Compass Adjusting on the Yacht Sirocco

This yacht which is looked after by by Charter Link in Bayswater NZ needed a compass check with the chart plotter running and with the plotter turned off. Two separate swings were done on a fine, calm and sunny day on Auckland Harbour. Rob as usual did his expert job of steering while I did the easy bits. The operation was a success and the charterers are pleased with the result. Charter link has a fleet of yachts ready for people to charter and can be found at http://www.charterlink.co.nz/. Photos are of Sirocco before heading out into the harbour.

Compass Adjusting on the mussel barge M.V. Gulf Trader

After a sunny trip to Whitianga on Wednesday,  I drove to Coromandel on Friday in showery to rainy weather. It was blowing a gale of wind in Thames, NZ and further along the coast as I headed for a Compass Adjustment job on a special purpose mussel barge near Coromandel Town. Once driving over the steep and curvy bits of highway the weather calmed down and conditions were good in the sheltered bay off Te Kouma Road. I had a short wait as the crew offloaded about 30 tonnes of mussels in large bags. These were hoisted off with the boat's crane then picked up with a forklift to load into trucks. Once that was completed we headed off into the bay for the compass swing and adjustment. Back at the wharf the crew got the news that more mussels were wanted at the factory so they were off for another load which left little of Friday afternoon for R+R. Over the hill on the way home it rained again so having nice weather for the adjustment was a bonus.

Compass Adjusting on DOC Boats in NZ

It was a warm lovely autumn day on Wednesday 19 May when John MacKinnon, Compass Adjuster NZ, drove the scenic route from Katikati to Whitianga to do compass swings on two of DOC's runabouts. Sunny day, low swell and very nice people to work with. The compass on Triplefin needs replacing but I removed some of the error on N/S and E/W headings. Three of the intercardinals were problem children and we are hoping a new compass will help cure this. The compass on Kuaka was fine and after a couple of hours or so on the harbour it was time to go home to face the paperwork.