Bought the wind vane
self steering and then went out and found to put it on on my newest boat. If the boat is sailing the vane is
steering the boat. Leaves me free to
work the boat not be tied to the wheel/tiller. Sailed many thousands of miles with wind vane only before getting an autopilot. Autopilots work okay under
power but haven't had one that will work sailing or recharge the batteries that it's draining under sail.
I've bought the vanes used for my last two
boats. WindPilot Pacific Plus for the
Pearson 35 and Wind Pilot Pacific light for the S28. Got the WP light for half a boat unit and the WPPP for two boat units. Very affordable and can sell them for at least what I paid for them separately if I ever decided to get rid of either boat. Haunting Craig's List in major sailing areas or eBay will turn up a vane in a fairly short period of time. Monitors are the most common but others turn up as well.
If you don't already know, Yves Gelinas,
builder of the Cap Horn Vane, sailed an
Alberg 30 around the world using the prototype of the Cape Horn Vane. He made a video of the trip which he sells e on
DVD and well worth
buying.
caphorn.com