New Toy!

[Bad Obsession]

Well, my second cruising season on Bad Obsession is about 1/2 way through. I have done three 10 plus day trips on her since I bought her. One thing that I have learned from my cruising is that 8 hour days on the helm gets really tiring. I did a 10 hour day this year (with a grand total of 20 minutes worth of a brake) and made 50 miles in one day. I don't think that I want to break that record again. I have decided that 6 hours on the helm is a good day and 25-30 miles a day is a good range. I decided to add autohelm to Bad Obsession after all the long hours on the helm. I bought a Simirad TP10 tiller Pilot. It was about $340. Like any other work on a sailboat, it didn't go totally smooth. I had to order two optional parts to get a correct fit on the autohelm (you can only buy them from the company that makes the autohelm and they cost me $68). I am still waiting for them to come in.So far I have done the wiring for the tiller pilot and I have that operational. I cleared out one part of my fuse pannel for this by making a new switch for the steaming light (which I never use because cruising the Chesepeake Bay area at night is like suicide by crab pots). I also have put the pin into the tiller for the autohelm. All that is left to do is to mount the optional 2.9 inch pedistal mount onto the starboard side of the boat and add the 5.9 inch extension to the autohelm to finish the job.I will try to update you when I finish the job. If anyone has any questions about this addition please ask!

 

[Mark]

Already have the same, and for your info....

I put the same tiller pilot on my H22 last fall. Although since then I've installed a Garmin GPSMap 168 sounder and wish I had gotten the TP20 instead as it will interface with the GPS, AND it comes with a credit card remote control. What your gonna find out is that it works great under motor power, but under sail is entirely a different story. Heavy winds, or lighter gusty winds and it can't keep up with correcting the helm fast enough and you'll point up in a heartbeat. One more reason for the TP20 is that it's a little faster. If you sail solo often, it's great making your switch from power to sail and vice-versa as it'll keep you pointed into the wind nicely. Beats the hell out of a tiller tamer. At first it was making me pretty frustrated in that I had spent the hard earned money for it and yet it performed nowhere near what I was expecting it to do. It has its's limitations, just be aware of that and maintain your patience while getting the feel for what it'll handle, and what it won't.