugged tinny crew were anchored out fishing on a shoal.

The previously untested handheld GPS with plotter and sounder were game changers too. Wore my PLB in a waist pouch. Wouldn't have attempted this leg/ conditions without these electronic gadgets.

The end result was a good 6 hours sleep on millpond waters, instead of no sleep in the rock n rollin' bad choice new anchorage that was abandoned.

[Peter T]

That's a great wrap for installing the red light accessory to that compass. Will have to invest, even though I probably won't need it. You just never know when you will be in that position to have the need for it. Thanks Andrew. Cheers

[Andrew]

Looks champion Andrew. You can never have too many safety “extras” on a boat. Too much can happen too quick, especially at night. I mentioned on here once, I think, we stopped to refuel at night and headed off in the direction we’d just come from. Hilarious at the time but it would have been an issue if we’d been trying to escape bad weather. Fitted compass then even though I know my sailing ground back to front, night lights can confuse you very easily.

Too true ozzie, regarding disorientation and confusion...on the same night run, had to enter and anchor in Townsville's "Duckpond " solo (seaward of Casino) but approaching from Northwards at night was mind bogglingly confusing due to zillions of shipping port lights, ships lights, mixed with flashing nav beacons, laced with yacht anchor lights and buildings lights!

Idled in at 1-1.5knots, several of the 20 or so anchored yachts/motorboats had no lights at all, up close to a yacht masthead lights too high to see etc..had a high powered torch to see hulls,

The Chartplotter, sounder and compass allowed for the best aiming point overall, then eyeball best (even with salt encrusted glasses)

My local knowledge too was invaluable, being one of my favorite anchorages.

Strangelely, The Casino's light (Green, but can change to purple) stood out dominantly among the kaleidoscopic background. (Its also near the Marina's entrance) and became my main guiding light (plus the buildings shape became clear closer in)

(Note: Approaching from seaward along the shipping channel , nav beaconed could be easier..but this year, huge channel widening dredges are operating 24/7 to enlarge the ports capacity, and legally must be avoided as well)

10x easier to navigate into some anchorages by daylight

[Andrew]

That's a great wrap for installing the red light accessory to that compass. Will have to invest, even though I probably won't need it. You just never know when you will be in that position to have the need for it. Thanks Andrew. Cheers

Finally got it all done Peter and it proved itself in the post-pandemic shakedown "cruise".

Recycled my original $20 azimuth mini-compass too, after removal (silastics a good glue, easy to change stuff later), attached the compass to a plywood base and added non-skid mat underneath that. So it's now my portable "telltale" compass. At overnight anchorages i put it inside the cabin in a easily visible spot and it indicates if the wind or tide has changed the boats direction (then it's worth a quick lookout, to see if anchor spot still ok). It's also a rough handbearing compass, about +/- 3 degrees (to see what the wind/wave direction is doing, or what direction a ship's coming from etc)

[Peter T]

Sounds perfect Andrew. Cheers