Wind indicator

This is a question primarily for those experienced sailboat folks here who've come over to power cruising.

Our boat came with a perfectly functioning, top-of-the-line Furuno Loran-C navigation receiver and display. We used it as a backup to the Echotec green-screen, C-MapNT GPS plotter we installed on the boat when we acquired it in 1998. At the time, GPS still had the big skew in it so its accuracy was about 300 feet. Loran, on the other hand, would put you right on the dot. I"v always thought of Loran as an inaccurate way of getting accurate information.

We continued to use the Loran as a secondary navigation system until they turned the northwest chain off. So now we have this nice piece of elecronics in our panel that does nothing whatsoever. So from time to time we think about what could go in its place.

We've considered an AIS transponder but in our waters we don't see any value it it other than finding out the name of that ship over there. The waters used by shipping here are very well covered by three VTS systems--- Seattle, Victoria, and Vancouver--- and when in poor or no visibility we have to cross shipping lanes or simply want to know what's headed our way, we talk to the VTS folks.

What we keep coming back to is how nice it would be to have a proper windspeed/direction indicator on the boat. Right now, we use the club pennant on the bow pulpit jackstaff.

What we have in mind is what we see on the mastheads of the sailboats in our marina. I used to crew on a racing sloop for a few years after moving to the area and we had one with a nice dual dial display showing the wind direction and speed.

We can mount the direction and speed head on a pole where the Loran antenna is now, and getting the wires down to the display in the panel would be very easy.

So my question to those of you who've had experience using or outfitting a sailboat is what brands of these systems have the best reputations for accuracy, reliability and longevity?

Thanks much in advance.

Can't help since in my sailboating days we had no electronic goodies. (Bow burgee is good enough for me now, yarn tell tales back then.)


Currently there is a thread on cruisersforum discussing weather stations. That might help.

We have a Maretron WSO-100 ultrasonic weather station and three of their DSM-150 displays, which display all the data from them along with whatever else is on the N2K bus. If you have a gps connected you can get true wind too. It has no moving parts to break so that's a plus. It'll cost more then other standalone systems, but you'll benefit when you upgrade other things in the future that are N2k capable.

markpierce said:

Currently there is a thread on cruisersforum discussing weather stations. That might help.

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Thanks, Mark. The boat I crewed on had the yarn telltales on the mast stays, too, and we actually used them more than the instrument.

I've read through the thread on weather stations and that's not what we want. We can get the weather from several sources on board now. What we want is a large-ish, simple display with the wind direction relative to the boat and speed only. That's why we're interested in the sailboat masthead system.

We can set about asking sailboaters we see in our marina, but I thought there might be some sailboat folks here with knowledge of good, bad, and indifferent systems.

Check out TackTick. They make wireless stuff that's pretty darn good. If all you want or need is an anemometer on a mast somewhere, with a decent display below, this is just right. It can give you wind speed and direction, plug in to your NMEA for apparent wind and speed versus true wind speed and direction, etc. I think most instruments can also graph the changes, so for example, you could see the highest wind in the last five minutes, or confirm a trend in wind speed, which can be useful
In route planning.

Lutarious said:

Check out TackTick..

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Thanks, I'll do that. I'm not so concerned about whatever we get being wireless. A cable is a snap to run from the flying bridge to the lower helm station. NMEA connectivity is not important as we would be using the vane/anenometer and its display as a stand-alone system.

Here's a nice and simple system.
http://www.hodgesmarine.com/Clipper-Wind-Instrument-W-Masthead-Transducer-Co-p/clicl-w.htm?click=19

That's the sort of thing we're after, thanks.

Marin,
Did you get a new boat? Thought you had a GB. We replaced our Loran with a nice piece of black King Starboard and then mounted a digital clock on its surface. Had a wind instrument at one time but all it did was scare me.

Pretty sure all the big name marine electronics manufactures have a wind direction and speed instrument.

I'm most familiar with Raymarine but Furuno and Simrad should have them as well. There are more out there and are all pretty pricey for what you get.

You can step down from a marine unit to a good home instrument but the cheap ones don't last and by the time you get a good one...the price tag may not be too far apart but the home instrument will give more weather and the marine instrument can sometimes be interfaced to nema and provide other marine data.

Garmin offers a nice instrument package with their GMI20 display. Bought it to replace my Simrad setup, but haven't finished the install yet. Around $1, 200 gets you 1 display, wireless wind sensor with temperature and barometric pressue, and a depth transducer. System is nmea 2000. My boat has a Garmin nmea 2000 network so the display can also offer GPS related information. Plan to add another display to the master stateroom (only need to run a network cable) so I can check what's going on at night. Even has an anchor drag alarm (if you add gps to the network).

Ted

hmason said:

Marin,
Had a wind instrument at one time but all it did was scare me.

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We have a handheld anemometer but it has no wind direction capability and we have to go outside into clear air to use it. One thing we have learned over the years of using our handheld is that when you're convinced it's blowing 25 it's actually blowing 12.

Standing outside occasionally provides lots of input on what's happening weatherwise (whereas permanently stationed in an open flying bridge is too much exposure, not counting the need to climb stairs or ladder.) That's one benefit of having the helm adjacent to the deck rather than the middle of the bridge/pilothouse. (My engine and rudder controls are within arm's reach from outside the pilothouse door.) Regardless, it's only necessary to stick one's head out from the top-side of the pilothouse's Dutch doors.

Marin said:

We have a handheld anemometer but it has no wind direction capability and we have to go outside into clear air to use it. One thing we have learned over the years of using our handheld is that when you're convinced it's blowing 25 it's actually blowing 12.

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Yep!!

Marin,

The Garmin GMI 10 with GWS 10 Bundle is still available on Amazon for only $600. It provides wind direction and speed, temperature, barometric pressure. When connected to a NMEA 2000 network, it will also display true wind direction and speed. Unlike the GMI 20, it is not wireless, but you mentioned mast wiring is not a problem.

Obviously, B&G, Raymarine, Ockam and others make great wind instrument systems, but they would all be overkill for what you need on your Grand Banks.

Thanks, I'll check that out too.

Marin said:

We have a handheld anemometer but it has no wind direction capability and we have to go outside into clear air to use it. One thing we have learned over the years of using our handheld is that when you're convinced it's blowing 25 it's actually blowing 12.

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Handheld anemomoters on our sailboats were seldom used. Sensing the wind's effect on the boats and their sails was more important.

N4712 said:

Yep!!

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Marin,

A lot of sailors use the Maretron. I like it and best of all, you can add other pieces as you see fit AND you don't need their display, but can use n2k view on your computer and any monitor.

Thanks, I'll check into Maretron.

I have the Raymarine ST70 with sensor up on the mast. Flawless!

After someone like N Korea pops a nuke off 300 miles up ,

LORAN will be the first nav system available to the public.

Keep it installed as an insurance policy.

Get a chart tape depth recorder for contour nav , also insurance.

GPS may take a decade to get back up.

Wxx3 said:

Marin,

A lot of sailors use the Maretron. I like it and best of all, you can add other pieces as you see fit AND you don't need their display, but can use n2k view on your computer and any monitor.

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Yes but it's cheaper to just get a display.

wind indicator

I was telling my wife, we need a wind instrument. When I was docking in 20 knot winds, from inside the pilot house, I had a hard time. Even with bow and stern thruster. Because I was in the pilot house, I did not realize that we had 20 knot winds. If I had an indicator, I would have known it was blowing 20 knots and the direction. I also came from a sail boat. Good idea!

My previous boat had B&G direction/speed indicators, it was fitted out as committee boat for the CYCA Sydney. They were useful, but things have progressed greatly since then, and indeed since the wetted finger.

FF said:

After someone like N Korea pops a nuke off 300 miles up ,

LORAN will be the first nav system available to the public.

.

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Not really since they have or are physically taking the Loran chain stations down. We can put up new satellites a lot faster than they can put the bidding out to build new chain stations, select a contractor, then put it out to bid again because the first guy will have been discovered to have given kickbacks to the people handling the bid, then selectd a new contractor, then pour the concrete, build the buildings, erect the antennas, and on and on. Just getting the chain stations built will take five years. Then, when they turn them on, they won't work and it will take another two years and 6.37 billion dollars to get them to put out a signal. Which nobody will be able to receive since nobody will have a Loran receiver anymore. No planes have them. I doubt any newer ships have them

Besides, North Korea is far too busy and having way too much fun trying to control Hollywood to be messing about with nuclear weapons anymore.

No, a wind indicator in place of the Loran-C unit in the panel seems to be the smart way to go.

Hi Marin,
We have a couple of stand-alone Simrad units, on the upper dash. Simrad IS20 & IS15. I think the IS20 would fit your purpose. I see they are still making the same unit (ours is 10 years old?)
Instruments - Simrad Marine Electronics
They seem good products, robust, simple, and come with good documentation / owners manual.
My backgorund is sailing, and I enjoy these instruments probably as much, or more than the other electronic goodies we have.

Thanks. That certainly looks like what we're after.

My best friend gave me one of these for a retirement gift. It's got a solar-powered wireless wind speed and direction sensor that sits on our house roof and a battery powered rain sensor. It's worked flawlessly in the two years we've had it and costs about $100.

I'm considering mounting the wind sensor on my radar mast with north aligned with the bow for a relative wind indication.

It's a busy indicator with lots of data but the wind speed and direction is easily gleaned at a glance.



Something like this could easily be modified to a flush panel mount.

FlyWright said:

My best friend gave me one of these for a retirement gift. It's got a solar-powered wireless wind speed and direction sensor that sits on our house roof and a battery powered rain sensor. It's worked flawlessly in the two years we've had it and costs about $100.

I'm considering mounting the wind sensor on my radar mast with north aligned with the bow for a relative wind indication.

It's a busy indicator with lots of data but the wind speed and direction is easily gleaned at a glance.

Something like this could easily be modified to a flush panel mount.

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This product is not likely to work on a boat. The sensor must be fix-mounted pointing to true south in order to get a true wind direction reading.

I don't think anybody cares about true wind direction, but wind relative to the boat. So as mentioned earlier, align it so North is at the bow.


Bob