Are the days of satellite GPS navigation numbered??

[coopec43]

Well I got my
Vintage Boat Compass Ritchie B-81 Nautical Black Navigation Ship for $US12.50 (plus postage) at eBay auction

Maybe it is too small for my 43 ft yacht but I just don't have $500 to splurge on a Plastimo Offshore 135 right now

Condition:
Used Used
“New Old Stock Never Used”

Ended: 23 Jun, 2024 06:55:06 AEST

I don't understand the measurements H 5 in. W 7 in. L(?) 9 in.(GEEZ! That's the size of the cardboard box)

They say it is "Vintage" but it appears the same as the current Ritchie B-51 on the market.

"Suitable for Launches up to 28ft" ??? Why not 36ft?

[rslifkin]

To an eBay seller, vintage just means it's old. Doesn't mean they have any clue if they still make the same item or anything else.

The size recommendations are likely because they expect bigger boats to have more space and correspondingly a larger compass. But in reality, as a backup and a reference for hand steering, the extra precision from a larger compass isn't critical. So having a working compass is far more important than having the "ideal" compass.

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

To an eBay seller, vintage just means it's old. Doesn't mean they have any clue if they still make the same item or anything else.

The size recommendations are likely because they expect bigger boats to have more space and correspondingly a larger compass. But in reality, as a backup and a reference for hand steering, the extra precision from a larger compass isn't critical. So having a working compass is far more important than having the "ideal" compass.

And if your boat is bigger, you are more likely to be farther away from it, so you need a compass disc with a larger font on it.

[Ike]

This Quantum Navigation system is just a high tech inertial Navigation System. Inertial Navigation Systems have been around since the 50's. They were used in ships planes, submarines and other vehicles. The Coast Guard ships I served on in the 60's and 70's had them. They were pretty accurate. But, just an electromechanical system of dead reckoning, based on gyroscopes, accelerometers, and input from devices on the ship, such as compasses and speed indicators. We used loran, Celestial, and close to shore, Piloting. All still reliable means of navigation. The simplest is a compass to take fixes on landmarks. That's why you need a compass. That and in low visibility to know which way you are going.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by David Mathis

A compass with paper charts worked for a couple thousand years, now is seems many boaters can't row across a fish pond without electronic navigation. Get a good compass, they don't need batteries and will let you find your way home even with GPS knocked out. We have a Ritchie. After 25 years, it developed a leak so it was returned for repair which was done quickly. Great company.

A binical compass is at best a poor device for determining a position. Have you ever plotted a fix using your Ritchie? A good hand bearing compass, the ones inside some binoculars are really good, can give you a very precise fix. But a binical compass would have troubles getting you a fix of much value.

[El Pinguino]

The only possible issue with that Ritchie is the effect of 'dip' on such a small card diameter. My Plastimo 135 is a 'Northern Hemisphere' one and while the dip of the card is noticeable at 55ºS its not unmanageable. However the 'Northern Hemisphere' Plastimo HBC 'puck' that came with the boat is unusable in far lower southern latitudes.
The Ritchie should be fine unless you plan on visiting the Auckland Islands or some such.

[sailingharry]

The basic promise of this thread is that some catastrophic event will wipe out GPS and we need something else. I see two types of catastrophic events that can do this.
The first is war. As others have said, this suddenly makes pleasure cruising perhaps not a first choice of pastimes.
The second is some sort of natural disaster. Either a solar storm or a lightning strike.
In either case, if you are close to land, celestial is inappropriate and irrelevant and visual piloting takes over (ie, sail for that lighthouse until you see lit buoy number two and then turn right). If you are significantly offshore, I consider it a reasonable backup position to assume that you will do a DR until you are within sight of land, at which point you would look for lighthouses, or other mariners to ask for direction the entrance to the harbor.


In any case, the risk of the event is very low and a workable solution while inconvenient will get you home.


PS: as a naval academy graduate I have learned and done celestial fixes. I could probably relearn. But I do not carry a sextant, do not carry a mechanical watch of sufficient accuracy, do not carry reduction tables or current nautical almanac.

[gulfislandfred]

I have a proper mounted compass.
I also keep a simple hand bearing compass handy. In the Salish Sea (inland waters) The hand bearing compass is very handy, to confirm position, or to confirm that a land feature is what I think it is. Or not.

The hand bearing compass is great to locate lights (aids to navigation - not so many are lighthouses any more) at night.


Just a chart and a hand bearing compass will get you there in a pinch. Nice to have a working depth sounder, too.

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by lestersails

And if your boat is bigger, you are more likely to be farther away from it, so you need a compass disc with a larger font on it.

It is a bracket mounted compass which I will mount on top of the steering pedestal so I don't see distance as being a problem.

[Morris Wilson]

I just finished (today) moving a buddy's 44 ft steel hull sailboat from Erieau Lake Erie up the Detroit River, Lake StClair, StClair river and up Lake Huron to Port Elgin Ontario. It had No binnacle compass. We had a small hand held compass thaty varied only abvout 10 degrees because of the steel hull. I missed the comforting security of the Binnacle Not dependent on any man made object, and the down right cool factor of a beautifully crafted Binnacle.

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by coopec43

It is a bracket mounted compass which I will mount on top of the steering pedestal so I don't see distance as being a problem.

Makes sense in your application. Other compasses are mounted near the companionway, where bigger is better. Congratulations - looks like you saved a lot of dough!

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by lestersails

Makes sense in your application. Other compasses are mounted near the companionway, where bigger is better. Congratulations - looks like you saved a lot of dough!

Thanks Lester, that is quite reassuring.

I was a bit against "bracket mounted" until it was pointed out that the compass can be removed "for security purposes"

[coopec43]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

To an eBay seller, vintage just means it's old. Doesn't mean they have any clue if they still make the same item or anything else.

The size recommendations are likely because they expect bigger boats to have more space and correspondingly a larger compass. But in reality, as a backup and a reference for hand steering, the extra precision from a larger compass isn't critical. So having a working compass is far more important than having the "ideal" compass.

Thanks rslifkin. Now it is all starting to make sense

[Morris Wilson]

As with many sailors I also fly, so everything you do is based on setting your compass and (in aviation) your Directional Giro which does not swing wildly when you turn. The old familiar reliable compass.

[coopec43]

I've been thinking. Bidding for a compass on eBay may not have been particularly clever. I have overlooked the fact that some compasses (incl. Ritchie) are balanced for various zones.(Other compasses I have been looking at have bearings and cards that eliminate the need for balancing)

Buying from a US seller will almost certainly mean that it is balanced for Zone 1. None of the advertisements that I have looked at divulge what the compass is zoned for. (I suppose it would only be a concern if you were circumnavigating)