Old Ironmaker
Captain
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2015
- Messages
- 3,050
I am trying to learn to use a compass properly on the water and no one yet has been able to explain it in layman's terms, either that or all the guys I know with compasses haven't a clue what they are looking at . AllDodge recently said on a post talking about repairing a compass that " I am on a lake and there is no need for it" I have asked him what he means by that. I have a bit of an answer myself but need to know what the difference is using one on land vs. the water. I'm thinking for simplicity if I head out of a marina and it reads 0 degrees South I need to make a heading to 180 degrees North to get back. Depending on what my location is I can hit a shoreline or island way before I hit 180 North.
I am on the north shore of Lake Erie. We got into the worse fog I have ever seen a few years back, I'm talking stew not soup. The Marina operator had to go out and bring in a boat. No idea how he found him to this day. Worse he ever saw in 50 years on Erie. Had I not had my GPS we could have ended up on the rocks. I have since bought a battery booster for that specific incident. If not for the GPS I don't know what I would have done. It was unnerving to say the least, almost scared and I don't scare (ha). Take a North heading and crash on the 5 mile wide shoreline of rock or head south east into open water and listen for lake freighters. I have been far too close to one of those things and actually was responsible for docking them at the Steel Plant. They will run you over and not know it. Especially in a glass boat.
I am on the north shore of Lake Erie. We got into the worse fog I have ever seen a few years back, I'm talking stew not soup. The Marina operator had to go out and bring in a boat. No idea how he found him to this day. Worse he ever saw in 50 years on Erie. Had I not had my GPS we could have ended up on the rocks. I have since bought a battery booster for that specific incident. If not for the GPS I don't know what I would have done. It was unnerving to say the least, almost scared and I don't scare (ha). Take a North heading and crash on the 5 mile wide shoreline of rock or head south east into open water and listen for lake freighters. I have been far too close to one of those things and actually was responsible for docking them at the Steel Plant. They will run you over and not know it. Especially in a glass boat.