Regardless of a ship size, autopilots can be of great help when sailing solo or when in need to relax during long days. Here is an overview of how a tiller pilot works and is installed on a Siren 17 pocket cruiser.
I have 2 raymarine tiller pilot on my Pacific 24 and have an spare as an backup. I agree one hundred percent. and i would allso have an selfe steering wind vane for longer trips as i am an solo sailor and complments the capability of having both. Gerard.
Nice video!!!! I'm running a vintage analogic Autohelm 800 on our 18 feet silboat and still going strong. Installing it was one of the first improvements I did. This video is very usefull if someone is going to install ore use it for the fist time.
Great video and subject matter. I really enjoy your editing and filming style. I am curious what equipment and editing programs do use to make your videos? Thank you
Thanks for the kind words! I am using mostly an iPhone 12 and a GoPro Hero 9. Editing on Adobe Premiere Pro. I am a TV professional so, I know the drill too.
First of all - thanks for your excellent videos. Relevant for all trailer sailors. I’ve noticed the nice blue seat cushions that you have on the boat. Been looking for something similar. Where did you get them? Thx
Thanks Dan! I am glad you enjoy watching. So those blue cushions were provided with a 40' foot boat I owned at Moorings, it was part of their cruising package. Sadly, I have not been able to source those anywhere else.
Thank you for this well directed and narrated youtube. I am like you and in California, I am known as a "trailer sailier" as my boat lives on a trailer and not in the water. I have been wanting to do exactly as you have done for a long time. Most of my friends have big boats and autopilots and don't understand why I want a Tiller Pilot directly linked to a chart plotter to follow GPS Way Points and such. My boat is a 1985 Catalina 22. I am looking at the RaymarineST 1000/2000. My boat only has a compass. I want to add a chart plotter that will work really well with the RaymarineST but have no idea what to purchase or how to link. I sail coastal and open ocean (yes I sail singlehanded to Catalina Island from San Diego and Long Beach depending on where I am with my boat.). Can you recommend a chart plotter for a boat like mine and whatever additional equipment is needed to make it all work together? I like Garmin products but am open to whatever the sailing community has adopted as reliable and safe. Thank you. I just subscribed!
HI Ben, generally, it's easier to stay within the same brand if you plan to integrate several devices on a network. For the tiller pilot, you have only two options, Raymarine ST or Simrad (TP22 or 23, the TP11 works as standalone only). I don't know any of the Raymarine chart plotters but the Raymarine ST having the older NEMA 183 interface, I don't know if it can be connected to a newer Raymarine GPS. If you go the Simrad/B&G route, it's easy, the Vulcan 7 GPS and TP22/32 tiller pilots connect to a small Simnet hub via NEMA 2000 or Simnet cables. Both companies B&G/Simrad and Raymarine have decent phone support so, you should be able to talk to a humane being to know what to buy. Good luck with the install.
Did you calibrate your unit when you first bought it? I bought TP 10. Haven't used it yet but since it's not hooked to a GPS thought I might be able to skip the calibration
Yes I did. It was pretty well calibrated out of the box. You should do it too, even if not connecting it to a GPS. The internal compass in the tiller pilot needs to be calibrated to fonction properly and accurately. I believe you should also recalibrate if you move the boat hundreds of miles.
@@siren17 thanks for the quick reply. I installed it yesterday and head out today to do the calibration and see how she sails. After sailing my boat 200 miles a couple of weeks ago. It was a easy decision to buy one.
