Hand Bearing Compass

[SeaBelle]

It just ocurred to me to mention this. Like most of my 'inventions', this may have been invented before, but FWIW,

I crew on a friend's Sabre 452 with all the electronic gadgets. One day last year we were looking for a buoy and hadn't seen it yet. I asked my usual 'where should it be' and got a typical response '52* off the starboard 2.1 miles out', still nothing. Then the light bulb turned on, I got the old hand bearing compass, found 52*, and there it was. Now it's kept in the cockpit (in a handy locker under the dodger) and used often for that application. Very handy. Also, while it's reassuring to see a buoy, it's VERY reassuring to know that our GPS position is confirmed at least by a LOP.

I'm sure there are other uses for old tools one might feel have been made obsolete by today's technology. Let's hear them.

[Neil Gordon]

Jack,

What a concept! Sailing by looking around.

Something else that's fun:

Take the lat/lon from the GPS, run your finger down and across the paper chart, note the depth and see how that compares to the sounder. You can also eyeball a DR track (see note below) and see if predicted changes in depth, as you follow the track, actually occur.

Note for those 1/2 century or older: To compensate for the effects of aging on memory, draw lines on the paper chart to show what direction you are going and also make little marks and note things like time, speed, course, etc.

[Mathias]

In the prologue to his book "Compass" Alan Gurney tells the wonderful tale of a decked-out, fully electronic, very expensive sailing ship launched in 1998. In the first night out, a moonless, pitch-black night, all electronics fail. At that point the skipper realizes that there was not a single magnetic compass aboard.

Points go to the person who can guess what technique the skipper used to return to harbor.

-Mathias

[barfwinkle]

took a bearing using the stars?

[henry hey]

I have a nice little hand-bearing compass. The brand escapes me but I think it is a french name. I picked it up at West Marine. It works just fine but life sure did get a lot easier once I got my Steiner binocs with the integrated compass. It's so much easier to see your range points when you have an optic better than the naked eye and the compass in-line.

If you intend to make a practice of range finding, I highly recommend a pair of these. There is a good west-branded set for $500.

h

[mgphl52]

In the prologue to his book "Compass" Alan Gurney tells the wonderful tale of a decked-out, fully electronic, very expensive sailing ship launched in 1998. In the first night out, a moonless, pitch-black night, all electronics fail. At that point the skipper realizes that there was not a single magnetic compass aboard.

Points go to the person who can guess what technique the skipper used to return to harbor.

-Mathias

Drop a hook and wait for daybreak?
Sail towards the city lights?
Listen for the sea bouy and follow the channel markers?

-michael

[John Vigor]

In the prologue to his book "Compass" Alan Gurney tells the wonderful tale of a decked-out, fully electronic, very expensive sailing ship launched in 1998. In the first night out, a moonless, pitch-black night, all electronics fail. At that point the skipper realizes that there was not a single magnetic compass aboard.

Points go to the person who can guess what technique the skipper used to return to harbor.

-Mathias

(a) When you say all electronics failed, does that include portable radios?

(b) When you say the night was pitch-black, do you mean visibility was totally restricted, or could he see the stars?

In the case of (a) he could use a cheap AM radio to home in on a commercial station on land. Radios don't often fail.

In the case of (b) he could find north or south very easily.

Otherwise he could could use a lead line to navigate by soundings if he wasn't too far offshore.

Or he could magnetize a needle and float it on water to make a rudimentary compass.

Or he could heave to and wait until dawn to navigate by the sun.

Or he could do what the ancient Polynesians did and judge the angle of the prevailing swell, watch the seabirds returning to land after a day's fishing, and so on.

Or he could look and see which side of the mast the moss is growing on.

Cheers,

John Vigor

[Neil Gordon]

Points go to the person who can guess what technique the skipper used to return to harbor.

Steer between the buoys?

Follow in wake of ship that has [MY HOME PORT] on transom?

Best guess at compass course based on prevailing wind?

Backtrack along trail of styrofoam coffee cups cavalierly tossed overboard?

[tartansailor]

If he was any good, he would do what Bowditch did
in a similar circumstance.

Dick

[Neil Gordon]

If he was any good, he would do what Bowditch did in a similar circumstance.

Lie ahull while writing the 1500 page definitive treatise on navigation?

[John Vigor]

Well, Mathias and Dick, you've kept us in suspense for long enough.

How did the skipper get back to port?
What did Bowditch do?

Cheers,

John Vigor

[S/V Necessity]

I couldn't take it any longer so I googled the book and author and read the prologue. I would say Neils comment reguarding guessing compass course based on prevailing wind was spot on. So points to Neil!
They tied a scrap of cloth to a stay and shown a light on it and hoped the wind didn't change direction....
I sure hope they bought a handheld gps when they got back to shore.... Err I mean compass! yeah compass...

[Mathias]

Well, sorry I kept you all in suspense for so long, but I was otherwise occupied for the last couple of days.

Ten points go to Neil Gorden. He read the premise accurately. Yes, it was pitch black. Ergo, no stars. Hell, who even knows if the electronic-dependent skipper was sextant conversant, let alone competent.

And, to those who guessed heaving to and waiting for sun-light, I confess, that it would have been the method I would have resorted to as well.

But Neil nailed it. (Alliteration intended.) It was by wind alone that the skipper returned. The night being so dark, the wind vane at the masthead was not visible, so he tied a tell-tale to a shroud and prayed the wind would remain steady. Then ordered a tack and sailed the reciprocal course based on the tell-tale.

This being the prologue to the book on how the compass was developed, the author then went on to explain how, in the early days of the Mediterranean, sailors did not have a compass or even directions such as north, south, east and west, but named directions after the prevailing winds of the seasons.

And therefore, John Vigor also receives ten points, by pointing out that the Polynesians used the very same technique. In fact, .... wait... it looks like Vigor might be pulling ahead, because he gets another half-point by reminding us that we can recreate a compass with a bowl of water and a needle.

No, wait.... he gets an extra quarter-point by thinking of RDF, or radio direction finder.

I inherited an RDF when I bought my Hans Christian 33 four years ago and junked the unit. But any old-timer will remind me that even if I have a cheap AM radio atenna, it will receive best if I extend the antenna out perpendicular to a sending station, thereby guiding me toward land. Only a quarter point for this because it would guide a skipper back toward land, but not necessarily back to his original port.

Fair (and steady) winds,
-Mathias

[Neil Gordon]

No, wait.... he gets an extra quarter-point by thinking of RDF, or radio direction finder.

How do you do RDF with no electronics?

[John Vigor]

I inherited an RDF when I bought my Hans Christian 33 four years ago and junked the unit. But any old-timer will remind me that even if I have a cheap AM radio atenna, it will receive best if I extend the antenna out perpendicular to a sending station, thereby guiding me toward land. -Mathias

No Mathias, you've forgotten the principle of RDF. This old-timer will remind you that the antenna must be end-on to the transmitting station, not perpendicular. You're seeking a "null," the point where the noise disappears, not where it's receiving best. When the radio goes silent, your ferrite antenna is pointing to the station along its length.

And there's no reason why it couldn't guide you back exactly to your home port. It depends what AM station you tune in to, and where that station is located. If it's your hometown station, bingo, problem solved!

Cheers,

John Vigor