"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm writing a short item this morning about hand held bearing
compasses.

I carry one on my boat, and could find it in an instant. I suspect,
however, that in this age of electro-nav gimmicks I'm now in the
minority.

Three questions:

1. Do you carry a bearing compass?

2. Whether you carry one or not, do you know why anybody would want
to?

3. Do you have any charts aboard, or are you running depending
strictly on an uninterrupted supply of DC power and counting on 100%
reliability from your electronics for navigation information?


Nope to a handheld. Has gone missing over the years, and do not back county
hike anymore. Have fixed compass on the dash. As to paper charts, yes for
all the places I boat, except some lakes. 2 GPS, fixed plotter and handheld
aboard. Only time the laptop is aboard is to download charts to the
plotter.