On 9/10/2015 7:45 PM, David Grah via montgomery_boats wrote: David, I built a new lower hatch board and added a teak binocular holder. It contained my 7 X 50 binoculars; my GPS; my VHF radio, and in the right hand corner I had a small Grundig radio with antenna that was in the slot of the hatch board, and therefore protected . However I also wanted a compass. I ruled out the normal - cut a hole in the end of the cabin and mount it there. But, then you have a bulge where you want to lean.... That makes relaxed sitting uncomfortable. My solution was to mount a small Ritchie compass on a teak block, with the forward bottom edge of the block rounded off to fit the molding. In that position , the compass was visible to the helmsman P/S, out of the way; easily stowable when not needed. The block assured alignment, or if my foot touched it and moved it it was immediately evident and could be put back in its proper place with my shoe. It worked nicely for me (I also had a good hand held compass available from our big boat) for taking bearings. Connie
This summer, during a week on the Great Slave Lake, I had occasion t have to navigate through fog in .unfamiliar waters with rocks and islands to run into. I had loaded a number of way points into my GPS but not enough to navigate in the limited visibility. I relied heavily on chart and a compass and it all worked out. The compass I carry on our Montgomery 15 is a very simple handheld compass (a Ritchie Navigation SportAbout Hand Bearing Compass http://www.westmarine.com/buy/ritchie-navigation--sportabout-hand-bearing-co...). I worked well enough for us to survive in fog on the big lake but it only would read right if held very close to level to the horizon. As a result, to read it I had to hold it carefully level along with steering and navigating. I'd like to find a better compass option. Ideally the compass wouldn't be permanently mounted so it doesn't take up valuable surface that I might want to lean against at anchor but could be deployed at read easily at all angles of heel when underway. What good compass solutions have the fine people in this group come up with? Thanks! David GrahBishop CaliforniaMontgomery 15 - Sky