How about the Ritchie XP-98W? Any thoughts about this? From: Thomas Buzzi <thomaspbuzzi@gmail.com> To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Saturday, March 5, 2016 1:49 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: Montgomery 15 Compass Solution With my vision I found a 3 1/4 diameter compass card was the minimum I could see from more than 4 feet away. Bought a Ritchie "Venture" for a good price. Those portable ones look like good ideas too especially if you are in your cabin. This email has been sent from a virus-free computer protected by Avast. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> <#DDB4FAA8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Fri, Mar 4, 2016 at 9:42 AM, <swwheatley@comcast.net> wrote:
Sounds like you inherited a Ritchie Navigator, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Though a tad large for an M17, that is one of the best compasses you can buy; in a completely different league than compasses discussed here recently. Among other features, Navigators can be disassembled and rebuilt so they can last forever.
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From: "Jazzy" <jazzydaze@gmail.com> To: "David Grah" <d_b_grah@yahoo.com>, "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, March 4, 2016 2:12:58 AM Subject: Re: M_Boats: Montgomery 15 Compass Solution
I'm new at all this, but by the looks of your feet, it seems you're doing it right! I just have a big ol red Ritchie compass to the right of the companion way. Today when I was messing about, I went inside to get out of the rain for a second and was wishing I had a compass with me.
Jazz
On Thu, Mar 3, 2016 at 7:10 PM, David Grah via montgomery_boats < montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
I thought I would share the compass solution I selected for my Montgomery 15. Last summer we spend a few days navigating in and out of fog on a unfamiliar lake with plenty of rocks and islands to run into, a chart with not much detail, and not many GPS points to navigate by. I used a very simple compass intended, I think for kayaks (a Ritchie Navigation SportAbout Hand Bearing Compass
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/ritchie-navigation--sportabout-hand-bearing-co... ).
It worked but only if kept level and, since there were no handy level surfaces nearby, I had to hold it to use it and that complicated my navigational process. Last fall I queired this group for suggestions on better options and got a lot of good ideas. The ones that appealed to me the most were a Richie V-57.2 Explorer Compass
https://www.ritchienavigation.com/research-compasses/compass-by-series/explo...
mounted on a drop board and Plastimo compass
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/plastimo--iris-100-universal-compass--254666
mounted somewhere (but also with the ability to take it off and take sightings with it). I ordered both but ended up using the Plastimo mounted with bungie on the back of the sliding hatch. I've only tried it once but am happy with it. I am keeping the Richie because it is a really nice compass and I will probably use for something it at some point.
I like that I mounted the Plastimo in a good spot to easily look at while navigating while at the tiller and like that I can also take it off and lay it on the cockpit bench behind me and navigate looking backward while I am leaning against the back of the cabin (I know it is sort of bad to do this, but still enjoy relaxing like that). I secure the compass with a thin elastic cord through two holes in the hatch and routed around plastic screws and nuts I added to the compass. It stays put and isn't bothered if you bump it going in and out of the cabin. See (hopefully) attached photos. David GrahBishop CaliforniaMontgomery 15 - Sky