Tiller pilot

[Scott Dunsworth]

I got to try the tiller pilot last weekend on a two day trip. As of right now I am in love B on words ;D ;D ;D

I sailed her to the wind, beam reach and a very broad reach along with some motoring. It is nice to not be married to the tiller all day.

When I want to dig out and raise the staysail I just get the boat on the heading , hook up the sail and hoist her up, all the time the boat is doing her thing. Which is nice on a boat with a cabin. I always had to try to balance everything out with tiller tied off and get up on the bow to hook up the sail then get back to the cockpit make some heading adjustments then finish threading up the sheet. Then hoist and tie off the halyard. Not really as bad as it sounds but you have to do the same thing all over again to tack with the exception of threading the sheet.

You can go below dig out a cd or fix a sandwich. Get a cold one or make some coffee.

I used it on the Ohio river and when the heading needed adjustment for a bend in the river all you do is hit 10 degrees a time or two one way or the other.

If you want to take over the tiller just hit standby and lift off the pin and she is all yours again.

There are some things to think about though. I won't use it in very strong winds where I am keeping the main sheet in hand. Also one needs to remember the boat don't care if your on board or not she will leave you in the water and sail on if you fall overboard!! So when I get out of the cockpit I don't break the rule of one hand for the boat Always.

As for power use, I carry two deep cycles and only used one. I ran the stereo quite a bit, the anchor light, the chart plotter and depth sounder all the time even at night (for the anchor drag alarm) and never shut the VHF off. All off one of the group 24s. When I got home she charged up with a 10 amp charger quickly drawing only 5 amps.

I am getting ready to take a 250 mile trip in her in a few weeks I hope I am still in love with her after I get back.

Scott

[TonyDay]

Scott, this sounds really interesting.  Please post some pictures so we can see what you have.