Compasses

[Guest]

Can anyone give me advice on compasses that work well on a Day Sailer. I have a 1984 Spindrift DS 1 that I sail on an inland lake with maddenly shifty winds. I understand that a compass will help me deal with the shifts. I am looking for adivce on specific brands, types and also mounting locations. Thanks.

Mike Alexieff (malexieff-at-bgdailynews.com)

[Roger]

I have an Aqua Meter Saturn A149 mounted on the bulkhead starboard of the cuddy opening. It is a good location but find that it takes up one of the best backrests while I am sitting in the cockpit at anchor, and is sometimes blocked visually by the crew person sitting near it. I have a GPS velcroed to the top of the cb trunk, aft, to act as a repeater compass amoung other functions.

Here is a link to the compass http://www.shipstore.com/ss/html/DAN/DANA149.html

[Peter McMinn]

Not sure of the brand of my compass, but I like where I mounted it. It's a full-dome compass that was intended to mount into a cabin bulkhead. However, it came with a triangular frame that enabled me to position it dead center under the cuddy roof (old DS1) where it is out of the way and visible 95% of the time. The assembly fits snugly against the ceiling of the cuddy--just forward of the lip--with one threaded brass bar running vertically through the frame and ceiling to tighteners above and below.

Ughh. Hope that's not too confusing.

[Bob Hunkins]

I use a Ritchie Tactician mounted to the top of the cuddy on centerline an inch or two forward of the aft edge. Works well for me.

[Guest]

I too have the Ritchie Tactician, but I had my father-in-law make me a shelf that I hung below the Cuddy Cabin, and mounted the Compass to that. It keeps it more out of the way, but is still on centerline, and easy to see. Ed made the shelf with dovetail joints so I don't have to worry about screws close to the compass, and I used non-magnetic stainless to mount the shelf to the cabintop.

J.P. Clowes (jpclowes-at-hotmail.com)