Removing the compass

[lustyd]

Has anyone removed their ships compass? I'm rearranging the instruments at the helm while modernising and realised that I don't really use the compass anyway. The new instrument pods are all pretty deep which will make it awkward to see the compass or will cause a compromise on the instrument pods. I obviously have other compasses on board including hand bearing, a bunch of electronic ones (all independent), watches, phones.

I don't really want to start a debate on the value of compasses, I'm just curious to know if anyone has removed theirs? I think I'd probably want one for an ocean passage, but for UK/channel stuff I'm not sure. Given how I said I'm certainly not sure I'd fit one to a new boat, but removing one feels a bit naughty!

 

[john_morris_uk]

I'm not sure you comply with SOLAS if you remove your magnetic compass. Here's the relevant line from SOLAS V

2.1 All ships irrespective of size shall have:
.1 a properly adjusted standard magnetic compass, or other means,
independent of any power supply to determine the ship's heading and display the reading at the main steering position;

I don't know how you're going to achieve 'independent of any means' as an alternative if you don't have magnetic.

'Ships' means vessels of any size and purpose in case you think that it doesn't apply to leisure sailors and moboers.

Personally, I' d never dream of removing the magnetic compass. It's a fail safe backup and it requires no power...

Here's the legal pages if you're interested. mgn489-amendment-pleasure-vessels.pdf. and solas_v_on_safety_of_navigation.pdf

I am sure you're aware that SOLAS isn't optional any more (although the degree of compliance required depends on the size of the vessel) the compass requirement applies to all...

 

[Beelzebub]

Has anyone removed their ships compass? I'm rearranging the instruments at the helm while modernising and realised that I don't really use the compass anyway. The new instrument pods are all pretty deep which will make it awkward to see the compass or will cause a compromise on the instrument pods. I obviously have other compasses on board including hand bearing, a bunch of electronic ones (all independent), watches, phones.

I don't really want to start a debate on the value of compasses, I'm just curious to know if anyone has removed theirs? I think I'd probably want one for an ocean passage, but for UK/channel stuff I'm not sure. Given how I said I'm certainly not sure I'd fit one to a new boat, but removing one feels a bit naughty!

I'm definitely "old guard" in that I view the main compass as the boat's most important instrument. A swung compass with deviation card in a prominent position is for me the most comforting of all navigation aids. I state this having worked in marine electronics for nearly thirty years in a previous life.

 

[Praxinoscope]

The compass is the last thing I would lose from the boat, in fact I have 4 on board, the main steering compass, a small compass mounted by the chart table, a hand bearing compass, and the compass in my binoculars.

 

[john_morris_uk]

The compass is the last thing I would lose from the boat, in fact I have 4 on board, the main steering compass, a small compass mounted by the chart table, a hand bearing compass, and the compass in my binoculars.

I'm feeling inadequate again as we only have three. Main steering compass. Handbearing compass. One in one of the pairs of bino's

 

[pvb]

.1 a properly adjusted standard magnetic compass

How many leisure boats have ever had their compasses "properly adjusted"?

 

[john_morris_uk]

How many leisure boats have ever had their compasses "properly adjusted"?

Mine is - but don't shoot the messenger. I don't make the rules.

 

[pvb]

Mine is - but don't shoot the messenger. I don't make the rules.

You're one in a million! But we knew that already.

 

[bitbaltic]

I hardly ever look at the compass on my own boat and sometimes forget to take the cover off at sea.

however, I well remember a screaming foul night on a RORC boat about 5 years ago, I was at the helm and through the spray the only instrument I could reliably see was the compass. Keeping the lights of a competitor over a stanchion and keeping a compass course I think I actually made the best of the circumstances and the skipper was very pleased with the progress in tough conditions.

why have less stuff

 

[bitbaltic]

How many leisure boats have ever had their compasses "properly adjusted"?

Been on my list for a decade and still on my list

 

[pvb]

Been on my list for a decade and still on my list

When I first got my previous boat, I decided I'd swing the compass. Off I went, with good intentions, but I found it was difficult to get a screwdriver to locate with the adjustment magnets. So I took the compass off the pedestal, and found that there weren't any adjustment magnets. In the end, I left it as it was.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Properly adjusted might merely mean you’ve got a deviation card. (I admit that having carefully adjusted our compass to one degree error or so I didn’t bother making a card; I can’t steer to that accuracy...)

 

[lustyd]

How many leisure boats have ever had their compasses "properly adjusted"?

More to the point how many leisure vessels maintain a suitable distance between the compass at the helm and the electronics...at the helm. Quite common to see a plotter next to one or a handheld VHF.

 

[Lucky Duck]

I am sure you're aware that SOLAS isn't optional any more (although the degree of compliance required depends on the size of the vessel) the compass requirement applies to all...

No mention of that section in government publications nor the RYA website

SOLAS regulations for pleasure boat users

 

[Resolution]

How many leisure boats have ever had their compasses "properly adjusted"?

Excellent question. Twenty years ago when I ran a charter fleet in the Solent one of the coding requirements was to have compasses adjusted and a deviation card produced And updated annually:

“18.1
Navigational Equipment
Magnetic Compass
A vessel should be fitted with an efficient magnetic compass and valid deviation card (updated annually) complying with the following requirements as appropriate:-
.1 In a steel vessel, it should be possible to correct the compass for co-efficients B,C and D and heeling error.
.2 The magnetic compass or a repeater should be fitted with an electric light and so positioned as to be clearly readable by the helmsman at the main steering position;
.3 Means should be provided for taking bearings as nearly as practicable over an arc of the horizon of 360 degrees. (This requirement may be met by the fitting of a pelorus or, in a vessel other than a steel vessel, a hand bearing compass.)”

Finding someone to do this professionally was not easy, the process took time and was a right royal pain in the transom.

 

[Rappey]

I have a calibratable compass in my watch... As lustyd points out, so many boats have a plethora of electronics right next to the compass.. but i guess a power failure would then make it ok..

 

[lustyd]

I'm not sure you comply with SOLAS if you remove your magnetic compass.

Hand bearing compass would seem to comply with that, as long as it's on the boat, and it is.

 

[lustyd]

I have a calibratable compass in my watch... As lustyd points out, so many boats have a plethora of electronics right next to the compass.. but i guess a power failure would then make it ok..

I know you were kidding, but it would, of course, depend on how much damage the electronics had done to the magnet before the power cut.

I'm getting the feeling nobody has removed their compass yet! Imagine the conversation when the first ship did away with a mast...

 

[TernVI]

I use the compass a lot, even in a dinghy.
On the yacht, we haven't formally swung the binnacle comapss for many years, but we do some simple checks now and then.
The TackTick dinghy compass is amazingly accurate.
Trying to calibrate an electronic compass from a certain major yotty electronics company is amazingly frustrating.
But a big digital display is good for spotting lifts and headers, even if the actual numbers don't mean much.

You realise a compass is a Good Thing, when you stop the boat in fog and tide and the GPS no longer gives you a clue which way you are pointing.

 

[lustyd]

You realise a compass is a Good Thing, when you stop the boat in fog and tide and the GPS no longer gives you a clue which way you are pointing.

Yes, but I'm talking about a boat with a proper electronics package so that doesn't happen on my boat because I have a heading sensor (aka compass).