Autopilot - when do you use?

[Lucky Duck]

There is only one appropriate name for an autopilot. Britney.

Britney Steers.

Mine is called Dexter!

 

[NickRobinson]

Mine is called Dexter!

My last one could have been called Sinister...

N

 

[alahol2]

I ought to call mine Exocet because if there's a buoy 2 miles away, somewhere near our course, it will inexorably home in on it.

 

[onesea]

As we pass the fairway usually. Steering is tedious.

You wait that long, mine is on most of the way out of the river to let us (or me) get fenders and ropes and sails on deck...

Pretty much always when under engine except in close quarters.

By close quarters you mean feet not meters right?

Once sailing we normally drop to hand:
A) SWMBO thinks "it" is the work of the devil.
B) If we start pushing her hard "it" struggles.
c) If "it" steered when sailing "It" would have half the fun.
D) We can sail faster than "it", normally significantly.

We do use for lunch breaks and sail trimming and kettle boiling etc as well but most of the time we hand steer under sail...

One of the great joys of owning a Morgan. Nothing better than a ride through the Dorset countryside on a crisp clear winter's morning with the
heater keeping the lower parts warm and the ears tingling a bit. Don't tell people about it normally as don't want everybody doing it.

Landrover drivers only drive with the window open as they need some where to put there right arm and it makes little difference to the inside temperature.. Its not for pleasure!

 

[winsbury]

I think we're going to have a naming ceremony tomorrow : Jeeves for the plotter (GeePS) and Wooster ( will steer ) for the autopilot

 

[pagoda]

You wait that long, mine is on most of the way out of the river to let us (or me) get fenders and ropes and sails on deck...


By close quarters you mean feet not meters right?

Once sailing we normally drop to hand:
A) SWMBO thinks "it" is the work of the devil.
B) If we start pushing her hard "it" struggles.
c) If "it" steered when sailing "It" would have half the fun.
D) We can sail faster than "it", normally significantly.

We do use for lunch breaks and sail trimming and kettle boiling etc as well but most of the time we hand steer under sail...




Landrover drivers only drive with the window open as they need some where to put there right arm and it makes little difference to the inside temperature.. Its not for pleasure!

To be honest, George is not used a lot. More when single handing, I can play with sail trim and organise food etc. If motoring in flat conditions and minimal traffic we use it occasionally.
I still sail dinghies, so helming seems the natural state of affairs on a sailboat and I can steer better than it anyway if there is a decent sea running. I think it can encourage inattention, so minimise it..

Graeme