Reverse-Reading Compass

It’s been a humid, foggy summer in Maine, one of those summers where you don’t leave the shore without a compass. You need one in fog or if you are doing any open-water rowing. It might be something as simple as a hiking compass tucked into a PFD pocket—a compass that you won’t use to navigate precisely but one that will get you home when the world closes down to 100 yards visibility.

Photographs by the author

The easy-to-read card is printed backward so that a rower, facing aft, can immediately see the heading—no math, no straining to see the far side of the card. The note on the card, “Dial Reads 180° Out,“ alerts users to it's unusual orientation.

If you want something better, there are lots of compasses available. Some are removable, some want a fixed mount, but almost all of them assume that you are facing forward. If you’re rowing, that poses a problem. To see it as you row, the compass has to be between you and the stern. If you use a regular compass, set or mounted so its lubber line is parallel to the boat’s centerline, you’ll need some math. Adding or subtracting 180 from the number you see on the compass card is easier if you add 200 and subtract 20 if your course is less than 200, or subtract 200 and add 20 for courses 200 and greater.