Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Autopilot update

We have the autopilot installed now. The hardest part was mounting the rudder reference unit to the rudder. There was nothing flat to attach it to so we had to build a block to glue to the underside of the deck at the right angle and height to line up the rudder reference unit with the rudder controls. We mocked something up using blocks of wood and shims, then made it out of florists foam THEN had it made out of wood. It was still not quite right so the final piece has a few shims integrated into the attachment to get the angle "just so." So far it works great under motor and at certain points of sail. It did not like going down wind under sail with a following sea. That is the hardest point of sail for humans too! You have to anticipate the course change from the waves and the computer is not sophisticated enough to anticipate, so corrects afterwards. You end up with a zig zag course. So in those conditions it is easier to steer manually! Overall we are very happy to have the extra hand aboard.