Jere Lull wrote:
On 2007-10-15 21:29:21 -0400, "Roger Long"
said:

"Jere Lull" wrote

Agree with the "nothing wrong" and the recommendation of the gfo
packing, BUT feel something is wrong if you have to tighten up even
seasonally.

Could well be. This is the first boat I've owned and chartering and
borrowing doesn't give you a chance to track things like this.

My engine mounts are quite soft so there's a lot of motion which is
hard on the packing although it makes for a very smooth running boat.
I've had to adjust the box more often since I replaced the flexible
hose with the very thick Buck Algonquin hose made for the purpose.
It's quite stiff which also puts more stress on the packing when the
engine moves.

Yup, that sounds like you need new engine mounts. May well become
smoother with proper alignment and without the engine bouncing around.
It's a job I have to get around to.

Fit an AquaDrive and all your engine vibration will vanish. We had one on a
36-footer and I've yet to see a smoother drive unit. We did not replace the
stuffing box packing in the 6 years we owned the boat. No shaft leaks, and
the engine was smooth as silk.
http://www.aquadrive.net/ad_features.html

Dennis.

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:51:48 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

I did the alignment myself and there isn't that much that can go wrong with
a single bearing set up as long as the engine is square to the shaft. If it
isn't, you'll really feel it; especially with soft mounts.

Square to the shaft? Never had any issues that way. Our family
runabout has an automotive type tubular driveshaft, and has operated
for fifty years with the same U-joints. No packing, either. A shaft
enters the jet pump housing, and that seems to be that. Ever seen a
car with a packing nut where the driveshaft enters the differential?
Maybe the very close metal to metal fit is only possible since there
are u-joints. It does have two oil cups that you fill daily, that lube
that bearing. Lift the rear seat, and there everything is. There is a
doghouse covering the Buick V-6 that lifts right off. Almost as easy
to get at stuff as with a motorcycle.

Casady

Roger Long wrote:
"Dennis Pogson" wrote

Fit an AquaDrive and all your engine vibration will vanish.

True, nothing smoother. Evolution has a similar set up.

However, few sailboats will have the necessary space between the
stuffing box and the engine. The CV joint need some offset to keep
them from wearing on one spot so the engine will need to be raised or
lowered in a retrofit. Many boats will need extensive modifications
to the beds so that the thrust from the thrust bearing can be
accomodated.

These are more practical when the boat is designed for them.
Retrofits can be very problematic.

True. Ours was fitted when a complete engine re-fit was performed.

Now that you have had time to use your Cape Horn and associated
tiller pilot, what are your comments both in regards to the Cape Horn
and to the course keeping of the autopilot set up? What tiller pilot did
you go with and why?
Thanks
Gordon

Gordon brought forth on stone tablets:
Now that you have had time to use your Cape Horn and associated tiller
pilot, what are your comments both in regards to the Cape Horn and to
the course keeping of the autopilot set up? What tiller pilot did you go
with and why?
Thanks
Gordon

.... and a follow-on question:

Does the turbulence of the water passing over the prop cause any
difficulties
with the autopilot?

bob
s/v Eolian
Seattle

Somebody wrote:

Fit an AquaDrive and all your engine vibration will vanish.

Having done a retrofit on a YSM12 with an AquaDrive, the boat I'm
building has one incorporated in the design.

You can't believe the problems it solved.

Don't leave home without one.

Lew

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:44:13 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

I love the Cape Horn vane gear. It's the best thing I've put on the boat.

Installation of this unit is more complex than the others on the market and
will raise the cost a bit if you do it yourself and significantly increase
it if you have a yard do it. However, the result is a very clean
installation that is an integral part of the boat.

If you are not to comfortable with boat projects or think you might change
boats and want to take the vane gear with you, the Cape Horn probably isn't
for you. If you want a very attractive, clean, and rugged installation, it's
the only way to go. I open the hatch to my stern locker and there are two
cam cleats right inside the edge. Cleat the ropes and the gear is connected.
Flip them off, and it is disconnected. There are no lines and absolutely no
part of the gear inside the cockpit coaming; no steering lines running to
the wheel.

I have not had good luck with steering on very broad reaches and zero
running. I'm quite sure this is a function of the characteristics of my boat
however and not the unit itself. I had to compromise the "tiller" length and
leverage a bit to get the line blocks in a feasible location and the unit
sometimes seems under powered. This can be rectified by fitting a longer
servo oar which is a project for this winter.

I have nothing good to say about Raymarine. I chose their ST1000 Tiller
Pilot on the recommendation of Cape Horn, the name was familiar, and there
was one right on the shelf at Hamilton Marine. I bought the unit in January
because there was a short time "special offer" that included a remote key
pad (which I have found very useful, almost a must have) at no additional
cost.

The unit worked for a couple weeks of daysails and then failed on the second
day of a long cruise. I really needed the autopilot so I had to buy another
one. Hamilton offered to stand behind it after a lot of emailing and phone
calls to get high enough up the chain not to get the run around. I elected
to keep it however for a spare. Raymarine behaved such that I will only buy
their products in the future if there is no alternative.

The replacement unit worked well all season but started tripping out of
autopilot mode with increasing frequency about two weeks ago. It is now
unusable. Email inquiry to them so far unanswered. I'm glad I kept the
repaired first one. I think it's going to be one of those things you need
two of, one to be in the shop and one to use.

When Raymarine repaired the first unit, they said that the problem must be
that my boat is too large for it, which is true on the face of it. Since it
is only tweaking the vane gear linkage, however, it is doing less work than
it might steering an 8 foof dinghy in light wind.

Web site on installation he

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Windvane.htm

Consider using both.. put the motor actuator part of one on the
windvane and the control electronics inside, control with the remote.
The shaft drags water into the case and you can get condensation on to
the pcb.

On 2007-10-16 07:26:21 -0400, "Roger Long" said:

"Dennis Pogson" wrote

Fit an AquaDrive and all your engine vibration will vanish.

True, nothing smoother. Evolution has a similar set up.

However, few sailboats will have the necessary space between the stuffing
box and the engine. The CV joint need some offset to keep them from wearing
on one spot so the engine will need to be raised or lowered in a retrofit.
Many boats will need extensive modifications to the beds so that the thrust
from the thrust bearing can be accomodated.

These are more practical when the boat is designed for them. Retrofits can
be very problematic.

Xan-à-Deux has an old DriveSaver, essentially a half-inch rubber disk
between the transmission and shaft designed to self-destruct if we wrap
a line while motoring. Believe they changed the design since, but the
newer version seems to be similarly compact and able to take up minor
variations.

The engine still has to be fairly properly aligned because the
DriveSaver isn't intended for that purpose, but it smoothed the slight
problem I hadn't known we had. (Thought it was normal.) I later
re-aligned.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

On 2007-10-16 14:44:13 -0400, "Roger Long" said:

I have nothing good to say about Raymarine. I chose their ST1000 Tiller
Pilot on the recommendation of Cape Horn, the name was familiar, and
there was one right on the shelf at Hamilton Marine. I bought the unit
in January because there was a short time "special offer" that included
a remote key pad (which I have found very useful, almost a must have)
at no additional cost.

The unit worked for a couple weeks of daysails and then failed on the
second day of a long cruise. I really needed the autopilot so I had to
buy another one. Hamilton offered to stand behind it after a lot of
emailing and phone calls to get high enough up the chain not to get the
run around. I elected to keep it however for a spare. Raymarine behaved
such that I will only buy their products in the future if there is no
alternative.

Just for curiosity: open the unit and inspect the piece of plastic
keeping the thrust bearing in place.

Our 2000 broke after a season or so. I fixed it by drilling and tapping
into some plate in there. The system's worked pretty well for 5 or so
seasons since.

The symptom was that turns to port (pulling) were fine, but starboard
(push) hung up increasingly.

From the reviews I heard and read when I decided on the 2000 (mostly
for the remote and GPS connection) I'm not sure the other company's
tiller pilots are much better, BTW.

The old 800 was sufficient for Xan, BTW, so the 1000 definitely should
suffice for Strider.

I've never had the AP trip out of autopilot mode *except* when the
bearing was sloppy. That was preceded by many beeps of warning, though.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

"Roger Long" wrote in news:47150658$0$15369
:

I have nothing good to say about Raymarine.

Oh, oh......This will add Roger to the Raymarine $hitlist I'm on.
Their radar is crap, too. It rains inside the dome into the pot
metal...not good.

Welcome to the Raymarine $hitlist, Roger. Hope you got your rbc
Sospenders already inflated....(c;

Larry
--
There's never anything wrong with a Raymarine product.....