# Kayak compass



## symo007

Who has one ? What type? How and where do you mount it?

I have a Hobie revo 13 and are looking for what types are out there that people use and where to mount it.

I have a GPS which is fine but I prefer to have a backup and a bit of 'old school' navigation.

Any advice / tips greatly appreciated.


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## Stealthfisha

Mate im about to buy a platismo 75....brilliant. ...can hook it up to 12v as well....imho


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## scater

I've never seen the need. I have one on the boat which I use to make sure I'm taking the shortest course possible when on a long run but even that's used in conjunction with a GPS. I'm never far enough from land in the yak to get disoriented.


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## Yak4ever

,


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## Zed

scater said:


> I've never seen the need. I have one on the boat which I use to make sure I'm taking the shortest course possible when on a long run but even that's used in conjunction with a GPS. I'm never far enough from land in the yak to get disoriented.


Thats surprising. If I had to pick one thing to bring that isnt mandated by law and leave everything else it would be a compass. gps can fail. down scan is a PITA. Phone fadez. Compass will save your ass in 0/0 vis.
Its the one thing I must have. I bring gps and radio but the compass is the most valuable.


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## dru

I don't have one since I destroyed my last one.

I have one experience on Moreton Bay out sot Mud Island when fog rolled in. Totally directionally confused. Struggled to spot the sun through the fog for orientation and swore that the sun was wrong. It wasn't.

A compass would have been ideal.


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## kayakone

dru said:


> I don't have one since I destroyed my last one.
> 
> I have one experience on Moreton Bay outside of Mud Island when fog rolled in. Totally directionally confused. Struggled to spot the sun through the fog for orientation and swore that the sun was wrong. It wasn't.
> 
> A compass would have been ideal.


Funny about that sun and compasses. Ditto.


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## ArWeTherYet

Have one of these on my sea kayak. Straps onto your deck, easy to read and glows in the dark.


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## symo007

ArWeTherYet said:


> Have one of these on my sea kayak. Straps onto your deck, easy to read and glows in the dark.


Looks the goods, where did you get that from ?


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## Phoenix

Silva 58 is a really good deck mounted kayak compass.

You can get a version with bungee straps - or one that screws/bolts direct to a surface.

You can opt to power these compasses.

I like a compass, technology can fail, and especially if it gets dark earlier than expected, or maybe the weather closes in - it's just an extra piece of the puzzle.


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## dru

salticrak said:


> A good way to keep orientated due to low vis is to keep a note of the predominant swell direction and your position/angle to the swell as to your way home. The early Polynesians did this for centuries.


X2. Needs swell or wind though.


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## laneends

Relied on iphone3 and navionics once. Drained the phone battery pronto so ended up with no gps and no phone. Always good to have a compass back up. It is limited in that it can point you towards land but wont take into account drift etc. But at least you dont head in the opposite direction. Always keep an eye on tide flow and wave direction if there is one.


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## dru

bertros said:


> How bad do the sea fogs get up your way Salti?


Try here viewtopic.php?f=18&t=30687&hilit=+Fog
Actually there was a better thread, perhaps by Red? This pic didn't do it justice. I was down to less than 20' visibility. I've never seen anything quite that extreme in Sydney. Even though the ship horns are heard in fog on Sydney a Harbour a lot more.


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## kayakone

dru said:


> salticrak said:
> 
> 
> 
> A good way to keep orientated due to low vis is to keep a note of the predominant swell direction and your position/angle to the swell as to your way home. The early Polynesians did this for centuries.
> 
> 
> 
> X2. Needs swell or wind though.
Click to expand...

I agree Dru, but in a storm or rain squall, the wind can double or more from the gradient wind. For example, I was earlier this year five hundred metres offshore just N of Redcliffe, in five knots of SE'er, with almost zero seas (no forecast weather). Three minutes later I was hit by an unpredicted storm (I received two minutes warning from the Coastguard when the cell we had both been watching for ten minutes, and discussing I was well clear of, split in two, and the Easterly one headed straight for me).

Despite paddling flat out for shore, I didn't make it, and it was _almost_ a white-out with winds going from 5 knots to 30 knots in a minute, horizontal rain and hail. The wind direction changed *three times* in five minutes of fury. Had I been another 100 +metres out I would have had no idea of the direction to head, and, I venture to say would possibly have been capsized, as the seas reached a metre and a half in seconds, with breaking tops.

The rapidly changing wind direction made it impossible to gauge true direction from.....I was lucky to have headed in roughly the right direction.



Zed said:


> scater said:
> 
> 
> 
> I've never seen the need. I have one on the boat which I use to make sure I'm taking the shortest course possible when on a long run but even that's used in conjunction with a GPS. I'm never far enough from land in the yak to get disoriented.
> 
> 
> 
> That's surprising. If I had to pick one thing to bring that isn't mandated by law and leave everything else it would be a compass. GPS can fail. Down scan is a PITA. Phones fade. Compass will save your ass in 0/0 vis.
> Its the one thing I must have. I bring GPS and radio but the compass is the most valuable.
Click to expand...

Spot on Troy.


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## Fishane

Complete whiteouts are a pretty common occurance for us down here. For example we had heavy fog conditions on the bays for 4 days over last week.

I usually enjoy being on the water when it's whited out. It's typically very calm, quiet and peaceful, as long as you know where you are. The only time its not enjoyable is when I'm trying to navigate in close quarters (eg marina's and channel markers) with a strong current or when there are boats around. With the advent of gps its alarming the number of unlit boats that roar along in complete fogged out conditions so I try to avoid any busy areas. Our regs actually say that vessels under 12m must make a sound signal every 2 minutes during low visibility. Although i can't remember ever hearing a rec boat or kayak making one. I've experiemented with trying to keep a straight course on the rudder in complete white out. It's amazing how quickly you go completely off course all the while convinced you haven't changed direction. :shock:

I generally use my phone gps through the navionics app or mytracks (less battery drain) to navigate in fog and have the tracking turned on. It's one thing to know where you're facing but even better if you have a track to follow to find your way back to the launch. I also carry a cheap but servicable compass with me that's built into the end of an orange safety whistle (from BCF I think). That way I can do my safety signals every 2 minutes while knowing where I'm going, at least in theory. ;-)


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