Erik Aanderaavideo
I Crossed the North Sea Using Only a Compass
29. mars 2026 · 41 min · 87K visninger · Haugesund
Fair Isle North Lighthouse perched on cliffs above crashing waves
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Erik Aanderaa sails his boat Tessie 200 nautical miles from Haugesund, Norway, to Fair Isle — a small island on the boundary between the North Sea and the North Atlantic — using only magnetic compasses, no chartplotter, no AIS, and no GPS position fixes.▶ 0:51 He departs at 2200, planning a 35-hour passage to arrive in daylight.▶ 2:18 At the last lighthouse, Røva, he reads the COG from the chartplotter, aligns three compasses (including a 1854 antique from a Shetland fishing boat), sets a course of 250° to stay south of Fair Isle, then shuts all navigation electronics off.▶ 3:12 Dead reckoning relies on an assumed 6-knot boat speed and a position estimate updated every two hours.▶ 9:41 The Hydrovane steers once wind builds.▶ 11:41 He uses radar briefly in the shipping lane fog for collision avoidance without revealing position.▶ 8:25 An oil platform, Kringhornet, and later Harding platform provide two unplanned position fixes.▶ 14:23 He initially mistakes Sumburgh Head Lighthouse on Shetland for Fair Isle's south lighthouse before correcting course.▶ 23:09 After 35 hours he enters Fair Isle's harbour as the first visiting yacht of the year.▶ 27:37 The passage confirms that compass-only navigation across 200 miles of open sea is achievable but demands conservative course planning — staying deliberately upwind and upcurrent of the destination to allow a downwind final approach.
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