Best Bulkhead Compass?

[BOAT]

Not really - The aft cabin bulkhead on the Ericson is not perpendicilar to the centerline. Those boats need a shim - I think we used a gimbal mount on the Balboa 26 too becasue the aft cabin bulheads were also tapered at an angle. The front of the compas housing MUST be pointed exactly dead ahead, not one or two or three points off. I looked around on the internet and I think (?) I found the Richi compass that you guys installed?? Is it the BN-202? (No one gave me a catalog number).

Anyway, I looked up the BN-202 and downloaded the mounting templet and right there on the templet is said this:

block MUST be used to make the
If mounting this Compass to a bulkhead
that is NOT perpendicular (90° angle)
to the centerline of the boat and/or NOT
vertical (90° angle) to the waterline of
the boat (boat on level keel), a fairing
compass so.

http://www.ritchienavigation.com/docs/N ... BN-202.pdf

[Russ]

Some interesting points about being perpendicular to the lubber line.

I've looked at the M cockpit bulkhead and thought it doesn't look perpendicular. Slightly angled and curved. If mounting a compass there I would be absolutely sure else you end up in a different destination. It would seem to need some kind of shim to make it so.

And we all know compasses rarely point to the North pole. You have deviation and variation to account for.

--Russ

[yukonbob]

FYI declination is the word people are looking for.

[DaveB]

I like the Ritchie without the Clinometer as I like the Clinometer at center line of boat, that leaves companion way hatch and spend $100 less for this.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00197NXE8/ref ... B00197NXE8
It's same except without the destorsion of the Clinometer . Who wants to be looking at that all the time when you only want a heading.
Pain in the Butt, eyes arn't focus and who needs heel indecators in our boats anyways.
Better yet have previous on Port side and this one on starboard Bulkhead when your doing 20 knots.
http://www.amazon.com/Ritchie-SS-PR2-Su ... m_sbs_sg_7
Dave

[BOAT]

I don't like that one because it does not show the degrees on the top of the dial.

[DaveB]

If you are refuring to the Non Clinometer than both has same builtin dial, same headings back and front.
What are you saying?
Personally I think I just look at my GPS with Compass and just head out. My Sextant is in a Fish Tank for show.
My 249-229 Tables are dusting along with my American Pratical Navigator 3 volums, Duttons, and others.
Maybe I should dust them off and see what I have missed.
I guess this time of age most depend on electronic devices. I do but still Dead reconing if all else fails.
Just one that belives if sh*t happens it will and been there and done that.
Dave

I don't like that one because it does not show the degrees on the top of the dial.

[BOAT]

The BN-202 has the degree numbers on the TOP of the dail and also on the EDGE of dial so I can read the degrees that I am NOT sailing on the top of the dial. Sometins I will just glance at the compass and tell the helm (my wife) "set course to 330"

And if we are headin north at that time she will slowly turn the boat to port until the dial is at 330 - that way I can tend the sails and I already know what to expect. Usualy I make corse corrections liek that because the wind changed here about once an hour as the day progresses.

I need to SEE the degrees on the top of the dial so I can tell here what heading to take.

The dila on the BN-202 is not the same as the one you mentioned:

http://www.ritchienavigation.com/catalo ... 2F268E72FD

[mika]

Thanks for all of the very helpful input, guys. Thanks for commenting. If I understood you correctly, YukonBob, your compass can be removed to protect it from theft. I would like that! I gather that your's is NOT the Richie BN-202 we've been discussing? Do the rest of you have any apprehension about potential theft of your compass? I guess it's more of an issue for those us who leave our boats unsupervised in a marina. BTW, I only want the compass to help my admiral to sustain her heading when at the helm, so the accuracy of the reading is less crucial to me. I use my GPS for navigation.

[sunshinecoasting]

Just a thought from me....... personally I would never mount a compass in that position on an M or an X, it is the MOST comfortable position to put your back against once you have finished sailing and are enjoying a few drinks back at the marina, put a bulhead compass there and it will stick in your back and be very uncomfortable. Mount one on your consul, that's what it is for, oh and it holds up your steering wheel.

Cheers, Dennis.

[mika]

Just a thought from me....... personally I would never mount a compass in that position on an M or an X, it is the MOST comfortable position to put your back against once you have finished sailing and are enjoying a few drinks back at the marina, put a bulhead compass there and it will stick in your back and be very uncomfortable. Mount one on your consul, that's what it is for, oh and it holds up your steering wheel.

Ah, very good point, Dennis. I will sure keep that in mind.

[BOAT]

That's a good point sunshine, never thought of that.

[Tomfoolery]

I already had a hole there from a wind instrument that didn't work (came with the boat), so I used it for the compass. I needed to get the super-cheap compass off the top of the pedestal anyway, as I needed room for the other instruments.

But as Sheldon Cooper would say, referring to the port side, where there is nothing but empty bulkhead, "That's my spot!"

[Catigale]

If your compass is just a few degrees off, can't you just correct this when you swing it (correcting fr metal and electrical currents ) after mounting?

[Tomfoolery]

If your compass is just a few degrees off, can't you just correct this when you swing it (correcting fr metal and electrical currents ) after mounting?

I would assume so, but that brings up another point that I forgot about until now. When I motor with the mast down, I use a mast crutch extender at the helm, which is nothing more than a length of steel pipe with an aluminium tube sleeve over it (it's actually part of a broken spreader) that raises the crutch 12 inches. Having that piece of pipe there messed up the original PO-installed compass pretty badly, and even if it was adjustable, it would change depending on whether the extension was there or not.

Of course, I could possibly have done something in aluminium or SS, but the joint was right at the top of the hole, so the max bending moment was right at the joint, and the pipe takes all of it. I wasn't about to spend cash I'm accumulating for a new main sail on a hefty piece of anything other than a 2 ft galvanized pipe nipple.

And as I said - I need that space for instruments the PO had strapped to a length of tube plugged into that hole. Gotta do something better there, and soon.

[BOAT]

If your compass is just a few degrees off, can't you just correct this when you swing it (correcting fr metal and electrical currents ) after mounting?

No, the heading error changes at different points on the dial because of the magnets. You need to mount compensating things like big balls of steel or other stuff.