[Paddlewise] Mounting a compass

Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 21:26:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Elaine Harmon <eharmon_at_cs.miami.edu>
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Mounting a compass

>Thanks, Nick. The idea of putting the compass on the spray skirt sounds
>doable, at least, a lot easier than a deck mount. How much does one have
>to pay for a reasonably good compass, and what should be looked for? I
>don't have kayak shops around, just places like West Marine.

>Elaine Harmon - eilidh_at_dc.seflin.org - eharmon_at_cs.miami.edu

Hi Elaine

In my opinion you can't effectively use a steering compass unless it is mounted
well forward on your boat, and I would therefore forget about putting a steering
compass on a spray deck. Ideally you just have to drop your eyes slightly and you
can see where your going and the compass AT THE SAME TIME.

Nigel Dennis, valley, P&H, and foster kayaks all are now manufactured with
recesses moulded into the decks near the front hatch to take a Silva p70 compass.
This is the ideal set up I think - the compass being protected by the recess.
However if you don't have a boat with a recess but have a boat with  VCP rubber
hatch covers, a good way of mounting a compass without resorting to tying it on
with bungies is to permanently mount the compass onto a front hatch cover. Takes
approx. two minutes to screw the compass onto the cover with a small piece of
plywood backing on the inside.
This set up doesn't offer the protection that a compass recess does, but I have
two hatch covers - one with a silva 85 mounted on it and one without for
transport/surfing/playing etc where a compass may be at risk of damage.

Silva 70 costs about 70 UK pounds, Silva 85 about 45 UK pounds.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Colin Calder
57º19'N  2º10'W

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