Am afraid that ultimately I’ll have to pony up the $3,200 for a Ray ev200 plus a $400 rudder arm- ouch!
You hail from Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay.
Your boat has a listed Displacement: 11,500 lb / 5,216 kg.
Unless you plan to sail her on long open ocean voyages or in violent storms on the Chesapeake your boat would be well inside the specifications stated for wheel or tiller pilots.
Wheel Drive
The EV-100 wheel pilot comprises a fully enclosed wheel-drive for simple installation and superb autopilot performance.
Quick and easy installation
Fits most types of wheel
Simple robust clutch engagement mechanism.
Specifications
Maximum recommended laden boat displacement: 7,500kg (16,500lbs)
Revs per minute (rpm): 9
Thrust: 30Nm
Connections: STng (x1), NMEA 2000 with adapter cable
There are good reasons to upgrade beyond the wheel pilot, they do not apply to the majority of boat owners. Evaluate all the options and your intended and actual uses for your boat. Then prioritize your Boat needs from boat wants.
As an example: Is it better to spend $3400 on a Robust auto pilot to steer the boat in gale conditions or $1200 on a wheel pilot that will serve the boat use under 90% maybe 95% of my boating experiences and $2200 on a new sail to power the boat?
Ain't boat ownership fun all these decisions.