"Small quarrel here with sprayskirt location for compass -- tougher to maintain course when you have to keep looking down, then back to the horizon(?) in front of you. In addition, in really thick fog, should you *have* to paddle in it, vertigo leading to seasickness is a strong likelihood. It will help if you do not have to swing your head down." Agreed Dave, but Elaine was looking for somewhere other than the fore deck to mount a compass on her small folding kayak. I recomended that she choose a compass that can easily be moved around untill the ideal spot is found (the Suunto "Orca" would be good for this purpose). She was talking about not taking a compass at all, so I thought a compass on the spray skirt is better than no compass . . . (unless it makes you sick), Nick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
One last question on this topic. Has anyone ever attempted to mount a tiny compass on the paddle shaft? It may seem odd at first thought but it could be useful. Thanks to all who responded to my original question on this topic. For the time being I've made a semi-permanent mount. Here's what I did and why. First, the why part. I'm just not certain how far away I want my compass. If I put it on the forward hatch it may well be too far away to read. If I put it between the cockpit and the bungies it may be too close. Just forward of the bungies, then any gear in the bungies could block my view of the compass. Considering the indecision on this key point I elected a temporary mount but I did not want to use bungies as I think they are rather imprecise and insecure. So, here is what I did for now. I ran two new web straps across the deck forward of the bungies and rear of the forward hatch. They are parallel and about 4 inches apart. Into each strap, I sewed a pair of small loops, each about 3/16" or so, using a chopstick to ensure a consistent size. The loops are 6" apart on each strap. I made what should eventually be my permanent compass mount from a square bit of wood 5" to a side and 3/4" thick, using my router to form a curve in the lower size to match my deck. Then I drilled 3/16" holes in the corners of the wood. I secured the wood to the straps with a pair of leather shoelaces well preserved with boot wax (remember this is a temporary mount) with each lace running through two corners of the wood and through two of the strap loops, and tied off. Then I mounted the Sailor II (incidentally apparently made by the same people as the Rule 25D 500 GPM pump) compass atop the wood block using the foam tape provided. If I like this spot, I will get rid of the straps and follow another Paddlewiser's suggestion of perfecting the bottom side of the wood block with epoxy and mount it to the deck using the screws provided with the Sailor II. If another spot seems better I'll have to modify the block slightly before doing the epoxy thing. (The epoxy trick was to mix epoxy, spread it on the curved side of the wood, cover the deck with a light plastic like Saran Wrap, and set the sticky epoxy covered wood on the plastic to form it to the exact deck shape. Scrape the excess away before it sets.) jerry. >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not >to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ >*************************************************************************** > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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