Oh, yeah. If you've got a wheel, my comments about tillers don't mean a hill 'o beans!Assuming you have the 28 with a wheel there's not much need for an autopilot when furling. Set the wheel brake, and just bump the wheel with an arm or a foot if you start to wander off course while you're furling. An autopilot is great for when you need to go below or to the mast, but furling from the cockpit should be manageable without it.
I like my tiller tamer. Shows what I know.Don't even consider the Davis Marine Tiller Tamer, those things suck.
Joe, I was remiss in my assessment of the Tiller Tamer. Or, rather, less than thorough. While a Tiller Tamer does work, I find it to be too fiddly. You need to reach under (typically) the tiller to tighten and loosen the twisting knob in order to hold the tiller. On my small boat, I have had situations where I thought the tamer was loose, but I tacked and the dang thing held the tiller hard over, which kinda wasn't a good situation, as I was getting to skinny water and wasn't racing needing to make full turns with an unexpected gybe headed my way...I like my tiller tamer. Shows what I know.
Yes you do, but don't buy a new one. If you are patient, you can find one on Ebay for less than a 100 bucks. It will be the best 100 bucks you ever spend, second to buying a bimini if you don't already have one. If you mostly sail alone, it just makes things so much easier. In many conditions, it can sail the boat better than you can. It just allows you to move about the boat, without being tied to the tiller. I've used a tiller tamer type device. It has its place, but does not replace the auto pilot.... I don't want to spend the $'s on a fancy auto-pilot - any recommendations for a homemade version?... Tom O'Day 28.
Ahhhh again we meet. Practical sailing experience and book reported technique/just try it methods.I don't understand why everyone likes furling an RF sail head to wind.
A couple of points here.LIGHTBULB: Wondering if I simply didn't have enough line wound on the furler? That wouldn't explain the tough start, but maybe not being able to finish the process??
You could try keeping just a bit of tension on the furling line while you unfurl. Doing that should help ensure that the line wraps nicely around the drum without any overwraps.I’ve had problems such as this, furling my genoa. I’ve found that sometimes when unfurling the head sail, the line on the reel gets bound and when I try to furl the sail its very difficult to pull the bound/stuck/over lapped line from the reel of the furler. I’m wondering if there is a lubricant made for rope, something not so slick I can’t hold on to it. Maybe I should switch to dyneema.