In re: the taking a bearing in a bouncing small vessel.
You don''t have to get an exact
compass reading to do a safety check. If you can
line up two fixed items on your boat(e.g. a shroud and a
winch) onto the
lights so you have three marks in a row, you can very easily take a "bearing" without digging out the
compass. Try to
line up the three items again in a couple of minutes (Shroud,
winch, light). If you can do it again, think about starting evasive maneuvers.
Somebody jump all over me if I''m wrong here, but this is how I generally check withgout a handbearing
compass handy.