➣About Us

Wayfinder Compass is a marine magnetic compass service with technicians in Virginia and New York, who travel widely to serve the East Coast of the US, the Great Lakes, and beyond. In addition to onboard adjustments, we offer complete magnetic compass services including repairs and sales. Our clients include the US Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, shipping and towing companies, shipyards, military contractors, ship managers, and shipping agencies.

Jack Burks is the proprietor and chief technician of Wayfinder LLC. He maintains an active MMC with BT and VPDSD endorsements, a TWIC, and a VSRA safety card. He is an OEM-certified repair tech/distributor for leading compass manufactures Ritchie Navigation in Massachusetts and Cassens & Plath in Germany.

Amy Biddle is our New York based technician. She holds an Unlimited Chief Mate’s license, as well as a 1600 ton Master’s license. She maintains BT and VPDSD endorsements and a TWIC card.

Jack and Amy both apprenticed under master compass adjuster Jeff Kaufmann of Cape Compass. From fishing boats, sailing yachts, spud barges, and tugs to USCG cutters, MSC logistics vessels, US Army watercraft, and thousand-footer steamships—they have a breadth of experience, coupled with a depth of scientific technique, that few in the trade can claim.

JACK BURKS

After graduating from college, Jack spent four years practicing skilled trades around the country and crewing on traditional tall ships on both coasts and the Caribbean. He then settled down in his native Virginia, working as a steel fabricator for most of the year, and spending long summers as a commercial fisherman on salmon trollers in Alaska.

In 2019 Jack took on an apprenticeship under Jeff Kaufmann of Cape Compass: a master compass adjuster with 35 years of experience. Jeff himself studied under famed compass adjuster and inventor Harold S. Burns, one of the original developers of LORAN.

As Jeff’s apprentice, Jack attended, assisted, and performed adjustments on dozens of ships with a combined gross tonnage exceeding 380,000: in coastal waters from Maine to Norfolk, and on inland waters from Buffalo to Duluth. This earned him Jeff’s endorsement as the next generation of trusted competence in the trade. Jack then founded Wayfinder LLC, and since has performed adjustments nationwide on ships with combined gross tonnage exceeding 1.7 million.

AMY BIDDLE

After graduating from Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 2010, Amy sailed on oceangoing vessels for 10 years before turning to compass adjustment. The bulk of her maritime career was spent as a mate onboard research vessels, which took her to ports from Iceland to Antarctica, and provided a broad range of navigation and shiphandling experience.

In 2020, Amy adjusted her first compass while working on the research vessel Atlantis. This sparked her interest in the craft, and in 2021 she began her apprenticeship with Jeff Kaufmann. She has shadowed both Jeff and Jack on ships from Maine to Norfolk, and has attended, assisted and adjusted compasses on vessels with a combined tonnage of over 150,000 - from sailing yachts and tugboats to NOAA ships and Navy support vessels.

ONWARDS

Jack and Amy are dedicated to continuing the lineage of compass adjusting excellence passed down from generations of professionals and improved by Jeff Kaufmann with the use of modern tools and techniques. Together with Jeff they are engaged in researching geomagnetic anomalies, designing educational tools (with the help of Amy’s woodworking expertise), and carrying compass adjustment into the 21st century using new technology and mathematical analysis.