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First time on Autopilot
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 |
First time on Autopilot
"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. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
First time on Autopilot
On May 17, 8:17 pm, "Roger Long" wrote:
I brought the boat down from the yard today. The rig wasn't set up so it was Roger Long F@#king amazing. Isn't that some modern stuff? Too bad it took you so long to get on the same page. |
First time on Autopilot
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. |
First time on Autopilot
Roger Long wrote:
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 Next thing you know you're going to have a video camera mounted on the masthead to help with docking ;-) Me... I want an underwater video camera to help spot the coral heads before I hit em. Don W. |
First time on Autopilot
Silver K wrote:
If you are still planning your trip to New Brunswick you may want to seriously look at having a radar. Nice to hear from you. I have my fingers crossed on the Saint John trip. Still waiting to see how the shipyard construction schedule for the next research vessel shapes up. Working as I do primarily for academic institutions, I'd gotten used to having summers mostly free. Wouldn't you know that, when I finally decided to take advantage of that fact and spend much of the summer cruising, the pattern would change. It looks like I could be spending more of this summer in airports and motels than on the boat. I've spent way too much on the boat this winter to consider radar. I'll have to deal with traffic the way I have for the last 40 plus years, using my shallow draft and willingness to navigate close in to stay out of the high traffice lanes. I hope to see you this fall. -- Roger Long |
First time on Autopilot
"Don W" wrote in message t... Roger Long wrote: 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 Next thing you know you're going to have a video camera mounted on the masthead to help with docking ;-) Me... I want an underwater video camera to help spot the coral heads before I hit em. Don W. If you are still planning your trip to New Brunswick you may want to seriously look at having a radar. The Bay of Fundy is famous for it's fog. If you do get caught in the fog without radar, you will need a good radar deflector to help Fundy Traffic guide you around the tankers. Sterling |
First time on Autopilot
In article ,
"Roger Long" wrote: Silver K wrote: If you are still planning your trip to New Brunswick you may want to seriously look at having a radar. Nice to hear from you. I have my fingers crossed on the Saint John trip. Still waiting to see how the shipyard construction schedule for the next research vessel shapes up. Working as I do primarily for academic institutions, I'd gotten used to having summers mostly free. Wouldn't you know that, when I finally decided to take advantage of that fact and spend much of the summer cruising, the pattern would change. It looks like I could be spending more of this summer in airports and motels than on the boat. I've spent way too much on the boat this winter to consider radar. I'll have to deal with traffic the way I have for the last 40 plus years, using my shallow draft and willingness to navigate close in to stay out of the high traffice lanes. I hope to see you this fall. Roger, I don't remember who it was who responded to me, but his point, expressed more succinctly and powerfully than my summation was that it was irresponsible to boat off the coast of Maine in a fog and hope others spent the money and developed the expertise to prevent accidents. Regardless of staying out of high traffic or not, if one is on the water in the heaviest soup and moving at any sort of speed at all, one endangers himself and others by not using best available technology. I found the original post sufficiently compelling to change my opinion. Harlan -- To respond, obviously drop the "nospan"? |
First time on Autopilot
"Roger Long" wrote in message
... Silver K wrote: If you are still planning your trip to New Brunswick you may want to seriously look at having a radar. Nice to hear from you. I have my fingers crossed on the Saint John trip. Still waiting to see how the shipyard construction schedule for the next research vessel shapes up. Working as I do primarily for academic institutions, I'd gotten used to having summers mostly free. Wouldn't you know that, when I finally decided to take advantage of that fact and spend much of the summer cruising, the pattern would change. It looks like I could be spending more of this summer in airports and motels than on the boat. I've spent way too much on the boat this winter to consider radar. I'll have to deal with traffic the way I have for the last 40 plus years, using my shallow draft and willingness to navigate close in to stay out of the high traffice lanes. I hope to see you this fall. -- Roger Long Make sure you have the latest charts concerning the Bay of Fundy and approaches to Saint John Habour. The ship anchorages and lanes have been re-arranged to accommodate the Whale conservation program. I only hope that the electronic charts have been updated correctly. For that area, I like to have paper charts back up with the latest notice to mariners. |
First time on Autopilot
" I've spent way too much on the boat this winter to consider radar. I'll have to deal with traffic the way I have for the last 40 plus years, using my shallow draft and willingness to navigate close in to stay out of the high traffice lanes. I hope to see you this fall. -- Roger Long I will send you the lineup for the Harvest Jazz & Blues festival when it is released in June. The best deal is daily passes which will get you into all shows that day. The water in the Saint John River refuses to go down this year, we still havn't put our docks and expect that it might be another week. We had several cm of snow yesterday and it is below freezing today. When you decide that you are actually going to do the trip, it might be possible to meet in Grand Manan or Cutler. I could probably use a little holiday that time of year. |
First time on Autopilot
"Harlan Lachman" wrote Roger, I don't remember who it was who responded to me, but his point, expressed more succinctly and powerfully than my summation was that it was irresponsible to boat off the coast of Maine in a fog and hope others spent the money and developed the expertise to prevent accidents. Actually, what is irresponsible, according to the rules of the road and centuries of common law, is proceeding at a speed that will not allow you to stop in half of your visibility. Radar, which is only an aid to navigation, lets people do this at a lower level of anxiety so they do. It has not yet been established that radar is a substitute for visibility but law and reality diverge as is usually the case. Even in Maine, I have seldom seen it so thick that I could not do a complete U turn at normal speed in half my visibility. I'm out in the open cockpit where my vision and hearing are not attenuated by a pilothouse. Operating without radar, I'm actually technically responsible whereas the guy in his trawler yacht with all the bells and whistles over running his stopping and maneuvering distance by three or four times is not. GPS, of course, has made the situation much worse. Lots of people out there following the little cursor around and full speed. How many of them do you think actually know how to use the radar in a way that would let them correctly analyze and respond to a crossing situation? Paradoxically, as vessels get larger and safer for their occupants, they become more of a hazard to others. I'd certainly agree with you from the vantage point of a larger, faster, heavier, and less maneuverable boat but I don't present much of a hazard to other boats likely to be out there. Any irresponsibility issue arises out of hazard to my passengers and possibility of needing rescue from the many who are being technically and actually irresponsible by using navigational aids to proceed with too much speed and too little look out. I have a radar reflector, they should see me. Practically, radar is of much more limited use on a sailboat than a powerboat. Proper use requires constant plotting and tracking. That would put me down below relying on a generally inexperienced guest to take the helm and lookout. Sure, it would tell me that other boats are out there but I generally know that because I hear them. There are fogs and there are fogs. Visibility is usually a lot better than it seems. There are days, times, and places, where I wouldn't go; just as there are weather conditions that would keep me anchored or tied up. The mere operation of a boat in restricted visibility is not, by itself, irresponsible. Sure, there is a level of risk, and that level of risk would be lower if in installed radar. The argument that someone is irresponsible simply because there is a an available way to lessen risk is spurious. At any level of vessel size and complexity there will always be more equipment and more safety that you can build in. The ocean is a dangerous place and yachting is optional so, by that standard, just being a cruiser is irresponsible. -- Roger Long |
First time on Autopilot
Ah, light dawns on Marblehead!
Yesterday, whenever I sat down to look closely at the GPS and fine tune the course, the boat would wander off five degrees or so. I was telling myself: "It hasn't been through the calibration routine yet." "It's going to hunt until I fiddle with the settings." "It just seems like it's wandering more because I'm looking closely." Etc., Etc. I just realize that the Buck knife on my hip must have been about three inches from the built in flux gate compass just under the fiberglass cockpit seat! -- Roger Long |
First time on Autopilot
The fluxgate on my old boat was mounted under the sole near the center
of the boat. Whenever I walked through there with my Rockport boatshoes (which have an iron shank) the boat would spin. My current pocket knife is by Boye. It has no ferrous parts at all - the blade is cobalt, and the clips are titanium. * Roger Long wrote, On 5/18/2007 1:02 PM: Ah, light dawns on Marblehead! Yesterday, whenever I sat down to look closely at the GPS and fine tune the course, the boat would wander off five degrees or so. I was telling myself: "It hasn't been through the calibration routine yet." "It's going to hunt until I fiddle with the settings." "It just seems like it's wandering more because I'm looking closely." Etc., Etc. I just realize that the Buck knife on my hip must have been about three inches from the built in flux gate compass just under the fiberglass cockpit seat! -- Roger Long |
First time on Autopilot
I guess I'm going to have to break down and finally buy myself a fancy boat
knife. Old Reliable (30 years and about three new sheafs) is just going to have to make way for modern times. That is the exact spot where it's best to sit while working with the GPS. This should start a sub-thread: What's the best boat knife? -- Roger Long |
First time on Autopilot
"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 |
First time on Autopilot
* Roger Long wrote, On 5/18/2007 2:20 PM:
I guess I'm going to have to break down and finally buy myself a fancy boat knife. Old Reliable (30 years and about three new sheafs) is just going to have to make way for modern times. That is the exact spot where it's best to sit while working with the GPS. This should start a sub-thread: What's the best boat knife? I don't know if this is the "best" but its served me well for two years. They are a pain to sharpen, but hold the edge fairly well. They are the only quality rigging knife I know that's total non-ferrous www.boyeknives.com |
First time on Autopilot
On May 18, 12:02 pm, "Roger Long" wrote:
Ah, light dawns on Marblehead! Yesterday, whenever I sat down to look closely at the GPS and fine tune the course, the boat would wander off five degrees or so. I was telling myself: "It hasn't been through the calibration routine yet." "It's going to hunt until I fiddle with the settings." "It just seems like it's wandering more because I'm looking closely." Etc., Etc. I just realize that the Buck knife on my hip must have been about three inches from the built in flux gate compass just under the fiberglass cockpit seat! -- Roger Long instead of buying new knives move the flux gate to an area away from gear adrift(in peoples pockets) ect. Or you will be dealing with the issue everythime someone sits in that cockpit seat. Joe |
First time on Autopilot
"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message ... "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 Correct, we know the Allied Seawind 32 well. As you have stated it will, under normal condition, hold its course. That may account for one reason why circumnavigators were amenable to use the Allied Seawind 32. However, the Bay of Fundy, offers a varietals of challenges. The Point Lepreau rip tides, the Grand Manan channel, Tiverton Passage, Schooner Passage. Letite and Little passages are very challenging in Black fog. The legend has it that Mohawk ledge has had its share of boats. The fog is challenging but compounded with tides, eddies and currents you have all it takes to prove your skill and your manual or auto pilot. No one navigating in these areas will let his or her boat steered itseft alone. An auto pilot can be used as long as you have a constant vigil and adjust the heading a degree at a time or better still do the steering manually with the assistance of plotter,dept sounder and radar. Having a fin keel allows for quicker reaction time to avoid ledges and rocks. |
First time on Autopilot
wrote in message ... "Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message ... "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 Correct, we know the Allied Seawind 32 well. As you have stated it will, under normal condition, hold its course. That may account for one reason why circumnavigators were amenable to use the Allied Seawind 32. However, the Bay of Fundy, offers a varietals of challenges. The Point Lepreau rip tides, the Grand Manan channel, Tiverton Passage, Schooner Passage. Letite and Little passages are very challenging in Black fog. The legend has it that Mohawk ledge has had its share of boats. The fog is challenging but compounded with tides, eddies and currents you have all it takes to prove your skill and your manual or auto pilot. No one navigating in these areas will let his or her boat steered itseft alone. An auto pilot can be used as long as you have a constant vigil and adjust the heading a degree at a time or better still do the steering manually with the assistance of plotter,dept sounder and radar. Having a fin keel allows for quicker reaction time to avoid ledges and rocks. The Bay of Fundy is, indeed, one of the more challenging places in the whole world to sail. I've never been there but I understand the highest tides in the world occur there. Thirty to forty feet? Now, that's scary. Wilbur Hubbard |
First time on Autopilot
Joe wrote:
instead of buying new knives move the flux gate to an area away from gear adrift(in peoples pockets) ect. Good idea, generally. However, this is a small tiller pilot with a built in compass and it drives the linkage to a Cape Horn wind vane. Location is determined by the need to have access to the control panel (also built in) without completely obstructing the lazarett hatch. Way cheaper to buy a $150 knife than another $1500 autopilot with separate compass unit. The little ST1000 is overkill for the job as it is since all it does is tweak the windvane linkage when under power. It's a problem I can live with if I know about it. -- Roger Long |
First time on Autopilot
Primary self steering is by wind vane which uses no power. The electric
autopilot is just for use under power when its electrical draw isn't an issue. Since it doesn't have to exert any more force than the wind vane linkage does, it doesn't draw much anyway. I doubt that the Seawind held a straight course under power:) -- Roger Long |
First time on Autopilot
"Roger Long" wrote in message ... I guess I'm going to have to break down and finally buy myself a fancy boat knife. Old Reliable (30 years and about three new sheafs) is just going to have to make way for modern times. That is the exact spot where it's best to sit while working with the GPS. This should start a sub-thread: What's the best boat knife? -- Roger Long I have the Russel Belt knife with additional marlin spike. (made in this province) Probably wouldn't help your problem. http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/grohmann.html |
First time on Autopilot
"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message ... 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 Congratulations! You finally scuttled that ugly yellow/mauve Coronado 26. |
First time on Autopilot
"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message ... wrote in message ... "Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message ... "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 Correct, we know the Allied Seawind 32 well. As you have stated it will, under normal condition, hold its course. That may account for one reason why circumnavigators were amenable to use the Allied Seawind 32. However, the Bay of Fundy, offers a varietals of challenges. The Point Lepreau rip tides, the Grand Manan channel, Tiverton Passage, Schooner Passage. Letite and Little passages are very challenging in Black fog. The legend has it that Mohawk ledge has had its share of boats. The fog is challenging but compounded with tides, eddies and currents you have all it takes to prove your skill and your manual or auto pilot. No one navigating in these areas will let his or her boat steered itseft alone. An auto pilot can be used as long as you have a constant vigil and adjust the heading a degree at a time or better still do the steering manually with the assistance of plotter,dept sounder and radar. Having a fin keel allows for quicker reaction time to avoid ledges and rocks. The Bay of Fundy is, indeed, one of the more challenging places in the whole world to sail. I've never been there but I understand the highest tides in the world occur there. Thirty to forty feet? Now, that's scary. Wilbur Hubbard Can reach over 50 feet up near the head. http://museum.gov.ns.ca/fossils/protect/tides.htm |
First time on Autopilot
"Don White" wrote in message ... I have the Russel Belt knife with additional marlin spike. (made in this province) Probably wouldn't help your problem. http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/grohmann.html I also have the Davis Yachtsman Pocket Knife http://ca.binnacle.com/product_info....oducts_id=1023 |
First time on Autopilot
"Charlie Morgan" wrote in message ... On 18 May 2007 15:15:03 -0500, Dave wrote: On Fri, 18 May 2007 16:45:53 -0300, said: Correct, we know the Allied Seawind 32 well. I guess you're new here. The last time Neal was fantasizing, he claimed to have a Swan 68. What he actually has is a ****-colored Coronado 27. He doesn't even have that any longer. He had a "rough period" and no longer owns that boat, or even his kooky Suzuki. I think he probably had to eat his cat, or he'd have starved. He now posts from public access computers at the library. He's either homeless or hanging by a thread. CWM I thought he survived at the Post Office long enough to draw some kind of pension. Probably went into hoc renovating that God awful interior on the Coronado. |
First time on Autopilot
Gogarty wrote:
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. On our boat, Bob does all these things while I have the helm. g 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. We didn't have an autopilot for the first year we had the boat. Bob would actually make me steer for hours on end. I wasn't too thrilled, but it probably was a good idea because it forced me to learn. Then he installed the autopilot (we have a ST 7000). What a relief. We don't have a remote, but with two of us it is not really necessary. I love the autopilot, but there are some places where it is a bad idea (once in the ICW the channel turned and I barely missed running over a fishing boat that was at the elbow of the turn - he got into my blind spot while I wasn't looking - I didn't have to look because the autopilot was steering). I suspect the wife not liking the remote has to do with the reason why girls don't do as much video gaming as boys and why men often use the TV remote more than women do. I'm really bad at gaming. I use the autopilot, but I doubt if I would use a remote unless I was forced. 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. Our fluxgate compass is under the aft berth (center cockpit boat). grandma Rosalie S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD CSY 44 WO #156 http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id1.html |
First time on Autopilot
"Don White" wrote in message
... "Charlie Morgan" wrote in message ... On 18 May 2007 15:15:03 -0500, Dave wrote: On Fri, 18 May 2007 16:45:53 -0300, said: Correct, we know the Allied Seawind 32 well. I guess you're new here. The last time Neal was fantasizing, he claimed to have a Swan 68. What he actually has is a ****-colored Coronado 27. He doesn't even have that any longer. He had a "rough period" and no longer owns that boat, or even his kooky Suzuki. I think he probably had to eat his cat, or he'd have starved. He now posts from public access computers at the library. He's either homeless or hanging by a thread. CWM I thought he survived at the Post Office long enough to draw some kind of pension. Probably went into hoc renovating that God awful interior on the Coronado. Neal used to read water meters for a living... if you can call it that. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
First time on Autopilot
On Thu, 17 May 2007 20:17:02 -0400, Roger Long wrote:
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. On Far Cove (I've sold her now, so she's not "my boat" any more) I had the ST4000 head mounted under the dodger, so I could use that to steer if it was raining and I wanted to duck under the dodger (Put it on standby and use the buttons to turn the wheel). I used it a lot when under power - Otto was a godsend for those boring motoring stretches! But like our friend Wilbur (well, not like him since in my case it's true...), Far Cove could be set up under sail to go a constant direction without need of Otto. My next boat is definitely gonna have an Autohelm, even if it's a tiller. druid http://www.bcboatnet.org |
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