"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
I brought the boat down from the yard today. The rig wasn't set up so
it was fifteen miles as a power boat. As soon as I got out of the
river, I set up the newly installed ST1000 driving the Cape Horn
windvane.

Wow. I never had so much fun not doing something I used to think of as
fun. I know most of you take this for granted but I've always been a
"keep it simple", minimalist sailor. There's something about a boat
that steers itself that makes you feel like an adult.

I spent a good part of the leg down the bay sorting out lines and
making the boat a bit more presentable after the hasty mast stepping
and departure. The remote was close at hand and what luxury to just
reach down and push the buttons when a floating log or pot buoy came
up.

It was a cold, raw day (an inch of snow in the northern part of the
state) and would have been a long cold trick at the wheel single
handed. Another nice thing I've discovered about autopilots is that
being able to move around and do things makes you feel a lot warmer.

I don't know how I ever got along without this thing. I may never
steer again. What's next? Radar? (Now that I can leave the wheel, I
could even go and look at it.)

--

Roger Long


If you had a real sailboat like my Allied Seawind 32 with her
traditional full keel and ketch rig, you wouldn't need to use some
cheapo electronic autopilot. Sea Isle can hold her course all day long
just with the proper sail trim using the jigger as a steering sail.

There is no joy in having to use electricity to keep a recalcitrant and
poorly designed yacht on her course.

Wilbur Hubbard