View Single Post
Old 10-29-2014, 06:39 PM   #171
Delfin
Grand Vizier
 
Delfin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,816
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marin View Post
Not true. An autopilot can only react. It cannot anticipate.
That is quite true, which is why no one, and I mean no one has suggested that an autopilot replaces a watch hand. All it does is steer the boat better in virtually all conditions than a human can. Nothing more, nothing less.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marin View Post
And anyone who knows how to control a flat-transomed cruiser going down-sea in three to five foot, steep, closely-spaced wind waves knows that anticipatiion is the key to maintaining control. If you wait until the next wave slams into the transom and starts slewing the boat around, you've waited too long. But that's all an autopilot can do: wait until something happens that it can react to.
As Larry pointed out, the edge case of a following sea pushing the boat around is hard for an autopilot to handle. So based on a condition one encounters 2% of the time, it makes sense to hand steer the other 98% of the time? Really?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marin View Post
There have been two broaches in Bellingham Bay that I know of in which the skippers lost control of their boats (or they tried to come in on autopilot) that resulted in the loss of the boats and the loss of all lives on board. The waves in both cases were four to five feet.
Are you saying that the boats broached because they were on autopilot? Do you know, or pretending to? Or are you suggesting that in edge cases where a boat can be pushed around straight line of travel isn't advised? If so, you bet, but this is an argument against an autopilot? That is like arguing against radar because 95% of the time you can see what's coming at you. Weird.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marin View Post
I've had to run our boat in these conditions twice that I can recall, and trust me, there is no way an autopilot could have dealt with the situation. It would have lost it on the second wave.
Yes, 2% of the time we all have those conditions to deal with. I prefer to hand steer then as well, for example, going through Deception Pass backwards with the current, or entering or exiting the marina, or.....hmmm, I'm having trouble coming up with another example but I am sure they exist.....


Quote:
Originally Posted by Marin View Post
Your plane could also fall on his boat and kill him. This guy has probably forgotten more about operating a boat than most of the combined people on this forum (including me) will ever know. He knows what safety is as he's survived decades of operating boats in very nasty situations. If there was a chance of his being incapacited by doing something unsafe, he wouldn't do it. This particular boat requires hand steering. He's also run boats with autopilots and used them where he felt the conditions warranted it. However, he feels hand-steering AND PAYING ATTENTION is better and safer in the waters he boats than using an autopilot.

His rocked-back-steer-with-his-feet thing is something he does when conditions warrant it. This particular boat tracks like it's on rails with no hand on the helm, other than the influences of wind and waves. I've been out with him on this boat and there is nothing that escapes his attention because he is so familiar with this section of coast and he's been doing it forever. If he saw a boat wake coming, he would do whatever was necessary to deal with it,
No doubt your friend makes Joshua Slocum look like a dirt farmer, but the point is that sometimes things happen that you don't see coming, especially after a few hours pointlessly steering your boat when an autopilot would do the job for you. In that case, your friend goes ass over tea kettle endangering himself and his vessel. If you are going to point to someone who drives his boat with his feet while sitting in a lawn chair as the pinnacle of professionalism, I really don't know what to say, other than wow.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marin View Post
As I said, these are the kind of guys I seek out when I have a chance and try to learn something from, even if it's just in a dock conversation. I have found there is a huge difference in the way these guys approach operating a boat than in the way most recreational boaters, even long-time ones, approach the same thing.

I suspect psneeld knows something of what I'm talking about as of the current forum participants, I feel he's probably the closest in experience to what I see in the guys like the fellow in my picture.
I'll let psneeld speak for himself, but because he is experienced I don't find it unusual that he seems to be scratching his head over some of the comments here on how using an autopilot shortcircuits consciousness and causes the skipper to immediately fall asleep. From what he has said he supports training and the use of tools that make boating safert, and an autopilot is nothing if not a safety convenience.

I honestly cannot believe that the opposite is being argued. Perhaps Caltex is right on the motivation.
__________________
"Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis." - Jack Handey
Delfin is offline   Reply With Quote