Sailing Baja Ha Ha w/o autopilot?

[nightowle]

Question for the group with a bit of background:

40 foot boat with recent refits. Not mine, but friend. Myself and 'the admiral' and another couple will make six on the journey which is a 700+ mile regatta/flotilla with over 125 boats heading south along the Baja coast. Five of us are experienced sailors and sailboat owners. A mysterious issue with the Garmin not talking to the autopilot (or visa versa) has happened. Experts have been working on it for a couple months off and on to no avail right now.

The other four in our group had to bring the boat from San Franciso to San Diego hand steering the entire way last May. They said it was tough, but was worse overnight due to limited visibility with a full enclosure cockpit. There will be more overnight passaging on the Ha Ha. About 9 days altogether, with only 2 stops along the way.

So, with less than 10 days to departure and if the autopilot is still not rectified, would you opt out of the trip?

I've never done an overnight passage piloting. Only one overnight passage for a short distance as deck crew. Day and night sailing for over a week hand steering only seems arduous. I realize that man has hand steered around the globe for eons, but I'm not trying to do a pretend trip aboard Captain Cooks boat. I'd particularly like to hear from those that have faced a crapped out autopilot on their voyage. So with that in mind, what's your opinion on this?

 

[Richard19068]

We had an iffy autopilot from Marquesas to Hawaii a couple of years ago so did a lot of hand steering (2 handed crew). Sounds like you have enough bodies but so much depends on the ability and willingness of the crew.
I'd be more worried about having to hand steer on the slog back, or down to the south pacific, unless you get it fixed in Mexico before then .

 

[justsomeguy]

Experts have been working on it for a couple months off and on to no avail right now.

"If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute to fix it...."

 

[Rick D]

Races typically don't allow AP's. If you have at least two on for a three hour shift, they can split the helming which doesn't make it too bad. Is it that the AP just doesn't interface, or that it won't hold a compass course at all? If it just doesn't interface, that should not be a problem. Personally, I wouldn't scrub it.

 

[nightowle]

Races typically don't allow AP's. If you have at least two on for a three hour shift, they can split the helming which doesn't make it too bad. Is it that the AP just doesn't interface, or that it won't hold a compass course at all? If it just doesn't interface, that should not be a problem. Personally, I wouldn't scrub it.

Its really a rally/flotilla....not a race.

 

[jssailem]

If you are sailing, then the AP is draining your batteries. You need a Windvane. Monitor sells them in the LA area. Tehy can fix you right up in time for your departure.
If you are motoring, then you need to have someone alert and watching the helm (On Watch). If the AP will hold course then the watch is about checking for other traffic and monitoring the course maintained by the AP. It does not need to interact with a Chart Plotter. That is what the Sailor on Watch is for. Especially with the run down to Baja. Too much traffic in the area to put the AP on and forget it. Just my 2 cents.
I'd go under the above conditions.

 

[Gunni]

So, with less than 10 days to departure and if the autopilot is still not rectified, would you opt out of the trip?

You make me sad.

• This is going to be a great experience!
  
• You have a one-in-four chance of having the AP crapping out during the trip on a good day!
  
• Bring 10lbs of freshly ground high-end coffee, a water filter and one of these. Good coffee makes for good watchstanders.
  
• Request of the skipper that you and Funny-Little-Honey share watches. (potentially reducing the watch teams, but reducing the stress I can feel!).
• If all else fails, tell her to stay home and you will go; remind her that the crew depends on you and it wouldn't be right to let them down.

 

[kloudie1]

Have been on a Gulf of Mexico crossing without an AP.. not bad .. coffee and a good watch schedule..

 

[capta]

I find it hard to believe anybody contemplating a voyage of 700 miles has qualms about hand steering. That's pretty much the way most of us circumnavigated in the 70's and before, never mind delivery crews that happen to take a boat w/o any autopilot and all those who just don't have one.
I usually sail with 3 including myself, which makes a 4 on 8 off schedule, steering by the compass. I have never had a single person, out of hundreds, who couldn't learn to steer by the compass in a couple of hours.
Now here, you are talking about 6, making 2 on each 4-hour watch, or 3 on and 9 off, which is just child's play; 3 whole hours of work out of 12. Gee, show me any other job that lets one lollygag around that much!
As for the autopilot talking to any other piece of equipment on the boat, as far as I know, all autopilots are stand-alone units that can be directed/connected to communicate with other equipment. However, it shouldn't need any other unit to make it function. Find a tech who knows what he is doing, or even better, read the manual and fix it yourself, just in case it develops a problem when you are underway.
I'm sorry, but it doesn't sound like your crew is anywhere near ready for this voyage if each person doesn't feel capable of doing at least 3 hours (for 6 of you) straight on the helm if necessary, day or night. That is just the minimum for safe offshore navigation, IMO.

 

[SG]

What autopilot do you have?
When you say the Garmin doesn't interface -- is that for "Route" funtions?
As others have said, I would expect the relative "compass" ('Auto') function to work independent of the Garmin [unless you're dependent of the Garmin system's compass instead of a standalone autopilot].


As for the crew being able to cope, I had an autopilot issue when I first upgraded B&G systems on a trip up to Maine from Annapolis. We run with 2-on at all times (usually with only 4 crew members). We had not problem with driving the boat through shipping lanes, fog, and fishing boat traffic. It does make doing things different, but as others have said -- if you want to sail, you now have a chance :^))).

I might say that if you were or single- or double-handing the boat, then the autopilot might be a bigger deal over four or five days.

I would think you'd be able to do that with no problem unless your Bavaria is rigged so that short handed-crews have a hard time "running" the boat. (I don't think I've ever seen a Bavaria that was like that. ;^)) ).