What's in a Compass (?)
Lowell Sheppard • December 10, 2019
Every man has to learn the points of the compass again as often as he awakes, whether from sleep or any abstraction.
- Henry David Thoreau
Then, my queen, in silence sad trip we after night's shade. We the globe can compass soon, swifter than the wand'ring moon.
- William Shakespeare
Recently, I changed my cockpit compass. The previous one worked well enough, but the cover was glazed over which made the compass itself blurry and all attempts to clean it up and make it usable again failed. So, on a recent trip to Hong Kong, I bought one that was supposed to fit. It didn't. It nearly did, but the screw holes were 22mm off. So, I fabricated a mount and now SV Wahine has a usable compass in the cockpit. I can see my bearing and know where I am going now!
Not only that, I discovered a second compass on board . . a brass, table-top compass which was tarnished and in its box. I discovered it last summer, and Eli, my Grandson, helped me clean it up. I now keep it, out of the box, down below.
This is good. I need a compass to know my bearing and know where I am going. If I cannot read it, because it is glazed over or in a box, it is of no use to me. Both up in the cockpit and down below in the saloon, I can know my bearing compass bearing and the direction I am travelling.
It's the same in life. We always have a direction but at times we do not know what it is due to our compass being out of sight and mind.
