Looking for an autopilot

[Peter B]

............But mainly we just like driving the boat and having the "feel" of it in our hands the whole time. It's part of the enjoyment we get out of having one.

I'm well and truly over that. My wife doesn't enjoy steering - she likes to read. I get uncomfortable stuck on the helm all the time. If I could afford one I'd have one like a shot. Trouble is we probably don't do enough long legs to really justify the 5 odd grand it would cost. I'd love a new 4g broadband radar to play with too - same issue....

 

[Marin]

I'm well and truly over that. My wife doesn't enjoy steering - she likes to read. I get uncomfortable stuck on the helm all the time.

Different strokes..... After fourteen years of having our GB I still never get bored or uncomfortable driving the boat, even those times when I do the whole three or five or eight hours myself. And since my wife likes driving the boat as much as I do, we normally take turns. She says she'd like to read when we're underway and she tries it every now and then but never goes more than about five minutes before turning her Kindle off. She says she's afraid she'll miss seeing something if she's buried in a book.

So when she's not driving she's looking for eagles or porpoises or at all the other wildlife out on the water or taking pictures or is up by me at the helm.

We both feel boating would be somewhat boring with an autopilot. There was one on the GB36 we chartered prior to buying our boat and we tried it a few times. But neither one of us liked just sitting there so we soon stopped using it.

Our boat had a Benmar with a hard-wired remote that could reach either end of the boat but we took it off and eventually gave it to another fellow on the GB owner's forum.

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

It took me only 1/2 season to understand that I don't really care about driving the boat, I just want to be on the boat.

 

[meridian]

My Si-Tex was less than 2K

 

[Tom.B]

My Si-Tex was less than 2K

That's why I am looking at an 80 ($1500). I don't want anything fancy. I just want something that can hold a course while we enjoy the surroundings a little bit (or have sex on the flybridge). Skinny Dippin' wanders around quite a bit without constant attention to the wheel and there are lots of things to see and do other than concentrate on keeping a straight course. We both enjoy driving and I doubt an autopilot will replace that, but just to be able to let go and take a close look at the charts, take a long look at the dolphin pod in the binocs, or stare at my lovely wife would be awesome.

Tom-

PS- Oops... Looks like the 80 is for cable driven boats. Crap.

 

[Peter B]

My Si-Tex was less than 2K

That's because. like most later built boats, (ie since early 80s - mine is 1975), the steering is hydraulic and the drive units for those are for some reason way cheaper than the rotary units needed to run a manual chain and rod steering system like mine.
For that reason I still can't figure why Marin took a perfectly good system out, when all he needs to do to drive the thing manually is just not engage the drive. I would have thought the safety appeal of having that third pair of hands to steer while some emergency was attended to, or even just to put the billy on for a cuppa, or put the fenders in or out would have made keeping it worthwhile. Beats me, but no doubt he'll have an answer...

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

Now it's the one thing I wish I could add to my car, but apparently it cannot be done without huge expense, but on a trip and for improving economy and avoiding fines I think they are great.

Back in the day before cruise control was ubiquitous, and I was poor, I would jam a long handle ice scraper between the dash and the accelerator pedal when on long trips. Baltimore to Key West is a long drive on I95.