A Compass Mount for "Bright Star"

[Jay Greer]

When we purchased "Bright Star" the only compass mount consisted of a scrap of fir with a tiny Airguide compass. It was the kind your uncle charlie had mounted on the dash board of his 47 Dodge Business coup. It was screwed to the mast with steel sheet metal screws. Aside from the point that the compass was too tiny to read, the deviation cause by the steel screws was enough to send the helmsman off on a course for Guam rather than Catalina Island. Aside from also being unsightly, the perminant mount created some major space problems when the compass was not needed as well as allowing the elements to do their mischief on an unprotected compass. After much thought, which included bungy cords to hold it in place, I came up with this solution.
The bracket needed to be able to be mounted and removed as the need dictated. So, a teak U shaped bracket was made to fit directrly to the mizzen mast. Over the years, repairs and various other work and the mast had turned it's rectangular cross section shape in to a rumbiod, making fitting, of the bracket, a bit problimatical. The solution was to make the bracket with loose fitting dovetails that would allow for the bracket to fit snugly once the glue up was made. A dovetail milling bit was used to lessen the chance of chipping the teak since the cut for the bronze lugs was a single pass. The two bronze dovetail lugs were machined up and marking of their exact location was accomplished by making up a pair of miniature transfer punches out of some old screws. Assembling the bracket and clamping it to the mast transfered the centers to exactly where the holes should be drilled for permanant mounting. The result was a bracket that fits snug but is easily lifted free for stowage when the compass is not needed. Electricity for the compass light is supplied from a wire inside the mast.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9dc33b3127ccec60cbfd21b1600000040O00QYsmrNy5bsQ e3nwg/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
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[Jay Greer]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9dc33b3127ccec60d9df6ba5f00000040O00QYsmrNy5bsQ e3nwg/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/
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[pefjr]

Very nice, are you for hire?

[Larks]

Very nice Jay, and very innovative. When is your book coming out?

[G. Schollmeier]

I like that, thanks for this post.

[John B]

How do you use it? I ask because I have the same problem on my ketch.. getting a sight line on it is near impossible with the mizzen in the way. I came to the conclusion I'd have to have two.

[J. Dillon]

A beautiful solution well executed. :D

I wonder what a boatowner without resources does ?;)

JD

[Jay Greer]

How do you use it? I ask because I have the same problem on my ketch.. getting a sight line on it is near impossible with the mizzen in the way. I came to the conclusion I'd have to have two.
I have a hand held bearing compass that I use for that.
Jay

[Jay Greer]

Very nice Jay, and very innovative. When is your book coming out?
Right now I am involved with the restoration of some five boats and building a shop. The book is still in draft form. I had no idea how much time it takes when I started on it. It is hard to get some projects finished when there are so many fun things to start!
Jay

[Jay Greer]

Very nice, are you for hire?
Thanks for the encouragement. Wooden boats, their construction, restoration and design is my business. However I am not seeking more work. I have enough to last me for a while.
Jay

[seo]

When I bought my H-28 it had a bayonet mount on the back of the mizzen, which supported a flat top compass in a brass gimbel. It worked fine, but I replaced it with a Danforth Corsair spherical compass mounted in the back of the cabin trunk. I guess that all things considered I think the Danforth was better, even though it didn't look as cool. It wasn't all that hard to stay on course, even without using the lubber lines. I now have a Danforth Constellation mounted in the typical mount on top of an Edson pedestal, with the nickle-plated brass hat with the slide window. It's the best compass mount I've ever used in a boat that rolls and heels a lot. But I can't imagine how one would go into an H-28

[Jay Greer]

The helm area of the H28 is a bit cramped as a result of the mizzen placement.
The original design called for a bronze truss rod running though the mast and down into the after end of the cockpit on a slant. This left no foot room for shifting seating posistions, when changing tacks, and proved to be entirely too much for most owners including myself. I do have an old WWII flat top military compass that belonged to my father. It has a movable bezel, over the card, that contains two fixed parallel lubber lines. Once the boat is on course, one needs only to adjust the bezel to the course and keep the pointer between the two bars. I was amazed when I took it to a compass shop for an inspection and was told that my dad's old compass was worth nearly eight hundred dollars!
Jay

[Windsong]

Hi Jay
Fantastic work of art. Amazing compass mount. My compass has 3 standard sight lines in it. One is a main directional line and the other two I use for tacking and when I'm sitting to the side. I first noticed the compass on Bright Star in the video. The table fits nicely under it. The turks on the tiller is like a ring on a beautiful woman. Is the tiller locust or oak it is has a beautiful graceful shape? Unless the boys were on an autopilot, I also noticed that the helm is very balanced under sail. A tribute to a well designed and well built boat. Pretty good sailing too. Time to stoke the fire and my bride. It is Valentines Day!
Lars

[Jay Greer]

Hi Jay
Fantastic work of art. Amazing compass mount. My compass has 3 standard sight lines in it. One is a main directional line and the other two I use for tacking and when I'm sitting to the side. I first noticed the compass on Bright Star in the video. The table fits nicely under it. The turks on the tiller is like a ring on a beautiful woman. Is the tiller locust or oak it is has a beautiful graceful shape? Unless the boys were on an autopilot, I also noticed that the helm is very balanced under sail. A tribute to a well designed and well built boat. Pretty good sailing too. Time to stoke the fire and my bride. It is Valentines Day!
Lars
Thanx Lars,
The tiller is original and made of white oak. My friend Larry Pardy gave me a curved piece of Locust he shipped all the way from NZ. But, I haven't had time to mess with it. The entire boat is a symphony of correctly designed elements. The helm is finger tip balanced, "Bright Star" is a living tribute to the genius of L. Francis Herreshoff. I'm just the deck hand and custodian.
Jay

[seo]

The military flat top with rotating top is precisely the compass I had on my H-28. I bought her in 1976, after 25 years on Lake Erie. After only a few months on the ocean, it became apparent that the compass was made out of a mixture of aluminum and brass, which was why I replaced it. But it was an easy compass to steer by, using the rotating bezel just as you described.
I also found the mizzen truss a pain in the neck, and replaced it with a tang on the mizzen, a short length of galvanized chain of the type used on boatyard screw stands, and a little chain binder such as truckers use. I only used it in the very few cases when the mizzen began to pump.

[Jay Greer]

The military flat top with rotating top is precisely the compass I had on my H-28. I bought her in 1976, after 25 years on Lake Erie. After only a few months on the ocean, it became apparent that the compass was made out of a mixture of aluminum and brass, which was why I replaced it. But it was an easy compass to steer by, using the rotating bezel just as you described.
I also found the mizzen truss a pain in the neck, and replaced it with a tang on the mizzen, a short length of galvanized chain of the type used on boatyard screw stands, and a little chain binder such as truckers use. I only used it in the very few cases when the mizzen began to pump.
I guess I am lucky because, mine is all brass.
Jay