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Capt. JG

"Gogarty" wrote in message
...
In article , lid
says...

"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.)

Yep... my ST4000 is truly great. The remote makes it greater.

We have an ST4000 with remote. I love it. I can sit on the foredech and
steer
the boat. But for reasons I have never been able to fathom, my wife hates
the
thing and hates the remote even more. Just doesn't trust
electro/mechanical
gadgets. Whenever she has the con she sets it to Standby and hand steers.
Maybe I should let her hand steer for eight hours on a cold, windy, wet
night
trip.

The thing has a name. Christopher, as in Saint. There is a St. Christopher
medal tacked to the bulkhead just above the display unit.

By the way, location of the flux gate compass is crucial. When we bought
the
boat the flux gate was installed in a cabinet under the galley sink. If
you
tossed a cast-iron frying pan into the sink the boat went berserk. It also
showed huge variation. We mnoved it to just aft of the mast under the
saloon
table. Cut the variation to nearly zero and it never goes berserk.

Hmmm... mine is dead-on accurate. Maybe she doesn't like it because it
reminders her of the TV remote. g

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com