Catalina Island trip log

[Ixneigh]

Everywhere I went in the Bahamas no one sailed upwind. There's too much to do, or else your group if you have one, are all motoring. I will night sail across the banks, but its somewhat risky.
Ix

[March]

We found our that sailing the Bahamians Banks or flats at night is not so much risky as it is boring as heck. The wind dropped down both on the way to Chub Kay and back. There's no current to speak of. Depth: 7-10 feet. There's nothing to do but either drop anchor (or not) or putt-putt- along @ 1800 RPM, keeping a lazy lookout, just in case....

[BOAT]

Matt,

Do you think the autopilot might be quieter as a tiller pilot? I noticed the unit was available as a tiller pilot or a wheel pilot. Would you consider this a good pilot for 'boat' if I installed it below decks on the tiller instead of on the wheel?

The integration with the wind Anemometer is sort of the clincher on this deal. I do not think the pilot Victor is working on has that feature - and it sounds like a very good feature.

What tilted you to a wheel mount instead of a tiller mount?

(P.S. I remember sitting at night with friends on the outside deck at that restaurant in Two Harbors when i was a kid of 14 years old on summer evenings listening to music. Those were days I miss. We would walk to the other side of the island on a dirt road that goes to Cat Harbor - to be 14 again - geeze - in my mind I AM still 14!)

[Ixneigh]

Hahaha lucky you. Ive only had calm conditions across the banks once. I have sailed back from Chub key on two occasions though, and picked up Cat key just before dawn. The risk I speak of are mostly unlit boats running to and from Nassau and Andros. My first trip over, I HAD to sail practically everywhere since I only had a small outboard with a 6 gallon tank. That was good for about 30 miles in flat conditions. Now, with a reliable engine, on a boat made for it, I regard my M as an expedition boat. I would rather motor in pleasant conditions, then sail in bad ones. The fact that the OP got a few good days of sailing in, I would count as a sailing success!
Ix

[Irafatsar]

Love my auto pilot. Someday I will see yours, maybe at our next club race?

[BOAT]

Love my auto pilot. Someday I will see yours, maybe at our next club race?

What kind of auto pilot do you have!!

[Irafatsar]

Smart pilot http://www.raymarine.com/view/?id=380http://www.raymarine.com/view/?id=380

[mastreb]

BOAT,

A tiller pilot would be much quieter than the wheel pilot. Firstly, the wheel pilot is rather noisy (as Vic warned me it would be) and secondly the tiller isn't sitting in the middle of the cockpit.

I think it would be a relatively simple mod for someone who is comfortable with drilling holes to mount the tiller pilot inside the boat where the steering bar goes across, although it would take a lot of measurement to be certain.

I went with the wheel pilot because I'm a novice when it comes to cutting holes in boats, and the wheel pilot required no modifications that I'm not comfortable UNDOING. That's my primary criteria for a mod--can I put the boat back to stock with a tube of 5200? If not, I think long and hard before I do it.

Also, I didn't have a whole lot of time--I barely got the pilot installed before my trip as easy as it was.

If you get the tiller version, I'll help you install it and if it turns out to be a lot better than the wheel, I'll replace that component.

Consider getting the p70r as the pilot head as well. It has a rotary knob, and can be used to "power steer" the boat, whereas the p70 cannot. I'm thinking about adding one below decks so I can pilot from inside the cabin in inclement weather.

Matt

[BOAT]

I too wanted some kind of remote operation of the control head from inside the boat - my plan was to create another dashboard right where most folks are mounting their stereo radios (the forward dinette overhead) to include a reciever for a tablet PC to monitor the NMEA systems and GPS. My only problem is that I don't know how to control the throttle from inside the boat. Have you figured out a way to control the throttle with the NMEA backbone yet? Is it possible? The throttle cable only drives an electronic switch in the motor - right? There is no actual cable throttle body or carburetor is there?

I do not think I will need to drill a hole in the boat to mount the tiller pilot - I think I will probably fiberglass in a block on the inside of the hull or the underside of the cockpit to mount the pilot arm. Or I could bolt a bracket to the underside of the motor well as they did to mount the steering cable.

I will be getting some kind of auto pilot this winter for sure. It appears to me that your Ray Marine has the best programming of any others I have looked at for sail boats. I think it was a very good investment you made.

[innervations]

Cadet has posted a great install of a Raymarine tiller pilot in the mods section http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=1796

I believe he is very happy with it. I have purchased the same system but have not installed as yet. Hopefully before Christmas for our summer season.

[BOAT]

Huh, looks very nice indeed - I hope cadet jumps in here at some time to tell us how the battery power solar thing worked out. Does the tiller drive require more power than the wheel drive??

I wonder if there are any power consumption specs on the raymarine website - I'm gonna check

[mika]

Did yuu mention how many miles it is on water from San Diego to Catalina? Nice log. Wish we could have seen some pics!

[mastreb]

BOAT--

Brand new ETEC motors from the 115hp up use Evinrude's new "ICON" fly-by-wire, and yes it's all NMEA-2000. Existing 150hp and up Evinrudes can be upgraded to ICON, but alas, our motors are not and will not be. It's cable throttles for us. There's not a "throttle body"--the cables are going to an electronic throttle control potentiometer in the outboard, but they're cables none the less.

Throttle is the last piece to figure out for pilothouse operation. Working on it.

Matt

[BOAT]

Okay, thanks MATT - I think a throttle cable behind the ladder might be the only way to do that but I'm not sure how to deal with the neutral lockout. It would be good to have a place to drive out of the spray and the weather. I hate getting caught in the rain and that's the time you want to really cobb on the throttle and get out of dodge. Sure would be nice to do it without getting soaked. I carry heavy weather gear to wear for that, but I would prefer to be inside.

As for installing the pilot, yes indeed I will need your help especially with the electronics and interfacing with the tablet PC and the chart-plotter. It would give me a good excuse to buy a few rounds.

[BOAT]

Did yuu mention how many miles it is on water from San Diego to Catalina? Nice log. Wish we could have seen some pics!

Mika, It's about 48 NM to Avalon from here in Oceanside - Avalon is the closest port to Oceanside on the island and from what I can gather from mastreb's log he did not put in at Avalon, - he anchored in Two Harbors which is even further away by 20 miles to the north.

All said i would need to guess that mastrb traveled at least 100NM and probably more.