The first answer was the closest. Yes there is a difference and yes in most
compasses including the one's we find on our sailboats and powerboats are,
in fact, different. Some compasses, such as the one on USNS Bob Hope, are
built to be self adjusting when crossing the line. On a previous ship one
of our main bridge compasses (magnetic not gyro) showed a marked tilt some
degrees south of the equator. It was recalibrated in Darwin, Australia.
Great seafood buffet place down there by the way. Smaller less expensive
compasses do not have this ability for self adjustment and this includes
those in the many hundreds of dollars category. No need since most boats
don't make it across the equator one way or another. The easiest way to
solve the issue is order up a compass from some company in Australia, NZ
etc. and have it airmailed. Get the exact same compass you already have.
When crossing the equatorial region at some point you will observe the tilt
or dip. Switch compasses and re-swing. Not hard to do even way out there.
In fact I think it was Ole Thom who first gave me an explanation on how to
determine exact bearings out of sight of land. This phenomenae does not
happen exactly at the equator. The reason it happens is the distance from
the mass of iron in N. Canada that is the Magnetic Northern Pole increases
while the mass of earth's iron making up the Magnetic Southern Pole
decreases in distance. At some point one becomes the major attraction to ye
olde compass instead of the other and it becomes off-balance. Here's the
humorous part. When the compass on our ship acted up none of the highly
trained and experienced deck officers realized what had happened. One of
the other AB's remarked to me, "Southern Dip?" "For sure", sez I. Finally
we were asked what we meant by that phrase. They didn't believe us and had
to look it up in Bowditch. Score one for the home team!

Three more days and we're outta here. OT is running 4 plus hours a day and
tomorrow for T-Day we will work about 12. You all enjoy the turkey . .. I'm
loving the paycheck!

Here's one for you. The new Chief Mate on board has the unlikely name of
Despot.She just finished being Captain of a smaller vessel and is now
qualifying in the big ones. Yes, I did say 'she'. Imagine "Captain Despot"
being your boss. Haggie, Katy, LP don't worry about ole Neale . . . .Your
gender is more than holding it's own in the commercial mariner's world. The
best part is it's no longer necessary out here for someone to say, "How do
you find working for a woman?" The question never comes up. But it's kinda
fun knowing I work for a 'Despot'.

Few more days and I'll talk to you all in two months or so . . . .

MST