Steve & Group, I have found the same to be true. I have both a bulkhead mounted compass and a handheld GPS. I have a simple shock-cord mount for the GPS on my top hatch board. At a glance the GPS give me; current heading, current speed, max. speed, time of day, and distance traveled. I use a Garmin GPS-12 which is several years old and cost around $150 when new. I am not sure about battery life, I seem to change them twice per season .... when I remember to turn it off when done sailing! Per the recent discussions, I was using the GPS yesterday to verify my compass. The compass and GPS agreed within +/- 2 degrees. Randy, M-15 Post Falls, ID -----Original Message----- From: Stephen Martin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 9/7/2003 6:00 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Subject: M_Boats: Do we need a compass anymore?
I suppose this will be considered nautical heresy, but here goes:
When my wife and I first started cruising about 5 years ago we were careful to
calibrate (swing) the compas and make a deviation chart, etc. Mounted next to the
compass was our GPS unit. After all that we had read about the importance of the
compass it suprised us that in 4 years of cruising I don't think we ever looked at the
compass once. We eventually quit taking the cover off. On the other hand, the GPS
was used constantly.
Instead of heading, the GPS gives you your track, which is what you really
want to know. Of course, some of the other benefits are that it gives you true speed
(no need for a knot meter, which only gives you relative speed), position, tells you
if you're on course, and tells you if your anchor is dragging.
I suppose one could argue that the compass is low tech, doesn't require
batteries, and is more reliable. But I remember making the same argument for holding
onto my slide rule.
I still keep it stowed away somewhere in case the batteries die on my
calculator.
On our new M15, insead of a compass, I'm considering either just carrying a
handheld GPS or possibly mounting one on the bulkhead. Of course, I will still keep a
small handheld compass stowed away for the day when the batteries die or the
satellites fail. Maybe I will keep it with my slide rule.
Steve Martin, M15 "Cadenza"
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