Sestrel Compass, what model?

[Eyore]

I took this home today to top up the fluid as there is a bubble in it. I assume its an aeronautical compass with the adjustable grid, the previous owner of the boat was an RAF squadron leader. Can anyone confirm the model and approximate age and if it came from a plane what plane might it be?

 

[DanTribe]

I don't think that is from an aircraft.
Looks very much like a Sestrel sailing grid compass I bought in the 1970s .[ £76 + 8% VAT from Thomas Foulkes]
Tommy Foulkes also had crates of ex WD aircraft compasses [type P8?] at that time but you had to sort through them to find a working one

 

[Eyore]

Thanks Dan, just that the grid puzzled me and its kind of a variation on a Sestrel Minor I had on a previous boat.

 

[parbuckle]

View attachment 39998 Copy off Foulkes catalogue 1984

 

[Eyore]

View attachment 39998 Copy off Foulkes catalogue 1984

Excellent,thanks. Great source of knowledge and information here as always.

 

[Tranona]

Was common kit in the 50's onwards, but if you could not afford that (which was the best) then a Heath Bosun was about half the price, but same principle. however if you were a real afficionado you paid even more and had a Sestrel Moore.

The grid compass was usually mounted either on a bulkhead underneath the tiller or on the bridge deck so the helm could look down on it.

 

[sailorman]

wasnt it called a sestral junior

 

[JumbleDuck]

wasnt it called a sestral junior

A Sestrel Junior was a small compass which you could fit onto a handle for use as a hand bearing compass or onto a bracket for use as a dinghy steering compass. It also appeared on top of a Seafix RDF set, which was a very cheap way to get one at one time. The OP has some variant of a Sestrel grid compass. The fluid will either have been Bayol, for which substitutes are available, or an alcohol mix, for which gin makes a very acceptable substitute. SIRS, who still make the Sestrel Radiant (hand bearing) and Major (steering) compasses are, in my experience, very helpful about spares and servicing for older models - it was their recommendation that I use gin in my old Radiant.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

I took this home today to top up the fluid as there is a bubble in it. I assume its an aeronautical compass with the adjustable grid, the previous owner of the boat was an RAF squadron leader. Can anyone confirm the model and approximate age and if it came from a plane what plane might it be?

Sestrel Compass - I believe now superceded by the Sestrel Moore compass

I have one the same as yours in excellent condition kept wrapped in a bag as a spare and had one on my previous boat too fixed on a bracket to port of the companionway. A very useful handhold when the compass was not attached and a liability if you forgot as the thing would disappear beneath you if you lent on it..

You can see in the photo the shoe fitting in the casting and there is a light socket too.
They are extremely good compasses and give a steady accurate reading being fully gimballed.
A small bubble should not effect its accuracy or use.

On my Twister I had no light fitted and on one occasion came out of Cherbourg at dusk heading cross channel, faced with the prospect of helming with a torch between my teeth to ensure I was able to helm a decent course. Soon after I obtained a red headtorch, learnt how to use my monitor wind vane and bought a tiller pilot ...... bliss!

Not sure what they are worth. Ebay has a few marine compasses on offer, but I was thinking of finding a new home for mine.

S.

 

[Poignard]

I have one exactly like it (Sestrel cat. no. 1111) although yours seems to be missing the light fitting.

I like using it because once you have set the desired course all you have to do is keep the needle line parallel to the two guidelines..

Coincidentally, my boat was also once owned by a senior RAF officer (an Air Commodore, I think he was). She has come down in the world since then

 

[Eyore]

I have one exactly like it (Sestrel cat. no. 1111) although yours seems to be missing the light fitting.

I like using it because once you have set the desired course all you have to do is keep the needle line parallel to the two guidelines..

Coincidentally, my boat was also once owned by a senior RAF officer (an Air Commodore, I think he was). She has come down in the world since then

Don't tell me she appeared on Mastermind ?

But to get back to compasses, yes indeed the light is missing and like Scotty Tradewind I had to use a blooming torch on a recent passage last November which does nothing for ones night vision.

Incidentally Jumble Duck, you are right. Found a small bottle of Bayol 35 with a Sestrel label in the boat so no bubbles anymore and no need to waste good gin.

 

[Daydream believer]

Mine has an electric light but the beta light no longer works so i removed it. I have just re enamelled the body
It was a 22nd birthday present along with a matching handbearing compass, so it is now 45 years old
i still use both
My compass sits under the tiller so as the boat heals I can look down on it
I have 2 GPS's & a pair of bulkhead compasses but my Sestral is the one I use
Best bit is you set the course & can forget it
Try steering to numbers when dead tired
What you can do, however, is steer 180 degrees the wrong way which I did once when i fell asleep at the helm one night

Why on earth you cannot buy a grid steering compass these days is a mystery

 

[burgundyben]

I have an identical one and always thought it to be a Sestrel Speedgrid.

 

[Poignard]

I have an identical one and always thought it to be a Sestrel Speedgrid.

I have a 1976 Sestrel catalogue here and it shows the Speed Grid (cat. no. 1152) as being very similar to the Sailing Grid (cat. no. 1111) but the Speed Grid does not have the gimballed bracket because it is intended to be fitted into a hole in the deck.

 

[KnysNê]

I have one exactly like it (Sestrel cat. no. 1111) although yours seems to be missing the light fitting.

I like using it because once you have set the desired course all you have to do is keep the needle line parallel to the two guidelines..

Coincidentally, my boat was also once owned by a senior RAF officer (an Air Commodore, I think he was). She has come down in the world since then

Hi Poingnard - I have just acquired a 1978 Miura 31 sailboat and it had this exact compass stuffed in a bag under some sails. Do you maybe have a manual and possibly can you share a photo to help me make a replacement light fitting and 'lever' for the bezel locking mechanism. Both seem to be missing on my compass.

Thanks! I know this is a long shot on a thread that is very old

Cheers,
Chad

 

[Poignard]

Hi Poingnard - I have just acquired a 1978 Miura 31 sailboat and it had this exact compass stuffed in a bag under some sails. Do you maybe have a manual and possibly can you share a photo to help me make a replacement light fitting and 'lever' for the bezel locking mechanism. Both seem to be missing on my compass.

Thanks! I know this is a long shot on a thread that is very old

Cheers,
Chad

Hi Chad.

I have taken a few photos that might help you but the WiFi in the Brittany port where I am now is so poor that I can't post them here.

But I will be back at home in the UK next week and I will send them to you then.

Please remind me if I forget.

 

[Daydream believer]

I obtained a grid compass for mounting in a hole in a worktop so for fun I made a set of gimbals. One can see the light bracket which is quite detailed.
If this is what you are looking for then I would be inclined to start from scratch & make something in plastic on a brass bracket with a different plug. Perhaps the light itself being an LED with fixed cover to protect the connection to the power lead