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?