Feb. 17, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
215 
chart work and his compass, and is able to make 
use of tlie many simple methods for fixing posi¬ 
tions from observations of points of land, etc. 
As light know.edge of the sextant tends to give 
the navigator an additional sense of security, as 
well as a great advantage over his less skilled 
brethren, it must not be thought by any means 
that this useful instrument is absolutely ind.s- 
pensable when cruising in foreign waters. 
Anyone, however, who intends visiting places 
with which he is unacquainted must of course 
be provided with a certain amount of rel able 
gear, the most important of which is a really 
efficient compass. The style of instrument to 
be found on board the majority of small yachts 
is one technically known among professional 
navigators as a “boat’s compass” and is useless, 
or next to it, for anything but steering purposes. 
To begin with, the card is of far too small a 
diameter, added to which it is usually boxed up 
under a binnacle in such a way as to render 
it impossible for the navigator to get accurate 
bearings of points of lands, etc., whereby he 
can so easily determine his position to a quarter 
mile or so. 
For small yachts the type of -compass known 
as a “spirit compass” is undoubtedly the best, 
as the fluid in which the card floats minimizes 
the effect of the short, jerky, diving motion of 
the craft when under weigh in heavy weather. 
The card itself shou’d in no case be of less 
diameter than eight inches, while the binnacle 
cover should be removable, so as to enable the 
navigator to take freely any bearings which he 
may require. 
When buying this indispensable instrument it 
should be borne in mind that whereas a good re¬ 
liable one will be of the utmost use and assist¬ 
ance at all times, a small cheap one will on'y 
prove an endless source of worry and anx’lety 
to its owner. Fifty dollars or seventy-five dol¬ 
lars may seem a big outlay, but when buying 
a compass it is money well spent, especially if 
long cruises are anticipated. 
The subject of the deviation of the compass 
is a long and complicated one, when gone into 
very thorough'y, but for all practical purposes 
it may be reduced to this: 
(i) ■ The magnets which are attached to the 
DIAGRAMS I AND 2 . 
Flow to use parallel rulers for finding the true bearing of 
two objects in transit. 
card do not always point to the magnetic pole, 
as local attraction causes them to deflect either 
on one side of it or the other. This may be due 
to the presence of iron screws, stanchions. 
blocks, etc., within a radius of nine feet of the 
compass. In the case of wooden vessels, the 
deviation (as this deflection is called) is gen¬ 
erally very slight, but in iron or steel vessels it 
may be very considerable, and need compensat¬ 
ing for by other magnets placed in certain posi¬ 
tions within the compass stand. This correcting 
of the compass by magnets requires the atten¬ 
tion of a skilled navigator, and is altogether 
beyond the sphere of the amateur yachtsman, so 
I do not propose to deal with it in these artic es. 
(2) This deviation will not be the same on 
all points of the compass, but will change, both 
in force and direction, as the vessel’s bead is 
brought on to the different points. Once this 
deviation has been ascertained by means which 
I shall explain later, a deviation card can be 
drawn up and kept handy for future reference, 
as for all practical purposes it will remain un¬ 
altered while cruising within an area of some 
hundreds of mi es of the place where the obser¬ 
vations were taken. It should of course be 
checked from time to time, but provid'ng ordi¬ 
nary care is taken of the compass and no addi¬ 
tional soft iron or steel whatsoever, either in 
the form of odd bits of gear or extra fittings, be 
brought into its vicinity, the deviations should 
remain the same on all points as were originallv 
determined. 
To facilitate the taking of bearings, the stand¬ 
ard compass should be fixed somewhere clear of 
all deck hamper in the shape of companionways, 
hatches, etc., and if in such a position it is not 
convenient for the helmsman to steer bv, an 
additional small compass should be carried for 
this purpose. Once the standard compass has 
been fixed in its position with the black line 
marked on the inner rim of its bowl—or “Lub¬ 
bers Point” as it is generally termed—placed 
exactly over the nr'dship line pf the vessel, it is 
ready to be tested for deviations. 
Before proceeding any further it will be as 
well to mention briefly the other error which 
affects every compass—an error of the earth so 
to speak this time. This “variation,” as it is 
called, is the deflection of the compass magnets 
from the direction of the true pole, and is due 
to the earth’s magnetism as well as to the fact 
that the magnetic pole (to which all magnets. 
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