how accurate is your compass?

[nik]

With the compact nature of consoles on ribs, there tends to be a lot of ironwork and electronics surrounding a console mounted compass.

I checked mine the other day, and it was out by 45 degrees. That could be a bit of a problem if you had to rely on it.

The compass is a ritchie make, so I dont think its a rubbish compass, its just the clobber around it. It can be adjusted, but I havent tried yet.

So, how accurate is yours?

Nick.

[mdt]

really could not say as it is sat in the garage... as you say not a lot of space on the rib and wanted to fit a fishfinder.

[Biggles]

Checked mine on the high seas and its great.

Even though its next to tons of electronics including a VHF !

[Erin]

Stating the obvious perhaps..... but I assume you've got it positioned on the 'lubber' line and not set at some angle from fore/aft.

[nik]

hmm, Lubber line?

[nik]

lets put it this way. The compass is on the centre line of the boat. And if I look down the centre line, it is off by 45 degrees.

[Chris Murray]

If you have room, one of these would be perfect!

I used to have one on my previous boat, a (far less comfortable) sports cruiser. I would put one on the Scorpion but there is nowhere to fit it.

I understand that these were built to military specification and - based on the treatment it received on my last boat - I think this is probably correct.

I am slightly reluctant to put a locker-mounted sensor to link up with the chart plotter (as I can't fit an Azimuth) because there are nasty things like anchors down there!

Chris.

[Rogue Wave]

Originally Posted by Chris Murray

If you have room, one of these would be perfect!

Chris.

Yep that#s what we use out here but if the leccy fails then you need tohave another compass, I use a lanyard plastimo something. It#s yellow and it cost about 40 quid. always ready and not surounded by wires

[Tomas]

Proper care and feeding of a magnetic compass is a subject that lends itself to some study. How to apply magnetic compass readings to charts correcting for true vs. magnetic North, even with a properly installed compass with a properly achieved deviation table is a formula based on your location latitude and longitude wise and your particular installation and being in possession of proper nautical charts.

Navigation based on compass points has been reduced to an "ancient" art as most "modern" navigators, especially pleasure boaters, utilize chart plotting GPS units and don't know a thing about compass navigation, don't own the charts to make a compass of much use and don't intend to have parallels or dividers on board either. Great suggestion for a thread "Where do you stow your Sextant on your RIB"

I don't know about the Royal Navy but the U.S. Navy abandoned Sextant Navigation training at the Navel acadamy a couple of years ago and now teaches only "Electronic" Navigation.

Forget the compass, bust for a chart plotting GPS if you travel in places where you lose visual reference to landmass and have a nice day.

Tomas

[Apherel]

whatever we do in practice, the ability to work with compass and charts remains an essential skill.

The vast majority of RIB trips are done under pilotage, and you can do that quite easily with a quick plan, a waterproof chart, compass and Breton Plotter.

OK OK, so I do check the GPS constantly, but it is small, not easy to see in bright sunlight and has failed on me a few times with fogging up, loose wiring and once when I forgot to set waypoints and it was too bloody dark and rough to set them when I was out on the water.

My compass is accurate to a few degrees -close enough while bouncing around in a small boat. Would I learn to use a sextant if going seriously offshore? - you bet.