CD Typhoon bulkhead mounted compass

[pjust]

I'm thinking of installing a bulkhead mounted compass in the cockpit of my Typhoon Weekender, though I'm a little nervous about putting a 3-4" hole in the bulkhead. Does anyone have experience doing this? Advice? Recommendations?

Peter Just
Spruce Head, ME
CD Typhoon Weekender #602 "Dolcetto"

[Steve Laume]

I have lots of experience with making holes in my boat. It is pretty easy with either a hole saw or a saber saw with some tape on the shoe so you don't scratch the remaining finish.

My advise would be to think about how you use your boat and how valuable that area is for seating. Is the compass going to stick out and make sitting there uncomfortable. Even more of a consideration is weather someone sitting there will block the compass.

My recommendation would be to make up a spare bottom board for the companion way and mount the compass in the board. You just slide the board in when you want or need the compass. Otherwise it is out of the way and protected from the elements. People can still sit with theirs backs against the bulkhead and they are never in the way of the compass. There is no favored side either as the compass is in the middle of the boat.

As a plus, you wouldn't be nervous because if you did mess up, you could chuck the board and start over again, Steve.

[Steve Bryant]

Hi Peter,

I agree with Steve's advice about the companionway board. I made a low board from a piece of cherry shelving that came out of an old bookcase and relocated my compass from the bulkhead. You can step over it very easily and stow it when you don't need it. Made my wife very happy too that I improved her lounging space.

Good Luck,

[Joe M]

I'm with the two Steves on this. The bulging 3 inch Plastimo or Ritchie compasses are easy to read but uncomfortable to lean against. I'm all for the small compass on the companionway board. However that being said my Ty came with the bulkhead mount and I've been too lazy to take it out and fill in the hole. Like most things on a boat its gonna come down to personal preference. I like the simplicity of the Ty and have taken off almost all of the “upgrades” the previous owners added over the years including additional mooring cleats, a Chelsea Brass barometer, a 5 inch brass ships bell, swim ladder base plates, winch handle pockets, heel angle indicator, flag staff mount, tiller tender, and assorted clips, hooks and hanger-on things.

If you’re gonna cut that hole in the bulkhead I’d use a hole saw so you get a perfectly round opening sized exactly to the compass template. You’ll also have to cut through the cabin liner. I have an ’84 Ty and the space between the bulkhead and the cabin liner is about a half inch. Cutting through both with a saber saw and getting clean lines can be a challenge. Also a slight variance with a saber saw and you may not get a good gasket seal.
Pete, my advice, keep it simple.

Enjoy the fall sailing, Joe

[Markst95]

never did mount the GPS.

[pjust]

Many thanks , Steves et al. This is a most helpful solution!

[RIKanaka]

On the Typhoon that I previously owned the compass was mounted on the aft wall of the cockpit, which worked out pretty well for me. No problems with anyone blocking the view or being uncomfortable leaning up against it.

[pjust]

Many thanks! The idea of making a navigation lowboard to hold a compass, etc. is a great one!

pj

[Skeep]

I've looked and looked at these compasses and the solutions. Yet I find myself using dead-reckoning most of the time. There seems also to be a sub-topic in this conversation about mounting compasses to that of need of compasses. I find I simply don't need one. However, if I had to mount it, I'd agree with the Steves and Markst on their methods.

[sharkbait]

I like Bob Chinn's idea of installing the compass on the inspection plate for the aft trunk.

[Steve Laume]

I keep a little deck mounted compass on Raven. It isn't mounted to anything, so I can move it all over the boat. I had intended to mount it down below somewhere but never found the right place. On my last trip, I used it a good bit. Sometimes I would have it in my bunk while napping or reading and other times it would be at the "nav station". I would also set it on the bridge deck while I was tucked under the dodger. I would not want to cross oceans with this thing but it was extremely useful for making sure that I was still, roughly, on course. I would generally wedge it in somewhere so it didn't slide around but I believe it would stay put pretty well if it had some rubber glued to it's bottom.

A permanently mounted compass is a very good thing but for day sailing in familiar waters, this might be an easy solution, Steve.

[Skeep]

Kudos to Bob for being able to re-orient his thinking to look at the compass behind him to see his way forward! I have directional issues with that mount that he doesn't have!

[Steve Laume]

My thought was that the rear mounted compass might make taking bearings on things a bit more difficult. I would definitely have a hard time steering while looking back, Steve.

[Gary H]

If you ever do any racing around the buoys, I was taught by a member of our club to use the compass to know when you should tack because you are up against a header. Take a bearing on your destination and if you are more than 45 degrees from that bearing - when close hauled, you should think about tacking. Helpful on a lake with constantly shifting winds.

[bamabratsche]

I had an old broken bulkhead mounted compass on mine when I first got it, but took it off and filled in the hole. At the time I was mostly daysailing in the same area, and figured it was not worth the expense to replace it with a new one. I carried a small hand held hiking compass for emergencies, but honestly never used it at all. This year I have been doing a number of multi-day trips to parts of the Chesapeake I'm not familiar with, so decided I needed something more robust. My solution was a deck-mounted model originally designed for a kayak that I mounted on the companionway hatch. It was much cheaper than a bulkhead mounted model, is visible from the whole cockpit no matter who's sitting where, and installation consists of driving two wood or sheet metal screws into the surface with the heads standing proud then twisting the unit onto them to lock it in place. It's also removable if needed.



If you do decide to go the bulkhead route, it appeared that whoever installed mine just drilled a bunch of normal-sized holes in the shape of a circle with very little space between them, kind of like the perforated edge around a stamp. I'm sure this technique has a name but I don't know what it is. You can sort of see it in this photo (taken in the middle of a deck recore and repainting so apologies for the mess).