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A compass and/or hand bearing compass: A compass tells you which direction your boat is heading in, north, south, east, or west, as measured in degrees relative to magnetic north. There are 360 degrees representing a full circle, with 0 degrees to the north, 180 degrees to the south, 90 degrees to the east, and 270 degrees to the west.


Yacht compass stock image. Image of deck, direct, boat 21539795

Since a compass points to magnetic north, it stands to reason that any ferrous metals near the compass will affect it. Put a couple of steel washers next to your compass, and you'll see it swing toward them. Put an 800-pound block of steel — your engine — in the vicinity, and you'll get the same effect. Even worse, magnetic compasses are.


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The compass doesn't stand alone! On a boat, a compass is usually used in combination with a chart so that the sailor can determine their position and heading concerning the desired destination. Compass direction is a critical factor in navigation and sailing because it helps sailors avoid hazardous areas, find the shortest route to their.


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To check deviation all the way around the compass, approach your waypoint from several directions. You may need to use several waypoints to complete the circle. Some sailboats and a good many powerboats have two helm stations, each with a compass. Only one of these can be the master compass, so you have to designate one.


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As any new boat owner soon learns, the sport has a lingo all its own. But even old salts often have a hard time grasping the magnetic compass dialect. Ritchie Navigation explains two unusual but easily understood terms that are vitally important to the accuracy of a compass: Deviation and Compensation.


Using Your Compass

Combined with an onwater procedure, a DIY boat owner can adjust a compass to provide a correct bearing. Alternatively, a qualified technician can complete the task. Both GPS-based and line-of-sight compensation methods exist , beginning with the compass installed but not locked into its final position.


Where Should A Boat Compass Be Mounted? BoatCrunch

Tie up your boat at the buoy and tie the dinghy to the stern. Use the dinghy's engine to point to each of the landmarks and compare the master compass reading with yours. Notate the deviation for each 30 - 45 degree increment. Recheck after compensation.


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As the boat turns, the compass continues to point at magnetic north, and the course is shown (relative to magnetic north) in reference to a line, which represents the boat's heading. A compass has what is known as the "card," divided into 360 degrees. Thus, if the card reads 90 degrees, you will be steering a course due east; 180, due south.


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Most sailboat compasses have an internal gimbal so the card will stay level when the boat is heeled. Powerboat compasses compensate in one of four ways. First, by using heavy dampening fluid. Second, by installing a weight under the card to slow its motion. The third, designed by Aqua Meter, relies on an air chamber to pivot the card, which.


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The ob­jective in compass adjusting is to neutralize the boat's magnetism, not to make the compass point in any par­ticular direction. You can determine the effect of the boat's magnetic field on any compass bearing by simply turning the boat 180 for the amount that the compass overshoots or under‑shoots a 180′ change is always just.


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The bigger the boat the larger the compass that should be fitted. Adjusting and using the compass; A well found boat will have a 'Deviation Card'. This is produced after adjustment and records the residual errors or deviations. Deviation is the difference between Magnetic North and the direction the compass needle is pointing.


Boat compass stock image. Image of direction, steer, east 3777027

Before you mount the compass onboard, it is recommended that you take the boat out on the water with the compass in hand. #1. While slowly heading North, try holding the compass up to different desirable points on the dash area of the boat and observe the compass. If you notice the compass change in direction without you steering the boat, then.


use them. In this post I learn you how. How to use a boat compass? The lubber line (a small line

A marine compass is oriented so the N-S line of the compass runs through the pivot point on the compass dial and an index mark on the compass's base. This is called a "lubber's line." This line needs to be aligned along the centerline of the craft: bow/north; stern/south. Take the time to orient the N-S line because a slight offset of only.


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Stand at the backstay and take a bearing of the mast, while someone else checks the steering compass on a variety of headings. If you've got a large crew on board, you can carry out all of this at once: point the boat towards a variety of transits while checking both the hand bearing and steering compasses.


Compass Burping for Beginners Life On The Hook

A compass is maintenance-free. Just cleaning up. Clean your compass with soapy water. It is preferable to avoid solvents such as methylene, acetone or white-spirit, which are effective in the short term, but will strongly degrade the surface of the dome. If the liquid in the dome decreases, some models are equipped with a cap to make a top-up.


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A marine compass will have one set of magnets that is balanced to seek out magnetic north. Magnetic north is not true north — as in the North Pole — but the location of Earth's north polarization, near Greenland. The compass rose on nautical charts shows the difference, called variation, between true north and magnetic north for navigation.

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