The 1970s called and want to know if you still have a windvane

[Suijin]

So a follow up post on the utility of wind vanes. On passage from Charleston to S. Florida my B&G AP computer just quit. Flipped down the Monitor paddle and kept going. Glad I have it.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by thomm225

I would like to have a windvane autopilot as backup to my electric autopilots, but I have limited space on the stern so I may have to go the Webb Chiles Route if I decide to sail long distance and use some sort of sheet to tiller steering method as backup.

I think he had 4 tiller autopilots fail during his last ocean crossing on his Moore 24.

I have repaired my Simrad Tiller Autopilot 2X and my Raymarine Tiller Autopilot 1X.

https://www.cruisingworld.com/simple-self-steering

I’ve had very, dry poor experiences with Raymarine tiller Pilots. I’ve 3 of them. Junk IMHO. I’ve recently acquired a Pealigic tiller pilot, not tried it out yet but will this week. It looks and feels like a professional unit. Have good hopes for it.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by hpeer

I’ve had very, dry poor experiences with Raymarine tiller Pilots. I’ve 3 of them. Junk IMHO. I’ve recently acquired a Pealigic tiller pilot, not tried it out yet but will this week. It looks and feels like a professional unit. Have good hopes for it.

I’ve had surprisingly good luck with my Raymarine TP. It is the largest one they make: the SPX-5 GP. Given the experience of others I keep expecting it to fail, but so far has not.

When it does though (and I still expect it will), I will definitely go to a Pelagic tiller pilot. They look much better than the others. I wish I’d known about them before I bought the Ray. Live and learn…

[Surrymark]

You're terrific, Jammer.
How about starting a debate on anchors?

[daletournier]

I've got a Hydrovane, wouldn't cross an ocean without it. I've had the autopilot fail three times, the Hydrovane just keeps on going. Even with lots of solar, high output alternator and a little Honda, I enjoy the power saving the Hydrovane adds.

People that cross oceans relying on one auto pilot a braver than me.

[daletournier]

2. Wear and tear. Every autopilot I have met (maybe a dozen) have all worked the steering systems more than I’d like. I LOVE the idea of lashing the wheel in place and letting the auxiliary rudder cop the wear.

3. Noise. The sound of the steering motor and all those pulleys, cables and chains sawing back and forth gives me the sh-ts. Sailing should be silent whenever practical.

From Gllow, agreed, particularly the autopilot working the steering to much. I like locking it off and letting the Hydrovane do the job.

Ps, I have modern design boat, no reason old and new can't work together.

[hpaabor]

I feel like the trout rising to the fly on the water wondering if this is what the Russian trolls do to smoke us out … to mix and mush metaphors. As most have already said they each have their place. Still have my Swedish vane built in the 70's. Don't think I could write the cheque to have something like that built today. If I were crossing an ocean there is no question whether I would have more confidence in that or the latest electronic gizmo. Phoning tech support from the middle of an ocean is not something that would appeal to me. That said, in short lake and ditch cruising my autohelm was always buzzing with a backup motor in reserve.

[dcruz99801]

In case I missed where someone else posted it:

We are all just one lightning strike away from being hardy souls in primitive boats, our trusty handheld compass and plastic sextant guiding us across the void.

(Or... like what really happened when my shiny new MFD failed at sunset entering Cerralvo Channel -- "Quick, honey, get my laptop and the GPS puck; we can follow our old tracks into La Paz!" )

[PirateBarnabus]

Unfortunately, when my windvane rudder snapped off in the big seas and the electronic autopilot failed mid Atlantic,
We (2 on board) had to resort to the "Sailing glove" autopilot for the next 1000 miles.
Oh how we laughed.

[jalmberg]

Windvanes are obsolete like sails are obsolete. I’m not giving up either one.

[Briggers]

I had this on the back of my Puzzle 36, on a voyage from Porto to Essex. it worked well on the few occasions I wasn't ploughing into a headwind, which was most of the time on the run up the Portuguese coast. the remainder of the voyage, there was practically no wind at all.
I think she would be better suited for a boat 40' and upwards
It's off the boat now and is up for sale in the UK or anywhere else if you care to come and pick it up.

[fieldmedik]

I still use a steering vane, nothing like steering a boat without using electricity AND having a spare rudder!
Yes, we use a sextant for navigation and GPS to double check. I carry paper charts.
Nothing wrong with old school or the new tech. I'll use what works and always have a back up or two.

[Briggers]

I had planned to fit her on my Hunter 430 but there is no convenient place to mount it.

[jack2]

Perhaps the wind-vane fits our boat so well because the boat was built in 1970. And mind you, my wife and I have only spent about 70 days on ocean passages. But our Monitor wind-vane steered about 69.75 of those days in every condition of wind and wave you would ever hope to or never hope to see.

We have a below deck auto-pilot that steers when the engine is running, but the wind-vane is without a doubt the only piece of equipment short of the AIS that I think every ocean going sail boat must have.

Besides the ease, the vane makes you a better and safer sailor. The vane does this by forcing you to adjust sail area and trim. when those are properly adjusted the wind-vane will steer a course within about 5-6 degrees of the desired course (2-3 on either side) 24/7 on every point of sail in all conditions.

If the day is going to be a full one, and any point of sail is more then 2-3 hours we use the wind-vane unless we just want to steer for the fun of it.

Plus it is a thing of beauty to watch in action.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Jammer

There was once a time when windvane steering was the sine qua non of a cruising sailboat. In those days, there was engine-driven refrigeration and engine-driven watermakers. You might have had a wind generator or an oversize alternator. There were those awful tow generators that everyone wants to forget.


Because back then, every Coulomb was (with apologies to Monty Python) sacred. You needed more of them, because lights were incandescent and solid state radars were only an idea. You were lucky if your HF was solid state. By the 1980s, inverters were around (anyone remember the early Heart Interface ones?),but the automatic 3-stage charger was only on the drawing boards. If you had a charger at all it probably had a wind-up timer on it that would tick down until it shut off. Electronic autopilots were, in those days, a poor choice for passagemaking.


So there were windvanes, and they revolutionized shorthanded sailing.


Times have changed. Everyone can afford solar panels with the only real limitation on quantity being windage concerns. There is, for the first time in the 100+ year history of electrical power, more than one choice of battery chemistry that is practical for storing substantial amounts of power. There is such a thing a suitcase generator, and you can get them at Walmart for $400. Speaking of Walmart, they'll sell you an inverter that is every bit as good as that old Heart Interface, and you'll only need one hand to lift it, instead of two people.


So, how about that windvane? Are you ready to consign it to the bucket of history along with the wringer washer, the pressurized alcohol stove, and the copper dive helmet? Do you keep one for nostalgia, sort of like a sextant or a mechanical clock that strikes the bells of the watch?


After all, the technology has reached a point where even @boat_alexandra has an electronic autopilot, homemade from a wiper motor and various electronic odds and ends.

If you are a dock queen, weekend sailor etc. you don’t need one. Sailing the eastern Caribbean for three years now. Many wind self steer units. Also lots of ketches and schooners and other practical, forgotten innovations to make things possible for the short handed. Pleanty of boats from the 70s and 80s