When you steer by boat compass, whether you are at sea or on a large lake, you’ll find that it takes some experience and is a bit of an art.
Most people who are new to boating, or just new to steering by boat compass end up driving here and there before they figure out how to navigate this way correctly.
If you are trying, for example, to maintain a course at 200 degrees, this means you’ll need to keep your lubber line right at 200 degrees on the boat compass rose. If you go off course and find yourself at 195 degrees, the helmsman will need to swing the boat using right rudder to bring your lubber line back to a position of 200 degrees. It’s sometimes easier, especially if you’re not experienced at using a boat compass, to think of your lubber line as the boat’s bow.
The compass will actually stand still, and the lubber line will swing around it. A magnetic compass won’t react as quickly as gyro or digital compasses. There is some delay with a magnetic compass, and sometimes even a movement in reverse of the compass direction.
In the case above, you will have needed to turn to the right to get your lubber line back to the 200 position, but the boat compass will look initially like it is going to the left, not the right. Then, after it gets to the 200 position, it may go further to the right before it comes back to settle on the actual heading.
If you are a novice boater, this can be very distracting.
You will often see novice helmsmen heading back and forth in a zig-zag pattern and yawing side to side, in an effort to catch the reading on the boat compass.
You actually want to maintain a straight course, under normal situations.
You should only be making a slight movement and then straightening the helm.
A small change in your heading will not cause the boat compass to react radically.
An experienced boater will sometimes find ways to make it easier to navigate by boat compass. Once they are on a heading, they will sight out an object and steer toward that, using the compass only as a reference.
If there isn’t any land in sight, you may elect to use a star, if you’re boating at night, or a cloud, temporarily.
Once you are accustomed to using the boat compass, you will find it much easier.
