In iU5Wg.1711$ms1.851@trndny05 "Benning Wentworth" writes:
Yesterday; closing up the boat. Talking over the season with the other
victims { oops, I mean sailors of sailboats } ..
Anyway, after we got done talking about the rain in May and June ; the
heat of July and August; the ripoff marina's we visited;
the beautiful anchorages we found, the fog, the wind, ............. we
started on the crew. Or, lack there of.
Then we all walked over to the boat/sailboat with the wind-vane. "Sure does
look cool", "kinda says I am going solo and my windvane is steering". said
one of the boat owners.
Sailboats with wind-vanes look like boats that have been somewhere. They
have that something about them that sets them apart from the sailboats that
go out for a day sail. But what about the wind-vane? Should I get one?
Would it be practical for cruising up and down the coast of New England?
Huum. Sure would be better than the blue bungy-cord self steering device I
use now.
We got to talking ... "I should get one of these" said the red hulled
sailor. "But what about the cost" said the blue hulled sailor.
"Probably be able to find one cheap on ebay" said the 26' boat owner as
"she" kept working away.
"Ya think so"? said I. "Sure, look at all the ya-hoos around here who talk
about going to the Caribbean or somewhere else and never get further than
Cape Ann" she said.
"Why don't you look on the net, see what you can find, get an idea of price,
and then next time your here we can talk wind-vanes" the 26' owner said.
So .. what do you all think? Any wind-vane owners out there? Do you use
yours much? Are they a good addition? What about second hand? What brand
is the best? Do they need to be sized for the boat? Will they work with a
tillar?
Lots and lots of questions.
All answers will be printed, and passed on to the owners of a red boat, blue
boat, 26' boat, two guys looking for a boat, one motor boat,
..........................................
Gotta have a wind-vane if your going to look like the boat that is going to
Antigua. Even if the red boat owner tells me the boat going to Antigua has
been going to Antigua for ten years!
I bought a Windpilot windvane some years ago. I made some marketing
research, visited boat shows, discussed with the makers and wendors,
actually installed one in a friend's boat and sailed a couple of days
with him after it was installed. I bought my several years after this
experience.
So why did it take so long to make up my mind. First reason was perhaps
that the shock cord did a decent job steering the boat on the beat and
the electronic tiller pilot was reasonable in anything but heavy weather
and secondly a good windvane would cost about ten low end tiller pilots.
So what was different after I got the windvane? The first thing you
notice, is that it is working SILENT. I have used for years a slogan:
The engineers can do anything, but nothing silent. My tillepilot
Autohelm ST4000 is not the really noicy type, but no squacing anymore.
The second difference was apparent when the wind picked up and there was
some confused seas. When the conditions became demanding, the windvane
was more and more superior to the tillerpilot. I promise you, I know how
to use the tillerpilot, this is my sixth and I have had ond vor some 20
years, the last two ones of the same make have been with me for some 10
years, so I amu sure I have learned most of the tricks of how to use
one.
I am sailing in the Baltic, where we most of the time cruising is day
sailing from port to port from an island to another, with anchoring from
the rear with the pow tied to some pines or rocks on the shore. Some
trips go overnight, but we do cross the Baltic in one or two nights, but
can stay out for perhaps four days. So this is not what you really call
blue water cruising, where you stay out for a couple of weeks. My vife
was a bit hesitant for us to keeps a watch alone because she did not
have all that confidence in the autopilot. She knew how to use it, but
now she does not have any objections for even multiple nights crossings
as she is confident the windvane will steer the boat whatever the
weather is throwing at us.
We have the tillerpilot, it is used when we are leawing the harbour and
coming and and while motoring, but when we get underway, the windvane
takes over. Remember it is silent and it does not use any electricity.
Moderate heavy reach and run caused battery drain of some 4 to 6
amperes. With the windwane our Aerogen 4 is producing more electricity
than the navigation instrumentrs and cooler and lights consume.
If we are sailing in some narrow channels, there are many of them in the
Finnish and Swedish archipelago, where the islands and high trees are
affecting the wind, the windvane is not a good servant, as you have to
adjust it frequently, but as soon as there is some space around you, it
is doing its job properly.
After the first season with the windvane, my vife asked: Why did you not
by this earlier, what took you so long to make up your mind.
You can get plenty of information of all makes of windvanes:
http://www.windpilot.com/
You can download Peter Foerthmann's book Selfsteering under Sail.
I recommend that for you to read, even if you thing you would buy
another make.
If you buy a windvane, buy a good one, it will last practically for
ever. The good ones will do their job day in day out and becayse this is
a safety factor as well do not go for the good one.
- Lauri Tarkkonen