On Thu, 17 May 2007 20:17:02 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

I don't know how I ever got along without this thing. I may never steer
again.

Yep, absolutely right. You will helm the boat, but only when you want
to. That's a big difference.

What's next? Radar? (Now that I can leave the wheel, I could even go
and look at it.)

I sailed for years in Maine without RADAR but no more. It's just as
addictive as an autopilot. Do it right - get the ARPA functions and
the ability to do a chart overlay. I had never seen ARPA functions in
action until about 3 or 4 years ago when I was looking over the
captain's shoulder on the Monhegan Island ferry. We went home and
bought a comparable Furuno system for our trawler. Even my wife loves
it, and she is not easily impressed by marine electronics.