Windvane steering on a cluttered stern

[GILow]

Originally Posted by scoobert

not sure where yours mounts, but this mounts to the tiller,
alpha 3000 most reliable autopilot ever made. more so then a wind vane.

Ah, right, gotcha. Yes, they seem to have a great reputation too, and if my coursemaster ever goes toes up, the Alpha would one to consider.

However, at the moment I am looking for a windvane to SUPPLEMENT my coursemaster, i.e. in the event of an electrical failure. I sincerely hope I am not looking for a replacement for the coursemaster for some time.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by scoobert

not sure where yours mounts, but this mounts to the tiller,
alpha 3000 most reliable autopilot ever made. more so then a wind vane.

An electric autopilot more reliable than a windvane?! Please O please qualify this!!!

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by scoobert

not sure where yours mounts, but this mounts to the tiller,
alpha 3000 most reliable autopilot ever made. more so then a wind vane.

Ya know...I'll probably get scolded for this from the mods...but hey...I've seen you posting all kinds of far fetched statements here. 1) You're relatively new to boat maintenance and boat systems. You really don't know what you're talking about. Or is it to somehow have a lot of posts to your credit? I honestly don't know. If I can make a recommendation...LISTEN. We all started somewhere. If you have not had direct experience with something...keep your opinions to yourself, so the OP can get an idea what really may or may not work for him. I'm sorry but I just needed to say this.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by scoobert

not sure where yours mounts, but this mounts to the tiller,
alpha 3000 most reliable autopilot ever made. more so then a wind vane.

Aw come on Scoob, that's just nonsense. You should stick to things you really know about, like how to reef the sails on your ketch.

Jim

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Ya know...I'll probably get scolded for this from the mods...but hey...I've seen you posting all kinds of far fetched statements here. 1) You're relatively new to boat maintenance and boat systems. You really don't know what you're talking about. Or is it to somehow have a lot of posts to your credit? I honestly don't know. If I can make a recommendation...LISTEN. We all started somewhere. If you have not had direct experience with something...keep your opinions to yourself, so the OP can get an idea what really may or may not work for him. I'm sorry but I just needed to say this.

i am well researched on autopilots. been researching them for 4 years now.
i read about windvanes falling apart all the time. many are cobbed back together, but i still count that as a failure. look at the guys who headed to HI, just to turn back as one example. they came out to find it had stopped working, a part vanished off the unit.

i am well read on a lot of things, and will post what i have read. if you don't like it, any of you, there is an ignore function.

the reason i have been posting a lot is because weather has been crap, and i can't do work, on the deck, when its raining. i worked 7 hours today, made no posts, until the rain came. so i will post what i know.

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Aw come on Scoob, that's just nonsense. You should stick to things you really know about, like how to reef the sails on your ketch.

Jim

when i start giving advice on how to sail, feel free to step in and stop me.
until then, bugger off.

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by GILow

Ah, right, gotcha. Yes, they seem to have a great reputation too, and if my coursemaster ever goes toes up, the Alpha would one to consider.

However, at the moment I am looking for a windvane to SUPPLEMENT my coursemaster, i.e. in the event of an electrical failure. I sincerely hope I am not looking for a replacement for the coursemaster for some time.

i looked at the coursemaster, very nice unit, looks pricey. fully integrated.
i wonder, does it still function if it loses comms with another part or the system of does it just display an error message?

[highseas]

The boat I sailed as a youth,a Tom Colvin Gazelle had a homemade trim tab rudder self steering on transom,with dinghy on davits as well.Worked like a charm to Mexico and Hawaii and back,even in light winds;I'm sure the full keel helped.The vane had no restriction of swing with dinghy on davits,although on an ocean crossing we always put dink on deck.The frame and ruddershaft were tight up against transom.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by highseas

The boat I sailed as a youth,a Tom Colvin Gazelle had a homemade trim tab rudder self steering on transom,with dinghy on davits as well.Worked like a charm to Mexico and Hawaii and back,even in light winds;I'm sure the full keel helped.The vane had no restriction of swing with dinghy on davits,although on an ocean crossing we always put dink on deck.The frame and ruddershaft were tight up against transom.

Ahh... now that is pushing some of my buttons! But if I start talking home-made near the Admiral, I will be in so much trouble.... so shh...

[GILow]

Originally Posted by scoobert

i looked at the coursemaster, very nice unit, looks pricey. fully integrated.
i wonder, does it still function if it loses comms with another part or the system of does it just display an error message?

Mine is a LOT older than those, maybe 20 years or more. It is effectively free standing though it can interface with any NMEA string device. (I think I have that acronymn right.) so it could talk to the plotter if I wanted to, but I am like someone else who posted on here. He liked to work out his course, then feed that into the autopilote himself. KISS principle.

The device seems very reliable and the construction is just MASSIVELY overbuilt. The drive chain would look good on a bulldozer, even the control box is STEEL. You know, that stuff they used to use before they discovered aluminium....

But, as a result, I suspect it uses a bit more power than a modern unit would.

So I trust it, I just want options. More and more options.

I think I might be what was once referred to as a "Belts and braces" kind of guy. And that's why the Swanson 42 appealed to me so much. And, strangely, to the admiral too.

M

[scoobert]

some people carry a spare drive motor for the alpha, just in case. i am assuming you could do the same. surely you have more then one electrical system on the yacht? we have three. engine, house, and generator. when doing my trip home after buying it i needed to link all 3 before i got home :P

[gjordan]

Scoobert, If you had to link all three sources of electricity to get home, then that just proves the less than reliable electrical sources in a salt water environment. _____Grant.

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by gjordan

Scoobert, If you had to link all three sources of electricity to get home, then that just proves the less than reliable electrical sources in a salt water environment. _____Grant.

it only proves if you dont maintain a boat for 5 years, everything brakes when you do a 5 day voyage. most of it is an easy fix. 1 bad house battery, 1 generator battery that is not charging, took everything down. it shall not leave port again without an overhaul.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by scoobert

i am well researched on autopilots. been researching them for 4 years now.
i read about windvanes falling apart all the time. many are cobbed back together, but i still count that as a failure. look at the guys who headed to HI, just to turn back as one example. they came out to find it had stopped working, a part vanished off the unit.

i am well read on a lot of things, and will post what i have read. if you don't like it, any of you, there is an ignore function.

the reason i have been posting a lot is because weather has been crap, and i can't do work, on the deck, when its raining. i worked 7 hours today, made no posts, until the rain came. so i will post what i know.

Sir...What you have been doing is reading about them. You havn't used pilots or vanes...maintained them...taken them apart and reverse Engineering them. That's research. Or the as the members here on CF, who have miles and miles under their keel with both autopilot and windvanes. Who know when to chose one over the other depending on sea and wind conditions.
My Ingrid 38 had an 8 foot tiller on a barn door rudder. We were in 30+ kt. winds and 15+ft. seas with the monitor windvane in charge. The vessel with only a diaper of a jib rolled out was charging along at 7-8 kts. For "fun" I was curious how much pressure was on the tiller and disconnected the coupling from the monitor to tiller. I can tell you that the pressure almost launched my ass over the rail. I had a great appreciation for the strength of the monitor. I will also tell you the unit was pre Scanmar. Meaning it was about 25 years old and performed flawlessly. No way in hell sir would any autopilot deal with that particular circumstance.
Your post reminds me of my friend who is 480 pounds. He has bought read and studied book after book about weight loss. Yet he refuses to change his habits, but pontificates about all the information he has.

[Viking Sailor]

Matt,

Since you intend to do mostly shorter coast wise passages another option you might consider is to self steer using your sails and emergency tiller. When you go on trips try rigging the emergency tiller and practice using bungee cords and lines to connect the jib clew to the tiller to self steer. You may find a combination that works for your boat. It is cheap and gives you something to experiment with while sailing. Thus, if you can perfect this method of self steering, you should at least be able to get to port without having to spend time hove-to resting.