Roger ,,,,,,, are you having a bad day? You sound very angry.
What's the matter.

My present self steering system is a "bungy cord". And, it works. But, I
can't leave it for more than 10 minutes.

I got to thinking that a windvane would be a nice upgrade.

PS: I took a look at your summer cruise. You and I crossed paths. You
visited some very nice harbors.

What is your plan for next summer? Down east?

The prevailing southwest wind gets you there but that same wind makes for a
long trip home.

================================================== ================================



"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
"Thomas Wentworth"

I have seen these on many boats over the years. I have never operated one
though.

A boat or a windvane?


What is the cost of a self steering windvane system?

If you look at the cost of far, far, simpler devices that are common
enough for the development and marketing costs to be spread over many more
units, you should be able to guess that they won't be cheap. Low end,
minimal units will be very expensive and ones you would want to rely on
for a long voyage will be in the neighborhood of an engine by the time you
are done with the installation.

Where does one go to purchase one?

To a windvane seller.

How much work is it to install?

If you have ever done any work on a boat, you should be able to answer
this question after looking at one.

Will it work for coastal cruising?

No. The little electronic brain that interfaces the wind vane to the
steering mechanism accepts NEMA input from the GPS and prevents operation
in waters where lack of attention by the operator could result in hitting
shore, obstructions, or other vessesl. All windvane systems sold are now
required by international treaty to have this device along with circuitry
that disables the system inless the proper position signal is detected and
software charts containing the entire world are loaded.

--

Roger Long