Arun Maheswaran is excited. This past September, he displayed his Octoport outdoor yacht furniture for the first time at the Monaco Yacht Show, advancing the dream he’s been working to achieve since he started the company in 2017. From his showroom near the Lürssen shipyard in Bremen, Germany, he brought chairs like the one above, which is part of his new Oyoso collection. He also displayed folding chairs that can be taken to the beach, and bar stools from his bespoke collection—all of it lightweight and in styles and colors possible to create because of Octoport’s carbon-fiber construction.

“The feedback was really, really good,” he says. “A lot of owners and owners’ reps, also designers, they said it was the first time they were seeing furniture like that.”

The way the seat appears to float above the base is a signature element of his designs. Each piece is painted similar to the way a carbon-fiber yacht hull is painted, with hundreds of available colors (as well as custom ones). “This kind of design will not work with teak or steel,” he says. “It would be really heavy, or there would be joint creaks after some years.”

All the crew needs to do is clean the furniture the same way they clean a carbon-fiber hull, and it should last for 10 to 20 years, he says. The carbon-fiber material helps to keep the yacht’s weight down, and allows styles like the folding chairs to be more compact for stowing and transporting in a tender that’s headed off to the beach.

Yacht owners are starting to place large orders, Maheswaran says, with one refit happening in Greece that will include a substantial amount of Octoport furniture on board. An American owner bought several of the folding chairs at the Monaco show, at a price point of at least $5,400 apiece.

Pricing is made to order, like the furniture itself, with fabric and color selections affecting the final tally. Quantity also matters, he says: “We can go cheaper if the owner wants 20 of these chairs.”

Maheswaran adds that he is delighted to see yacht owners and designers opening their minds to the possibilities: “I want to bring this freshness to the industry.”

The post Octoport’s Carbon-Fiber Yacht Furniture Elevates Life Onboard appeared first on Yachting.

One key highlight of the fall boat show season each year is the introduction of new boats and products—we all clamor for the new technology and fawn over the new offerings in sleek fiberglass, glowing wood or nowadays, high-tech carbon fiber. 

And so, under perfectly sunny fall Rhode Island skies, the 2024 Newport International Boat Show announced its winners of the annual Newport for New Products awards. An annual industry highlight, NFNP entries were open to domestic and foreign products that were nationally launched after April 1, 2024, and made their boat show debut at Newport. Show attendees selected the People’s Choice Award winner, while all other category winners were selected by a team of industry experts based on innovation, value to the consumer, safety and aesthetics. On the opening day of the show, those experts (including yours truly) spent a full day on the docks checking out all the latest. This year saw the debut of 20 new powerboat entries with another nine in the sail category, as well as 18 products ranging from sailboat winches to waterproof personal gear to safety and more. Products and vessels were checked and cross-checked, and the deliberations at the end of the day could have filled a dozen boating magazines as we weighed those categories of innovation, value, safety and aesthetics. 

Bringing home the double win as Best New Large Powerboat and Overall Powerboat Winner was the Full Keel Marine NorthCoast 415HT. This quad-outboard-powered beast of a vessel is offered in cruising and fishing configurations, but what stood out to the judges was simply the beauty, size and brawn of this well-built boat. It also offers excellent value as well. 

The Newport for New Products also presented awards to the following manufacturers: 

• Best New Boating Product – Seldén Mast 3-Speed Electric/Manual Winches
  • Honorable Mention: Raymarine Smart Wind Sensors and Ugo Messenger
• Best New Sailboat – Carbon Ocean Yachts SDK 49
• Best New Small Powerboat – Solace Boats 28HCS
• Green Product Award – Elco Motor
• Green Boat Award – HYFOIL 32, Hyfoil Marine
• Accessible Product Award – Digital Yacht America Man Overboard Alert
• People’s Choice Award – Kufner 54’ Exclusive, Kufner Yachts USA

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All boaters will bump pilings, kiss rubrails or make an errant screw hole here or there, and those are just a few of the ways minor fiberglass damage can occur onboard. Anytime there’s significant damage to a vessel’s fiberglass, you’ll want to call in a pro, but fixing the minor stuff is actually easy and straightforward. If the damage is limited to the gelcoat, and you know there are no structural issues to worry about, cosmetic repairs can be made in a matter of minutes. 

Fixing Chips, Dings and Holes in Fiberglass Gel Coat

Stage one in fixing this type of fiberglass damage is to clean out the divot. This includes removing any loose chips or fragments, sanding the surface with a fine-grit sandpaper, then wiping the surface down with Interlux 202 or acetone to remove all contaminants. If you’re filling in an old screw hole, be sure to sand the edges and roll up a small piece of the sandpaper so you can insert into the hole and sand the inside edges too. Do the same with a rag and the 202 or acetone to clean it out. Now, you’re ready to fill in that blemish.

Gelcoat paste will do the trick, and you can use a regular putty knife to create a smooth surface that fills all the gaps. But there’s a complicating factor: you’ll need to color-match the paste with your boat’s original gelcoat. There are literally hundreds of shades and tones of gelcoat, and you’ll have to custom mix your own batch. Start with a neutral white gelcoat paste, then add small amounts of pigment and mix it in. Most gelcoat repair kits will come with several coloring agents allowing you to mix up just about any combination, so if your boat is anything but plain white, it’s usually best to get a kit rather than buying a single pigment and trying to match the correct shade.

Here’s the kicker: when the gelcoat dries, the color often changes slightly. So, what looks like a perfect match upon mixing may turn out to be slightly off when it hardens up. To combat the issue, carefully mix several batches with slightly different paste/pigment ratios that create slightly different shades, allow them to dry, then compare them with your boat’s existing gelcoat. When you find a match you can live with (getting a perfect match is virtually impossible), remix it. Now, you’re ready to spackle it into the damaged area. Make sure to overfill it just a bit and don’t leave any air pockets. When you’re satisfied, cover the gelcoat paste with plastic wrap or a similar film (often included in kits) because gelcoat cures best when it’s not exposed to the air.

After it dries completely, lightly sand the area with extra-fine sandpaper until the overfilled area matches up with the pre-existing surface. Then wet-sand with a super-fine grit sandpaper until the surface is completely smooth. Finally, give the area a couple of coats of paste wax.

Fixing Cracks in Fiberglass

Fixing cracks is a bit tougher, because they don’t have enough surface area for the gelcoat paste to adhere; you can’t just smoosh it in there and hope for the best. First, you need to open up the cracks with a Dremel tool. Use a silicon carbide or tungsten carbide bit shaped like a cone, and be sure to grind deep enough to expose the uncracked fiberglass beneath. Keep in mind that adding lots of pressure to a Dremel won’t produce the best results. Instead, run it along the cracks multiple times with light pressure.

When the cracks have all been ground away, sand the exposed areas with fine-grit sandpaper to remove any burrs or jagged edges. Then wipe down all the areas with Interlux 202 or acetone to eliminate contaminants.

From here on out the repair process is the same as for chips and dings. However, if the cracks surround a high-stress area like the attachment point for a rail or a T-top support, there’s a good chance the cracks will reappear over time. It may be necessary to add backing plates or some other form of structural support to prevent a recurrence.

What about making repairs when the raw fiberglass cloth beneath the gel coat has been damaged? At that point, it should really be considered major as opposed to minor. So, if shards of matt or woven roving are showing call in the pros.

The post How To Repair Minor Fiberglass Damage on Your Boat appeared first on Yachting.

Sunreef yachts continues to try and position itself at the forefront of eco-minded boatbuilders. It already works with solar panels that are built right into yacht hulls, propulsion and other systems that reduce the use of traditional fuels, and onboard furnishings that run the gamut from leather and animal-skin alternatives to sustainable and reclaimed woods.

Now comes the use of recycled PET bottles in the construction process for composite superstructures. “This innovative use of structural foam, composed of up to 100 percent recycled PET materials, represents a significant stride toward more eco-conscious yacht construction,” the builder announced in April.

According to Sunreef’s team, the recycled thermoplastic core comes with quite a few benefits. The material has high resistance to process temperatures, “exceptional” chemical resistance, strong adhesion, and mechanical properties. It’s also fully recyclable. “The construction of an 80-foot sailing catamaran requires approximately 2.4 tons of this foam core, equivalent to recycling around 600,000 PET bottles,” according to the Sunreef team.

Other companies in the marine industry are thinking in similar directions. Earlier this year, North Sails announced the debut of its Renew line, which is made with bio-based and recycled raw materials.

The team at North Sails says it took a few years to figure out the process to source the materials and make the sails, but product director Tom Davis is confident in the result: “This product has been tested to the absolute limit, and we are confident that a sail constructed with Renew will offer comparable, unbeatable durability and sail shape for our cruising customers without compromising on performance.”

What Else Can It Be?

Recycled pet bottles are used in all kinds of products today. They can be turned into polyester fiber for clothing and carpets, a stuffing-type material for pillows and sleeping bags, straps to keep items secure on carts and pallets, and various types of packaging such as egg cartons and food containers.

The post Sunreef Yachts and North Sails Champion Eco-Friendly Build Materials appeared first on Yachting.

Skeleton Optics, in premiering a line of sunglasses for women, says demand is continuing to increase from female anglers. “Fishing historically has been perceived as a male-dominated sport,” says Eric Storey, the company’s CEO, who adds that “the millions of women who spend their lives outdoors need sunglasses made just for them.”

His company is far from alone in offering an increasingly broad array of styles not only for men and women alike, but also for specific types of on-the-water activities and face shapes. Costa launched King Tide less than a year ago, promising not only its most technical frame to date, but also a version for elite anglers. The new Rigolets line from Bajio is designed for boaters who have smaller, narrower faces, and who previously couldn’t find a comfortable fit. Hobie offers the Everglades Float, which is being marketed not just for general fishing, but in particular flats-fishing and sight-casting.

The one thing they all have in common: This eyewear is being designed by boating and fishing enthusiasts, for boating and fishing enthusiasts. “As avid anglers, we understand the frustration of losing sunglasses while on the water,” says Dylan Coates, marketing manager for Hobie Eyewear.

Bajio Rigolets

Skeleton Decoy

Costa King Tide

Hobie Everglades

Costa Catherine

Skeleton Outlaw

These manufacturers also understand key safety features, which include things like Costa’s venting, which is inspired by sharks, to help prevent lenses from fogging up when skippers are trying to run the boat. Scratch-resistant lenses, ultraviolet protection and more are usually part of the package too.

And as you can see in the examples above, the variety of frames, lenses and styles is pretty darn stunning—as beautiful as the colors of coral on the most vibrant reefs.

The post Marine-Friendly Sunglasses appeared first on Yachting.

Garmin isn’t trying to be Apple. Dave Dunn, senior director of marine and RV sales, is clear about that: “We’re trying to be the watch that you can beat up and use every day. Our customers are adventurous.”

Still, the Garmin team kept hearing customers talk about how much easier they found it to look at an Apple Watch. “Historically, our watches had a display that was not crisp, not bright,” Dunn says. “Our customers said they liked the Apple Watch display better.”

Hence the upgraded display on the recently unveiled Garmin quatix 7 Pro. Its 1.3-inch AMOLED display is brighter and crisper than the displays on previous models, with a scratch-resistant sapphire lens so boaters don’t have to worry about banging it up.

Also new is a flashlight that was on a prior quatix model, which is now standard on most models.

“Any of our users will tell you it’s our No. 1 feature,” Dunn says. “It sounds ridiculous until you see how bright it is. If you’re walking the dog at night or going to the restroom while you’re sleeping, it comes in handy. It’s a hands-free light.”

Two new apps are also loaded into this version of the quatix. The first is Trolling Motor Remote, which lets anglers control a compatible trolling motor. The second is Fish Forecast, which is intended to save anglers the effort of searching online for general information that can indicate better days to wet a line.

“Think about an almanac; it has moon phases, time of year, all of that. It gives you a prediction about the best times to fish,” Dunn says. “All of it is right there. You’re never guaranteed to catch fish, but it tells you when the better times might be.”

Garmin also updated apps that let the smartwatch act as a remote control for chart plotters, autopilots and Fusion stereos; notify boaters about anchor drag; and show integrated tide data.

“This is designed by boaters, for boaters,” Dunn says, adding that he personally enjoys controlling a boat’s stereo from his wrist. “If you’re on a sandbar at a party and you want to change the volume or the song, you can do that from your watch. I love that feature.”  

Boater-Friendly

The Garmin quatix 7 Pro is built to let users control their whole boating ecosystem from their wrist. This smartwatch can connect to compatible chart plotters, autopilots, Fusion stereos and trolling motors, all while it simultaneously tracks personal health information and serves as a hands-free flashlight. It also receives text messages and smart notifications.

Purchase your own here: Amazon, Garmin

The post Garmin Quatix Upgrade appeared first on Yachting.

Bill Karmis knew one thing for sure when Dockmate’s team talked about adding dynamic positioning to its remote controls for boats: “When companies offer up dynamic positioning, the largest point of performance failure is the electric bow thrusters. They only run for so long.”

One boater Karmis knew had spent a shiny penny adding a joystick and more to a boat with lousy thrusters, only to be frustrated when the dynamic-positioning feature failed. “It would only work for four or five minutes,” Karmis says. The system would still be trying to position the boat, but the thrusters would give out.

This is why the new Dockmate Positioning System ($17,500 plus installation; main system sold separately) has two modes. Open-water mode uses only the engines to hold the boat in place—rotating the boat into the current or wind, pretty much all day long—while close-quarters mode uses engines and thrusters for scenarios such as docking.

“We now have the only wireless-activated DPS that can be easily added to an existing boat,” says Karmis, who is national sales manager for the brand. “And our installation is like getting your teeth cleaned. Everybody else is like a root canal.”

Dynamic positioning is just the latest advancement Dockmate has made since the company came to the United States in 2018. CEO Marc Curreri says today’s boaters feel so much more confident with the ability to steer from anywhere on board that they are now considering Dockmate compatibility when deciding which boats to buy.

“We’re starting to see people coming to us and saying, ‘We’re looking at boat A and boat B. Which one do you guys interface with? Because I need a remote control,’” Curreri says. “It’s not the deciding factor, but it’s becoming a deciding factor.”

Dynamic positioning is far from the last feature the company intends to build into its remote controls. “Dockmate came to the market with more technology than what was available at the time, and it’s still advancing,” Karmis says. “We’re moving with technology and embracing everything that new technology has to offer.”

The post Dockmate’s Dynamic Positioning Upgrade appeared first on Yachting.

Garmin Quatix7

The Garmin Quatix7 Marine GPS Smartwatch lets dad manage his day on the water with connectivity to Garmin chartplotters, easy autopilot boat control, a variety of GPS mapping features and more. This GPS Smartwatch comes in three versions: Standard Edition, Pro with a crisp AMOLED display and a Solar Edition featuring solar charging for those long summer days in the sun.

Garmin inREach Mini 2 Marine Bundle

The Garmin inREach Mini 2 Marine Bundle helps keep you in touch with pop while he’s off the grid on a boating adventure. The compact satellite communicator maintains signal on the water where cell phones won’t, includes an emergency SOS messaging system to Garmin’s coordination center and boasts a battery life of up to 14 days in 10-minute tracking mode. It also offers location sharing with loved-ones at home.

Helly Hansen Men’s HP Foil HT Sailing Shorts

If he’s got the need for speed, the Helly Hansen Men’s HP Foil HT Sailing Shorts are for him. These waterproof sailing shorts are designed for inshore racing in extremely wet conditions. They include a reinforced seat and are mesh-lined for comfort. These shorts are available in sporty navy, gray fog and black styles.

Helly Hansen Men’s Crew Hooded Midlayer Jacket 2.0

For fathers with a sailor’s soul, there’s the Helly Hansen Men’s Crew Hooded Midlayer Jacket 2.0. Originally developed as a waterproof insulation layer for sailors, this jacket is waterproof, windproof and breathable. The zipper withstands corrosion and is saltwater-resistant. The jacket is available in sleek white, gray fog, cobalt 20, red, black and navy colors.

Costa Saltbreak Sunglasses

You just can’t go wrong with a cool pair of polarized shades as a gift for dad, and these Costa Saltbreak Sunglasses are no exception. These sporty shades are available in silver, tortoise, matte black and wetlands frames, each with customizable polarized glass or polarized polycarbonate lenses.

Costa Tuna Alley Sunglasses

Named after the deep-blue Bahamian waters where the Bluefin tuna migrate north, Costa’s Tuna Alley Sunglasses combine practicality and style with plenty of customization options. These shades can be personalized to match dad’s style while he’s out on the water, from solid- white frames with blue polarized lenses to blackout frames with gray polarized lenses.

Rolex Submariner

What could be a better gift than the king of watches for a king in your life? The Rolex Submariner Date is an 18 kt. white-gold statement of deep confidence. The rotatable bezel is designed for a diver to accurately and safely monitor diving time and decompression stops.The dial’s luminescent Chromalight display allows for visibility in dark environments.

Rolex Deepsea

For gift buyers wanting to go the extra nautical mile, the Rolex Deepsea is 18 karats of bright, flashy and practical yellow gold with a Cerachrom bezel insert in blue ceramic and an oyster bracelet. This is the legendary divers’ watch, filled with luminescent material that emits a long-lasting blue glow for excellent legibility in dark conditions.

Penn Squall Lever Drag Conventional Rod & Reel Combo

The Penn Squall Lever Drag Rod & Reel is lightweight, ergonomic and corrosion-resistant. With stainless- steel gears and a high-speed gear ratio, this lever-drag is outstanding for nearshore trolling for kings and dolphins. This rod comes in medium and heavy power levels, 6- and 7-foot rod lengths as well as 15- to 30-pound and 30- to 80-pound line ratings.

YETI Tundra® 65 Marine Cooler

Help him keep his drinks cold on the water with the YETI Tundra 65 Marine Cooler. This spacious cooler can easily handle a day’s provisions for a family of four. It fits up to 77 cans or 58 pounds of ice, and the YETI Fatwall design provides 2’ of seamless insulation on the walls and bottom with 3’ of insulation on the lid.

YETI 30 oz. Rambler® Travel Mug

The YETI 30 oz Rambler Travel Mug will keep his adventure going longer. This is YETI’s biggest travel mug, providing a trip-proof grip thanks to its elevated handle. In the case of bumpy waves, its leak-resistant Stronghold lid includes dual-slider magnet technology to prevent spills.

Mustang Survival HIT Automatic Inflatable Life Jackets with Harness

The Mustang Survival HIT Automatic Inflatable Life Jacket with Harness is a boating essential and an excellent gift. This life jacket is designed for serious sailors to use in severe weather with exclusive technology that enhances safety and minimizes maintenance. Reliable automatic inflation even in severe conditions adds peace of mind to this life-saving device.

Noco Boost Pro GB150 Ultrasafe Lithium Jump Starter, 3000 Amp, 12V

The Noco Boost Pro GB150 Ultrasafe Lithium Jump Starter delivers 3,000 amps for jump starting a dead battery in seconds. It’s a powerful battery booster that doubles as a portable power source for charging USB devices or powering 12-volt devices. Perfect for dad’s car, boat, RV or truck! On top of that, the jump starter includes an ultra-bright 500 lumen LED flashlight with seven light modes, including SOS and an emergency strobe.

Fusion Marine MS-RA210 Stereo and XS Classic Speaker Kit

The Fusion Marine MS-RA210 Stereo and XS Classic Speaker Kit is a gift that will keep dad jamming while washing down the boat. Remember the Garmin Quatix7 from earlier? Advanced connectivity options give you the freedom to control this stereo from a compatible Garmin MFD, smart device or watch, making this a great gift to pair with!

Amberjack – The Loafer

It just wouldn’t be a complete father’s day gift list without mentioning some slick kicks. The Loafers by Amberjack are made with A-grade full-grain leather and sheepskin lining, and they come in a variety of colors and sizes. They are comfortable, stylish and they feature an athletic outsole with a heat-activated insole. And, after a day of cruising, they just look great when heading ashore to your favorite waterfront eatery.

The post Best Father’s Day Gifts For Boaters 2024 appeared first on Yachting.

The way Ed Kearney sees things, a new era of foiling technology has arrived. He hopes to lead it as CEO of the California startup Boundary Layer Technologies.

Military applications were the first era, in the 1970s, with foiling torpedo boats. The second era started about a decade ago, when America’s Cup teams invested heavily in foil engineering. Today, the idea is to make the technology accessible to everyone—with products like the Valo Hyperfoil, a personal watercraft that combines electric propulsion with foils for speeds approaching 35 knots.

“The silence is bizarre and exciting,” Kearney says. “You don’t even hear the water sloshing. It’s a very quiet hum of the electric motor, and then there’s the wind and the birds chirping.”

Boundary Layer Technologies was founded in 2019 and has worked on a few marine-specific concepts, including a micro container ship that could replace air freight, and a 150-passenger ferry. The costs for those prototypes were quite high for a startup, so in late 2022, the company pivoted to the recreational product. It built a prototype of the personal watercraft, then used lessons learned to create the updated design that was unveiled at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in October 2023.

“Most people we spoke to—whether they were boatbuilders or yacht crew—said: ‘I think I’ve seen that thing. That’s cool,’” Kearney says.

The price point for the Valo Hyperfoil ($59,000) is more than double most traditional PWCs, but Kearney says that the company already has about 60 orders. A limited production run is expected to begin this year, with the main production run starting in 2025.

“We’ve had people ask us the dimensions to see if they will fit in the garage of their yacht,” he says. “We have customers who live on lakes. We have customers out here on San Francisco Bay. All of them like technology and want to be part of this new era in boating.”

Projected range for the Valo Hyperfoil is more than 60 nautical miles at an average speed of 27 knots. Put another way, it should run for close to two and a half hours at about 21 knots. A three-hour charging session brings the battery back to full.

And the Valo Hyperfoil can be towed or stowed in traditional ways. “You can put it in a garage or on the deck of a yacht,” Kearney says. “The foils fully retract, and the back one has a tilt system like an outboard engine.”

Keeping Balance

Ask any America’s Cup skipper, and they’ll tell you that a foiling craft can be hard to balance. That’s why the Valo Hyperfoil has a control system called Skyride that uses advanced algorithms to adjust the foils hundreds of times every second. “The control system is very hard to build, and that’s one thing we are really good at as a company,” says Ed Kearney, CEO of Boundary Layer Technologies.

The post Valo’s Foiling PWC appeared first on Yachting.

Do you know how to swing a compass on a boat? Most boaters don’t, because we’ve become so accustomed to navigating via our chart plotters and GPS that a compass these days almost seems like an afterthought. But much as we modern mariners love our electronic navigational gear, we all know darn well that one day it might not work. Software glitches, electric gremlins and hardware mishaps all happen on boats. And when they happen to your vessel’s electronics, unless you have a lot of familiar landmarks within sight, you’d better know how to use that compass. Just as importantly, you’d better know how to swing a compass on a boat so you know it will give you an accurate reading when you need it most.

What is Swinging a Compass?

All compasses are subject to deviation as the result of interference caused by metal items and/or electrical fields generated by accessory equipment and the wires that feed them. This interference can cause a compass’s reading to be off by a few degrees, or in some cases a lot more. So, all compasses are equipped for small adjustments that can compensate for this interference. Adjusting this compensation is called “swinging” the compass.

How to Swing a Compass

Swinging the compass requires a bit of very simple preparation. First, you’ll first need to choose an area where you have visible landmarks like fixed markers, lighthouses or points to steer for on headings within 10 degrees of north/south and east/west. You also need to be in an area with relatively calm waters without too much current, so your boat’s course over ground is as close as possible to the boat’s actual heading. Then, you’ll need to figure out how your specific compass is adjusted. Most of the time there will be two visible compensators that look like set-screws or visible rods with slotted screw heads, one on the front of the compass and another on the side. If it’s not obvious, refer to your owner’s manual. (If you don’t have the manual handy, a quick Google search can usually provide the answer). You’ll also need a non-magnetic screwdriver or key to turn the screws.

Once underway, take a north-south course, observe your GPS course, and compare it to your compass heading. Note: Always remember to make sure your GPS is set to magnetic north, not true north, because your compass always reads to magnetic headings. If you’re unsure how to do so, refer to your GPS’s owner’s manual.

If the GPS and compass don’t match up, turn the compensator on the side of the compass (generally called the port/starboard compensator) until the compass and the GPS agree. Then turn your boat to an east-west course. Again, match up the GPS to the compass, and if they disagree, this time turn the compensator on the front of the compass (generally called the fore/aft compensator) until the courses match up.

When you’ve performed both port/starboard and fore/aft compensations, turn the boat around and run reciprocal courses to double-check the heading accuracy.

Additional Things to Know to Swing a Compass

If you don’t have GPS, you can still swing the compass using a quality hand-bearing compass held far from any metals or accessories. You can also refer to paper charts with recorded course lines between north/south and east/west landmarks, although this will likely result in a less-accurate adjustment.

Keep in mind that what we’ve covered so far is for swinging a boat compass that has already been installed in a boat. If you’re installing a new one from scratch, you may need to rotate the compass itself, in its mounting position, before affixing it in place to get readings that are close to accurate before following this process. In this case, it’s wise to carefully select the mounting location to keep the compass as far as possible from large metal items or electrical accessories. Also remember that some electrical accessories can affect the compass intermittently, depending on when they’re in use. Windshield wiper motors, for example, are notorious for unexpectedly throwing boat compasses out of kilter.

Finally, note that compass compensators have their limits. It may differ by brand, but a 20-degree limit is common and if your compass is off by more than that, it will need to be partially rotated or mounted in a different spot.

In this age of GPS and electronic navigation, swinging a boat compass may seem quaint. But remember, when those electronics fail you, you’ll need that compass to get back to port. And an error of five degrees might not sound like too much, but if you run for 10 miles you’ll be close to a mile off from your destination. So be prepared for those software glitches, electrical gremlins and hardware mishaps, and swing your boat’s compass before you cast off the lines on your next big adventure.

The post How to Swing a Compass on a Boat appeared first on Yachting.