[C320-list] Additional cockpit winches

[Jeff Hare]

Brian, 

If you have to short tack a lot,  experiment with the "tack" feature of the
AP.  You can program the tacking angle so that it will automatically tack
roughly the same number of degrees that you would do manually.   Then you
can set up your genny sheets, hit the tacking buttons and let the boat steer
through the tack for you.

My suggestion is to set this up with the engine running and the main up
(genny furled), and play with the tacking feature for an hour or two until
it becomes second nature and you're comfortable that the boat will steer
through the tack just the way you want.

We use the autopilot most ofgen just hold my present course. Easier than
asking someone to come hold the wheel for a minute. Just flip the lever to
engage it, then press the red "Auto" button.  Done....  The boat will stay
on its present compass course (but will not adjust for sideward drift).  To
resume manual control, press just "Standby" button and disengage the lever.
(assuming you have the ST4000 series)

This might make a good website technical Wiki topic for collecting all the
tricks for using the AP and other instruments on our boat (which all seem to
have their own daunting collections of documentation).

-Jeff


-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Amirault
Family - S&B
Sent: 23 January 2009 14:54
To: c320-list at lists.catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Additional cockpit winches


All:

 

Thank you for your time. The consensus is that I need to use an autopilot.
Bear came with one, which I have looked at but not used; and I suppose that
it works. More to the point I will need to discover if it does in the coming
summer. 

 

Bear sails on an inland river; prevented by two sets of rapids and a dam
from finding her way to the St. Lawrence and the sea. The orientation of the
river is generally west-north west, and the prevailing wind is down river.
On those rare days when the wind is from the south everyone is on the water
making those one tack trips up stream. On a usual day you spend the day
tacking back and forth up river and then a very broad reach to run for the
trip home. Under Canadian Coast Guard rules I carry no flares as I am never
more than a mile from shore regardless of where I am on the water. 

 

The constriction of the location means you are tacking very frequently even
when the river is not busy and so you are not being forced to change
direction 'cause you aren't the right-of-way boat. This aside, my personal
experience has been that a fool and his money are always welcome. As the
advice is that an autopilot is a better solution than new winches and as I
already have the device installed, I will save the 3k$ of an additional
winch set install and teach myself autopilot basics with the manuals that
came with the boat.

 

If this works for me you may be able to hear my squeals of delight.

 

Regards;

 

Brian Amirault

Waltzing Bear, too