Poor Man's Auto-Pilot

[stephen_i_w]

Having a great time here in the North Channel. Unfortunately, my auto-pilot broke. But, I cannot let that ruin my trip. Two bungie cords hooked on to the wheel, attached to the stern pulpit makes her track straight pretty well. OK, not as good as the real thing, but it works a whole lot better than I expected.

 

[rgranger]

I wonder if you could rig a tiller to sheet type steering using the top spoke of your wheel. If you don’t know what that is Google it it’s a pretty simple set up and works very well

 

[stephen_i_w]

I can see how rigging to a sheet would work well under sail. Actually, my boat tracks pretty well under sail anyway, so steering her then is no chore. But when motoring, let your hand off for a moment and it flies off in one direction or another. So, steering under power gets very tiring. We do a lot of motoring when we cruise, so the bungies have been a real help. I plan to repair the wheel-pilot when I get home. My wheel-pilot can hunt around a lot when it works, so I might still use the bungie method even then, under some conditions.

 

[BAD ORCA]

Having a great time here in the North Channel. Unfortunately, my auto-pilot broke. But, I cannot let that ruin my trip. Two bungie cords hooked on to the wheel, attached to the stern pulpit makes her track straight pretty well. OK, not as good as the real thing, but it works a whole lot better than I expected.View attachment 218160

Sorry, off topic but i love your engine control/instrument arrangement. I dont think i have ever seen one on the pedestal. Has me thinking of maybe moving mine.

 

[jssailem]

when motoring, let your hand off for a moment and it flies off in one direction or another.

That is really a normal occurrence. Your prop is thrashing the water about, trying to push the water towards the stern. The first thing the disturbed water runs into is your rudder. The water being water and having been beaten about by the prop just wants to get away and relax. It tries to take the shortest route past the rudder.

The rudder just hanging there swinging back and forth gets pushed one way or the other by the crowd of excited rushing water molecules. The boat reacts to the rudder and “flies off in which ever direction” the water has pushed it.

 

[Tally Ho]

That is really a normal occurrence. Your prop is thrashing the water about, trying to push the water towards the stern. The first thing the disturbed water runs into is your rudder. The water being water and having been beaten about by the prop just wants to get away and relax. It tries to take the shortest route past the rudder.

The rudder just hanging there swinging back and forth gets pushed one way or the other by the crowd of excited rushing water molecules. The boat reacts to the rudder and “flies off in which ever direction” the water has pushed it.

My O’Day 322 will motor straight ahead….for about 30 seconds…less if it is choppy, and then…boom...

She does a crazy Ivan.

The bungees may work on Tally Ho if it is really flat out. But it wouldn’t really steer and it wouldn’t take long before the boat is headed off in the wrong direction.

But, worth a try if you are in a trip and lose your AP.

Greg

 

[LloydB]

This post makes absolute nonsense to me as stated. The configuration is appropriate only in one case as when rudder is set for straight ahead and the autopilot is locked to not allow rudder position change. You could accomplish the same task with a 300 LB lead weight attached to the bottom of the wheel except it would not be as easy to change when the boat started to move downwind.

 

[dlochner]

This post makes absolute nonsense to me as stated. The configuration is appropriate only in one case as when rudder is set for straight ahead and the autopilot is locked to not allow rudder position change. You could accomplish the same task with a 300 LB lead weight attached to the bottom of the wheel except it would not be as easy to change when the boat started to move downwind.

This will work because of the shock cords and if the sails are trimmed correctly. A balanced sail plan trimmed correctly should yield a neutral or slightly weather helm. Wind shifts, wave action, and people moving about will cause the course to change will will apply force to the rudder, the shock cords will initially stretch in reaction to the course change and then contract bringing the helm back to center. The process just keeps repeating.

The course will not be a perfectly straight line, nor should any course be on a well sailed boat, but it will be good enough for extended periods. This method will also work better on larger heavier boats as they are less sensitive to small variations in wind, seas, and people moving about. On a Mac 22 it will work for a while and will need to be readjusted more frequently than on a Cat 310. It is a good solution while waiting for the real AP to be repaired or to give the skipper a break if there isn't an AP.

 

[Terry Cox]

While our autopilot still works great, I often use the wheel brake on long legs, whether under power or sail. I use our pole to make minor bearing tweaks from my stern rail perch. If I let go of the helm wheel without the brake engaged, while under power, our boat will always do a hard turn to starboard.

 

[LloydB]

Will not work as an autopilot--but will work as a DIY tillertamer if the wheel lock can't be used.