Using a Tiller Pilot
 

Well, our new (to us) sailboat had all kinds of stuff on it. One of the nice
perks was a Tiller Pilot. I did not realize how nice it would be. Yesterday
I was sailing with my wife and daughter and I decided to try to single hand
(using the tiller pilot). I motored out of the marina. I engaged the tiller
pilot and had it hold the boat into the wind. I went forward and raised the
sails. Returning to the cockpit, I took the tiller let the boat fall off
until the sails filled then killed the motor. It was so easy, I am spoiled.
I know not to rely on it, because I may not have it when I need it, but it
sure is nice. I must admit, I felt a little guilty using the electronic
technology, but it was still sailing. You don't have that same feeling you
get when you use only the wind and water.....
Like I said, I felt a little guilt :o(
That said, I will be using the tiller pilot again next weekend ;o)
I named the tiller pilot after my wife; I named it "Tammy2"

Happy Sails,
John

Do you feel guilty when you use the motor? I think your feelings of guilt
about using the pilot will change pretty quickly, especially when you take
the boat out by yourself.
John Cairns
"FamilySailor" wrote in message
...
I must admit, I felt a little guilty using the electronic
technology, but it was still sailing. You don't have that same feeling you
get when you use only the wind and water.....
Like I said, I felt a little guilt :o(

Happy Sails,
John

I use a "tiller tamer" on my boat. It usually gives me 30 seconds to
a minute of hands off to do stuff in higher winds and longer in
lighter winds. Nothing electronic about it... best investment I ever
made for single handing.

In article , FamilySailor wrote:
Well, our new (to us) sailboat had all kinds of stuff on it. One of the nice
perks was a Tiller Pilot. I did not realize how nice it would be. Yesterday
I was sailing with my wife and daughter and I decided to try to single hand
(using the tiller pilot). I motored out of the marina. I engaged the tiller
pilot and had it hold the boat into the wind. I went forward and raised the
sails. Returning to the cockpit, I took the tiller let the boat fall off
until the sails filled then killed the motor. It was so easy, I am spoiled.
I know not to rely on it, because I may not have it when I need it, but it
sure is nice. I must admit, I felt a little guilty using the electronic
technology, but it was still sailing. You don't have that same feeling you
get when you use only the wind and water.....
Like I said, I felt a little guilt :o(
That said, I will be using the tiller pilot again next weekend ;o)
I named the tiller pilot after my wife; I named it "Tammy2"

I didn't name it thought...

--
Jonathan Ganz (j gan z @ $ail no w.c=o=m)
http://www.sailnow.com
"If there's no wind, row."

Why didn't you have your wife or daughter take the tiller? It's not
singlehanding if someone's there to rescue you....
"FamilySailor" wrote in message
...
Well, our new (to us) sailboat had all kinds of stuff on it. One of the
nice
perks was a Tiller Pilot. I did not realize how nice it would be.
Yesterday
I was sailing with my wife and daughter and I decided to try to single
hand
(using the tiller pilot). I motored out of the marina. I engaged the
tiller
pilot and had it hold the boat into the wind. I went forward and raised
the
sails. Returning to the cockpit, I took the tiller let the boat fall off
until the sails filled then killed the motor. It was so easy, I am
spoiled.
I know not to rely on it, because I may not have it when I need it, but it
sure is nice. I must admit, I felt a little guilty using the electronic
technology, but it was still sailing. You don't have that same feeling you
get when you use only the wind and water.....
Like I said, I felt a little guilt :o(
That said, I will be using the tiller pilot again next weekend ;o)
I named the tiller pilot after my wife; I named it "Tammy2"

Happy Sails,
John

"katysails" wrote in message
...
Why didn't you have your wife or daughter take the tiller? It's not
singlehanding if someone's there to rescue you....

It wasn't really single handing.. I guess it was pretending to be single
handing :o)
They always help, I just asked them to stand down and let me try it
unassisted.
Here is a video of my wife on a normal trip
http://24.175.244.109/sailing/tammysailor26again.mpg

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 03:36:52 GMT, "FamilySailor"
wrote:


"katysails" wrote in message
...
Why didn't you have your wife or daughter take the tiller? It's not
singlehanding if someone's there to rescue you....

It wasn't really single handing.. I guess it was pretending to be single
handing :o)
They always help, I just asked them to stand down and let me try it
unassisted.
Here is a video of my wife on a normal trip
http://24.175.244.109/sailing/tammysailor26again.mpg


I would give that an A+:)

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 03:36:52 GMT, "FamilySailor"
wrote:


"katysails" wrote in message
...
Why didn't you have your wife or daughter take the tiller? It's not
singlehanding if someone's there to rescue you....

It wasn't really single handing.. I guess it was pretending to be single
handing :o)
They always help, I just asked them to stand down and let me try it
unassisted.
Here is a video of my wife on a normal trip
http://24.175.244.109/sailing/tammysailor26again.mpg

Oh, by the way...where was that filmed? Obviously somewhere down
along the coast, but I have been trying to learn a bit more about the
Texas coast as I would like to move closer to salt water. From what I
hear, draft is a big issue along the Texas coast and I need 6' of
water if I am going to move my boat. Otherwise I may be lookin at a
Mac 26M/X....NOT!!!!!:)

Ah yes...I know that position well..
"FamilySailor" wrote in message
...

"katysails" wrote in message
...
Why didn't you have your wife or daughter take the tiller? It's not
singlehanding if someone's there to rescue you....

It wasn't really single handing.. I guess it was pretending to be single
handing :o)
They always help, I just asked them to stand down and let me try it
unassisted.
Here is a video of my wife on a normal trip
http://24.175.244.109/sailing/tammysailor26again.mpg

Oh, by the way...where was that filmed? Obviously somewhere down
along the coast, but I have been trying to learn a bit more about the
Texas coast as I would like to move closer to salt water. From what I
hear, draft is a big issue along the Texas coast and I need 6' of
water if I am going to move my boat. Otherwise I may be lookin at a
Mac 26M/X....NOT!!!!!:)

We were sailing on Sabine Lake on the Texas Louisiana border on the coast.
It is a tidal salt water lake. Not sure if it is deep enough. It is in the
Summer, but it might not be in the Winter.
That video was taken on our maiden voyage aboard our new to us South Coast
26'A "26 Again"

Sea Yawl,
John

FamilySailor wrote:
We were sailing on Sabine Lake on the Texas Louisiana border on the coast.
It is a tidal salt water lake. Not sure if it is deep enough. It is in the
Summer, but it might not be in the Winter.
That video was taken on our maiden voyage aboard our new to us South Coast
26'A "26 Again"

Congrats... looks like a lot of fun. BTW you might consider putting on a
halyard winch so your wife doesn't have to hold the boom up with her
knee! Turning a little more into the wind might help too, if you're not
constrained in maneuvering.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

A halyard winch is on my wish list. I normally head directly into the wind,
whenever possible, but I was confined to the channel and had to stay between
the markers. We were anxious to get the sails up for the first time, so we
sailed out the channel :o)
A halyard winch would really help her out since she only weighs 95 lbs.

Happy Sails,
John

"DSK" wrote in message
.. .
FamilySailor wrote:
We were sailing on Sabine Lake on the Texas Louisiana border on the
coast.
It is a tidal salt water lake. Not sure if it is deep enough. It is in
the
Summer, but it might not be in the Winter.
That video was taken on our maiden voyage aboard our new to us South
Coast
26'A "26 Again"

Congrats... looks like a lot of fun. BTW you might consider putting on a
halyard winch so your wife doesn't have to hold the boom up with her
knee! Turning a little more into the wind might help too, if you're not
constrained in maneuvering.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

FamilySailor wrote:
A halyard winch is on my wish list. I normally head directly into the wind,
whenever possible, but I was confined to the channel and had to stay between
the markers. We were anxious to get the sails up for the first time, so we
sailed out the channel :o)

THe main thing is to keep the sail from snagging on the standing
rigging... but it looked like it might have been easier if the boom was
a little closer to the middle.

Actually I don't like the helmsperson to head *straight* into the wind
when rigging & hoisting the main. Makes the footing a bit more difficult
on many boats. Heading 10 to 20 degrees off is better. Some people are
very doctrinaire about it.

A halyard winch would really help her out since she only weighs 95 lbs.

You should feed her more. Stop spending all your money on boats and take
the poor woman to a grocery store ;)

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

"FamilySailor" wrote in message ...
"katysails" wrote in message
...
Why didn't you have your wife or daughter take the tiller? It's not
singlehanding if someone's there to rescue you....

It wasn't really single handing.. I guess it was pretending to be single
handing :o)
They always help, I just asked them to stand down and let me try it
unassisted.
Here is a video of my wife on a normal trip
http://24.175.244.109/sailing/tammysailor26again.mpg


Thats a really cool video John. Congrats looks like yall had a nice run of the lake.

Joe

"FamilySailor" wrote in message ...
Oh, by the way...where was that filmed? Obviously somewhere down
along the coast, but I have been trying to learn a bit more about the
Texas coast as I would like to move closer to salt water. From what I
hear, draft is a big issue along the Texas coast and I need 6' of
water if I am going to move my boat. Otherwise I may be lookin at a
Mac 26M/X....NOT!!!!!:)


At 6 foot you can go most places most boats go here. A bonus for you
would be we do not have much rocky bottoms, most is clayish mud.

But to get to the areas where most boats can not go like out of the
way great fishing spots and pristine bays... the shallower you can go
the better. We have a full keel with a board... 4.5 ft to 11ft max
draft.

Joe





We were sailing on Sabine Lake on the Texas Louisiana border on the coast.
It is a tidal salt water lake. Not sure if it is deep enough. It is in the
Summer, but it might not be in the Winter.
That video was taken on our maiden voyage aboard our new to us South Coast
26'A "26 Again"

Sea Yawl,
John

In article ,
Dave wrote:
On 30 Aug 2004 12:10:05 -0700, (Jonathan Ganz)
said:

I use a "tiller tamer" on my boat. It usually gives me 30 seconds to
a minute of hands off to do stuff in higher winds and longer in
lighter winds. Nothing electronic about it... best investment I ever
made for single handing.

I looked at one at the local West Marine store, and asked myself what it
would give me that my line running across the cockpit with a loop in the
middle for the tiller and doesn't give me.

I did the same thing. It gives me a bit more flexibility, and I don't
have to keep retying the knot. I can put it in several position quite
quickly with just the flick of my thumb. Also, it's a lot easier to
undo quickly... just the twist of a knob, even if it's under tension,
it comes undone immediately.


--
Jonathan Ganz (j gan z @ $ail no w.c=o=m)
http://www.sailnow.com
"If there's no wind, row."

Jonathan Ganz wrote
I use a "tiller tamer" on my boat. It usually gives me 30 seconds to
a minute of hands off to do stuff in higher winds and longer in
lighter winds. Nothing electronic about it... best investment I ever
made for single handing.


Dave wrote:
I looked at one at the local West Marine store, and asked myself what it
would give me that my line running across the cockpit with a loop in the
middle for the tiller and doesn't give me.

I used a piece of heavy shock cord for the same thing. Holds the tiller
securely, can be adjusted to self-steer under many conditions, and you
can steer the boat fully with it connected. Not only that, it returns
the helm to center (or close to it, wherever you had it adjusted to)
quickly & positively... something which that particular boat would not do.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

In article ,
DSK wrote:
Jonathan Ganz wrote
I use a "tiller tamer" on my boat. It usually gives me 30 seconds to
a minute of hands off to do stuff in higher winds and longer in
lighter winds. Nothing electronic about it... best investment I ever
made for single handing.


Dave wrote:
I looked at one at the local West Marine store, and asked myself what it
would give me that my line running across the cockpit with a loop in the
middle for the tiller and doesn't give me.

I used a piece of heavy shock cord for the same thing. Holds the tiller
securely, can be adjusted to self-steer under many conditions, and you
can steer the boat fully with it connected. Not only that, it returns
the helm to center (or close to it, wherever you had it adjusted to)
quickly & positively... something which that particular boat would not do.

I've been thinking about trying that also. The thing I don't like
about the tiller tender is that it doesn't return to center by itself.
It would be nice to figure a way to do both... have it adjustible to
tend to one side or the other, but also tend to move to the center.
--
Jonathan Ganz (j gan z @ $ail no w.c=o=m)
http://www.sailnow.com
"If there's no wind, row."

Jonathan Ganz wrote:
I've been thinking about trying that also. The thing I don't like
about the tiller tender is that it doesn't return to center by itself.
It would be nice to figure a way to do both... have it adjustible to
tend to one side or the other, but also tend to move to the center.

You could do it. My advanced system, which I put on after the original
needed replacing (5 years UV exposure), involved to small pulleys
mounted on the inside of the transom, a jam cleat on the underside of
the tiller, and some short bits of hi-tech line (not really needed but
the Day-Glow colors brightened it up) to secure the shock cord. The cord
went in a 'V' from transom to tiller, then across the transom to the eye
straps. It could be adjusted very quickly to any tension & any setting,
yet left free access to the transom gate & motor well.

The new owner takes it for granted!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

In article ,
DSK wrote:
Jonathan Ganz wrote:
I've been thinking about trying that also. The thing I don't like
about the tiller tender is that it doesn't return to center by itself.
It would be nice to figure a way to do both... have it adjustible to
tend to one side or the other, but also tend to move to the center.

You could do it. My advanced system, which I put on after the original
needed replacing (5 years UV exposure), involved to small pulleys
mounted on the inside of the transom, a jam cleat on the underside of
the tiller, and some short bits of hi-tech line (not really needed but
the Day-Glow colors brightened it up) to secure the shock cord. The cord
went in a 'V' from transom to tiller, then across the transom to the eye
straps. It could be adjusted very quickly to any tension & any setting,
yet left free access to the transom gate & motor well.

The new owner takes it for granted!

I'll have to play around with it... I don't suppose you have any pics?

--
Jonathan Ganz (j gan z @ $ail no w.c=o=m)
http://www.sailnow.com
"If there's no wind, row."

Jonathan Ganz wrote:
I'll have to play around with it... I don't suppose you have any pics?


Nope, sorry. Bobsprit might, though ;)

It's fairly simple... on your Cal 20 you could spread the top of the 'V'
further because you don't have to clear anything other than the aft end
of the seats, right? But you don't want to create a tripping hazard,
which is why I went that route instead of just athwartship.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

In article ,
DSK wrote:
Jonathan Ganz wrote:
I'll have to play around with it... I don't suppose you have any pics?


Nope, sorry. Bobsprit might, though ;)

It's fairly simple... on your Cal 20 you could spread the top of the 'V'
further because you don't have to clear anything other than the aft end
of the seats, right? But you don't want to create a tripping hazard,
which is why I went that route instead of just athwartship.

The tiller tender I have uses two lines that run aft in a V. Actually,
it's one line. The tiller itself takes up half of the cockpit.
--
Jonathan Ganz (j gan z @ $ail no w.c=o=m)
http://www.sailnow.com
"If there's no wind, row."

On 7 Sep 2004 10:31:10 -0500, Dave wrote this crap:

On 30 Aug 2004 12:10:05 -0700, (Jonathan Ganz)
said:

I use a "tiller tamer" on my boat. It usually gives me 30 seconds to
a minute of hands off to do stuff in higher winds and longer in
lighter winds. Nothing electronic about it... best investment I ever
made for single handing.

I looked at one at the local West Marine store, and asked myself what it
would give me that my line running across the cockpit with a loop in the
middle for the tiller and doesn't give me.


You don't own a worthless Cal 20. Any improvement, ANY inprovement
at all raises the resale value to just above zero.

Many someday he'll fix the winches.





Pathetic Earthlings! No one can save you now!

In article ,
Horvath wrote:
You don't own a worthless Cal 20. Any improvement, ANY inprovement
at all raises the resale value to just above zero.

Many someday he'll fix the winches.

You're starting to rant. I know you're jealous of my fine vessel, but
do try and type in English.

Are you trying to say that I do or do not own a Cal 20?

Why would I want to fix something that isn't broken?
--
Jonathan Ganz (j gan z @ $ail no w.c=o=m)
http://www.sailnow.com
"If there's no wind, row."