Using the compass or not?

C

CAVU

New member
I just read a couple of posts on another thread advising someone that they probably didn't need a compass since they could use the GPS. That got me to thinking about how I have always navigated using the GPS and compass. I have never owned one of the mapping type units and with my older technology GPS I have always put in a waypoint, checked the bearing to the point and turned the boat on the compass to that heading. After a minute or two, I check the cross-track error and make minor corrections on the compass to stay on course. With my older GPS unit, if I try to use the steering arrow I end up S-turning back and forth across the course track because it is too slow reacting. I am curious if the new units are easier to follow your track without reference to the compass? I have navigated this way for so long I don't think I would ever be comfortable without a good compass. Curious how others would use their units.
 
Compass? What's a compass?? :wink: :wink:


CAVU":2kypgop8 said:
I just read a couple of posts on another thread advising someone that they probably didn't need a compass since they could use the GPS. That got me to thinking about how I have always navigated using the GPS and compass. I have never owned one of the mapping type units and with my older technology GPS I have always put in a waypoint, checked the bearing to the point and turned the boat on the compass to that heading. After a minute or two, I check the cross-track error and make minor corrections on the compass to stay on course. With my older GPS unit, if I try to use the steering arrow I end up S-turning back and forth across the course track because it is too slow reacting. I am curious if the new units are easier to follow your track without reference to the compass? I have navigated this way for so long I don't think I would ever be comfortable without a good compass. Curious how others would use their units.
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What's a compass?

It's the thing that can point the correct direction to get you out of the fog AFTER THE GPS QUITS due to power failure, broken antenna or wire, or the chip inside the GPS just dies. :teeth
 
Interesting topic.

I'm generally a very conservative, safety oriented boater, but when we bought Naknek I didn't even bother with an "installed" compass on the limited dash space that was available. I find the GPS aspects of the Raymarine system totally acceptable (the mediocre C-Map cartography is another matter...).

Having said that, I wouldn't go out without my old handheld GPS as a backup system! I think redundancy is very important, and the higher the technology, the greater the opportunity it may fail; often with serious consequences. We RELY on technology and it works MOST of the time; so BE PREPARED.

With that in mind, you will also find my fifty year old Boy Scout handheld compass in its permanent spot next to the helm; just in case!

Casey
C-Dory Naknek
 
I for one would NEVER go out without a compass. I have a chartplotter and a backup hand held backup, but I would NEVER be without my PAPER chart and my compass.
I would not recommend it.
Too many things can happen. I think that todays electronics give folks a false sense of security. It is too easy for electronic systems to go south and then what are you going to do?
Chart AND compass. Don't leave home without them. There are lots of compasses out there... small ones, flush mount etc. Surely you can find one that will work for you.
It is important to have the compass installed AND calibrated for your vessel and that it be mounted such that electronics and communications equipment do not affect the bearing.
The more I fish offshore the more value I put on the old school equipment... When it comes to something that can help me find my way home I am all about affording one on my boat.
 
Last year we had had a problem with our chartplotter that Raymarine thought was related to a faulty GPS antenna. After changing out the antenna the unit worked perfectly until a couple of weeks later while on our trip on Lake Superior. After the first night at anchor we turned the unit on to be greeted again by a “NO FIX” display. After a few choice epithets, we decided to continue our 250 mile trip on map and compass. We did so without incident whereas proceeding without them would have been foolhardy. There’s nothing like the comfort of both belt and suspenders.
Al
 
CAVU":tia0oalz said:
I just read a couple of posts on another thread advising someone that they probably didn't need a compass since they could use the GPS.
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Ken, in my opinion there is a vast chasm between not needing a compass because of GPS and not carrying a compass because of GPS.

I seriously doubt that even the least experienced boater, let alone a C-Dory owner would ever consider heading out of sight of land without a compass of some kind on board. I would bet every C-Dory owner here carries one at all times.

Surely more than one owner here has a story where Dead Reckoning with a compass, a watch, and the tach got them home when a fog suddenly came up. I sure do, though the skivvies I wore that day are long gone due to the buttonholes pinched in them that day!

I use GPS 100% of the time and if that fails, there's a little Magellan hand held aboard. If the satellites fail and I happen to be out of sight of land, after a few short prayers that it was a system failure not terrorists, I can break out the double side sticky tape and mount my pre-compensated compass, pull out my fairly gross chart book and make for home.

Handheld compasses are fine. They're the boating equivalent of those little "spare tires" most new cars have. Enough to get one home safely in a pinch, given the relatively short distances we deal with compared to boats with far more range.

Of course, my opinion is worth precisely what you paid for it. :wink:
 
I hope I didn't come across as critical of anyone's decision about a compass as I am sure everyone has some type aboard. I was more interested in navigation technique and using the compass in conjuntion with the GPS. As a side note, if you have paper charts with a good depth finder aboard, you can do a good job of coastal nav by following depth contours in the fog. I often used this technique fishing around the corner at Neah Bay when all I had was a very cranky LORAN unit and a compass. I couldn't agree more with all the statements about back-up units. I even carry a back-up compass(small handheld). Three years ago while fishing off the west coast of Vancouver Island, the rough water caused my main compass, a Ritche mid-price model, to come off its pivot and the card was jammed useless against the side of the dome! You can't be too careful.
 
No compass on board at all not a good idea to me, but I do not take up space to mount one. Have the Raymarine chart plotter mounted, the Garman 76S for back-up redundancy, compass (or two...have not dug that deep in the bag in a while) always in the "just keep this bag on the boat bag..", mounted VHF, hand held VHF again for back-up redundancy, binoculars...wow... you can see further on the roof!!! :lol: If I get lost with all of that.... I might consider taking up knitting...indoors, at home, on land. From what I see of most C-Dory owners.... find your way around stuff is generally not in short supply. Most of us drive cars instead of walking too. That big ol most of the time floating/spinning compass might be loosing its appeal as a mount it there and leave it item..
 
I would encourage everyone to simply get a "Kayaker" compass. I velcro'd mine to the dash, but you can also use the adhesive tape that comes with it if preferred. It has a big glass bezel that is large enough to read at a glance, and sitting flush on the dash, looks like one of the big buck in dash installation mounts, but you can move it anywhere you like. $17-24.

C-Dawg4.jpg
 
Compass aboard is a must! Electronics can fail. Even backups can fail. But, the question is - what compass? A big one mounted on the limited space of the dashboard, that is really only there as a backup to the backup? Not for us. Like Casey, we have a primary Garmin GPS system that has a beautiful compass display and a backup handhelp GPS (in our ditch bag) with a good compass display AND a Boy Scout handheld compass that has had a lot of experience taking bearings from the scouting days, and even from the boating with LORAN days. That little compass is all we need and I think has greater usefulness than a mounted compass. I can take accurate bearings to land points, lights at night, etc. with the handheld that would be a problem with a mounted compass, unless you want to spend time swinging your boat around from bearing to bearing.
We also second the motion that navigating by depth sounder can also be a good "backup" -- in dense fog, with radar and GPS going, we also routinely track the depth with the chartplotter and sounder.
 
Me like compass, I'm always comparing my gps info with the compass heading and checking steering corrections with the compass. My compass has a magnetic mount that just sticks to the back of the electric windshield wiper....did I ever tell the story about how we ended up in Guam? :)
 
I agree with the belt-and-suspenders approach to navigation, but in answer to one of Cavu's questions: yes, modern GPS chartplotters take bearings every second and you can steer straight by their course. Was surprised to hear Blue-C's use of a magnetic mount for his compass -- doesn't the magnet affect the reading? Put my portable speakers on the dash too close to the compass one time and magnets threw it way off.

(Although I have a lousy sense of direction, I seem to always be able to find my way to the nearest pub!)
 
Iza just funnin you....had a friend that got messed up out in the fog off the mouth of the Columbia because he had a portable radio by his compass and didn't realize the impact it had on his compass
 
Tom, I have a Furuno unit without mapping capability, but I thought they all worked the same. I believe they require the boat make some headway for a certain distance before they can compute which direction you are going? I usually experience several days of fog during my summer fishing trips and have found that it is not easy to steer a straight line in the fog. When I have tried to use the compass display on my GPS I find I am constantly "chasing" the arrow. You have to maintain a fairly constant heading to give the machine a chance to compute a direction. My real world experience with my GPS tells me this is very difficult without a compass to monitor my heading. I am not saying it can't be done, but without the compass I would make a much longer more crooked track.
 
B~C":326pq87a said:
Iza just funnin you....
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Yeah, he was just kidding about the magnet. He's real serious about his compass. He even drained the liquid out of it so it wouldn't move around so much.

I used the compass once in the fog to point out to my buddy (who is far more experienced on the water than me) that we were going the wrong way. Other than that time, I have not yet had to rely on it. I do look at it frequently just because it's cool, but I don't really understand all I know about using it.

Now let's hear from some of you old salts and sages a little lesson on calibrating, checking and maintaining the compass. Not just links to web sites, either - I got Google. Real world experience is so much more valuable.

As for my compass vs. my GPS.... Well, my compass is sitting right square between the wheel and the front window, and the GPS is off to the side. Before the boat goes back in the drink for another season, I am swapping the two around.

Thanks for the info, both posted and forthcoming.
 
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