Wind Vane Only

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by henryk

How many of you would have wind vane as the only source of auto helm.

Hi folks.

Well its a pretty quiet day out here today!

So I thought I would made a video on how little wind an autopilot requires to work. You can decide if a wind vane would work today.

The video isn't on Youtube to streaming as Turkey has banned YouTube.

So just try clicking the link below. Its should download into your media plaer automatically. If not, right click it and click on Save Target.

www.ourlifeatsea.com/autopilot.mpg

Its about 8 megs. Please note small thing on stern of boat!

Mark

[msoneji]

Good boat and good video Mark. The link worked fine. What kind of an auto pilot do you have and what components? Looks like you have a Raytheon system...

I am going to be installing a Raymarine ST7000 on my Pearson 10M. I plan to use the Type 1 linear drive unit, with a rudder position sensor and perhaps also a gyro unit. Anyone using a ST7000 with a Type 1 linear drive? Would love to hear from you and perhaps some photos of your install if you have.

[wolfenzee]

The one thing I have been trying to point out is electrical and electronic systems are prone to failure...the more complex (and the further you are away from an electronics technician) the more likely this will happen. All electronics should have a mechanical back up, be it a wind vane, sextant, paper charts....Even with out any electronic navigation systems power consumption has been a major concern on boats making long passages.....I like my electronic gadgets too, but do not put myself in a position where my survival depends on their ability to function properly.

[barnakiel]

All other things equal, I would go for Wind if offshore work planned. But on a bigger boat and with wheel it is not so easy to set up the Wind at all.

If coastal and weekend then I could just as well do with Auto.

The wind vane is nice for offshore - silent and no power required. But inshore there are many more chances of charging the batteries in marina or when motoring - so autopilot is probably the better choice.

b.

[osirissail]

An alternative is a good windvane like Cape Horn and some others that have an attachment in place of the "feather" that you can attach a very light small tiller pilot to the windvane. the tiller pilot provides the commands to the windvane and the windvane steers the boat.