Compasses: Is bigger better?

Ken O

Ken O

Member
My old Aqua Meter compass (R2D2) is getting sticky--if you sway it 10°-15° with a screwdriver and then let it return, it rarely returns to the original heading--often stopping 5° short. It also hunts and wanders. This is when sitting on dry land. The compass has been swung and I tested to see that nothing nearby is influencing it.

Time for a new one. I like Ritchie compasses, as I have used them on kayaks for many years. There are several size Ritchies that would work. As they get bigger, they get more expensive and block the view more.

My question is: Do I need to go into the $200-$300 range to get a compass that doesn't stick? If the smaller ones, like their Explorer don't stick, then maybe I won't benefit from a bigger compass, other than an easier-to-read dial.

Any thoughts or experience here?
Thanks!
 
Do you actually go anywhere that would make a compass useful? My boat has a compass. I also have a chartplotter, a tablet (at least one), and a phone that all can give me heading info should I need it. Also, I have never been out of sight of land.

I only look at my compass when I'm bored and curious to what it says. I'd take it out, but then I'd have to deal with the big hole in the dash.
 
The answer to "do I go anywhere that needs a compass" is a big YES. SE Alaska, for example. No cell phone service, fog, and besides, I like redundancy. I have 3+ GPS type devices onboard, but I have seen far too many electronic devices fail. A non-electric compass is a nice comfort.
 
I have used Ritchie compasses (6") on our cruising sailboats--and they are quality instruments. I have used the Ritchie Explorer or Angler on C Dorys, and found them to be a good "medium" priced (about$100 compass which is adequate.

Our last 25 had the Silva UN 70 mounted in its bracken on the pillar between the starboard and center forward widows.

DSC00413.sized.jpg


This does not obscure your vision forward, yet is very "readable", and still can be used as a hand bearing compass, (Although I prefer the hockey puck type of HBC.)
 
I like bigger because it is easy to hold your heading since you can clearly see it. But, I rarely use it to be honest....except in the really dense fog or at night. Even then, the one on my Garmin is way better.
 
You drop your phone and tablet overboard. You lose your electronics, no chart plotter. Foggy, no visual. Yeah, I guess a compass could come in handy.

Martin
 
I often use my compass near home. Coming up Perdido Bay, and then Tuning toward the Western shore where I live about 6 miles away, there is much forrest land, and not many houses. To go the shortest & safest distance, it is easiest to follow the compass heading. Sure I could set a course on the chart plotter to the way point of the entrance to Bayou Marcus, but I don't like to stare at the chart plotter, when an occasional glance shows that I am on course.
 
bridma":22y9hv08 said:
You drop your phone and tablet overboard. You lose your electronics, no chart plotter. Foggy, no visual. Yeah, I guess a compass could come in handy.
Click to expand...

Assuming that you have the proper paper chart, dividers, parallel ruler, and counter space to determine position and plot a course.

Back when I worked at Captain's Nautical Supplies, we used a rule of thumb of one inch of compass card for every 10 foot of boat. This was for larger vessels, mostly the commercial boats at Fisherman's Terminal in Seattle. That rule wouldn't work for my CD 16, which would supposedly use a 1.6 inch compass card. That would be a toy.

The other consideration was whether the boat was displacement or a planing hull. Ritchie used to make (and maybe still does) similar size compasses for this distinction. The planing hull model had more damping (probably with a more viscous liquid) so that it didn't "dance" when the boat was banging around on plane.

The "jewel" that the card rotates on does wear out. Back in the day, Captain's repaired compasses (and maybe still does for the more expensive models). The jewel on a planing hull would wear faster than for a displacement boat. The card rotation wasn't as hard on the jewel as the card dancing.

If one really wanted a useful compass onboard a C-Dory, I'd get a handbearing compass and store it (upside down to save wear on the jewel) until needed. Something like the old Weems and Plath box that can be set on the helm in a jig that aligns with the hull and read at a distance.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314450898425?c ... XQQAvD_BwE

The usefulness of a compass is that one can maintain a straight course in the dark or fog without any electronics. The only issue is whether the chosen heading is in the right direction.
 
I owned one of the Weems & Plath hand bearing compass as Marco describes for many years. It was an excellent hard bearing compass, and used many times before GPS to triangulate a position. However I would not want to use it for a steering compass.

Interesting that Marco lists compass jewels as wearing out. The life boat compass described below still swings well on its jewel pivot. My Cal 46 still had the original compass when I bought it at age of 20 years. It had been constant charter service in the Caribbean for 10 years, and then actively sailed in S. Calif or another 10 years. I put over 40,000 mile on it, and when I sold it after 10 years, the compass was still working like new.

My first exposure to compasses, was a WW II lifeboat compass. I have to assume that they were very commonly available and very cheap after WWII. I still have that compass, with its 3" real card on ledge in our family room, which has many used nautical items, such as a sextant, a few trophies, and half models of sailboats. I could not get a good photo of this particular compass, so I found a number of "reproductions" from China (cost in the $200 range). I spent hundreds of hours staring at one of these fixed on the cockpit floor sailing to Catalina Island as I was a young boy. Not recommended for a C Dory!

22130__39936__00357__58645.1581948835.jpg
 
The big center mount compass was in the way, and with chart plotter I didn’t need it, I thought. Then on a river fog moved in suddenly to less than 50 feet visibility. Tried to use chart plotter, it was too slow, especially trying to hold a smooth curve following the river. Bad, bad news. Some of us only learn the hard way. :crook

Chuck
 
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