Wind speed/direction gauges...do you use them?

[Kings Gambit]

There are a few good reasons for the electronic wind instrument. Most of the posts above talk about its use during sailing. When I'm at anchor and the wind gets up during the night I sometimes turn mine on to see what it's blowing in the anchorage and especially the strength of the gusts. Of course, I also get the direction. One gets good "data" on the boat's feel and "behavior" at anchor with wind speed. Of course, you could stand out on deck with a flash light and a hand-held wind speed indicator (I have one of those as well from my older boat that lacked the electronic weather station.) and read the wind speed with occasional glances up to the Windex--if you really wished to know.

Also, as people have said it's good to know the true wind speed and true direction while sailing. In light air you can be deceived about the true wind direction since the seas are not wind-capped, etc., pointing toward the true wind. It's usually further aft than you might think while sailing.

Finally--the best reason--the wife likes it. It's not easy to see tell tales, yarn, magnetic tape, or even the Windex standing at the wheel behind a spray dodger and under a Bimini top. Sure, we have a window on the Bimini and we use it to see the Windex. However, I can sail the boat w/o the electronic weather station as well as with it. If the electronic thing died and the Windex blew off, I could still sail the boat to its sail trim just "by feel." Likely so could she. It's just another convenience like a VHF mic in the cockpit, etc.

However, if the boat were mine, I'd get a guy there with the right equipment to reconnect those wires and then use the weather station. It would likely be easier than buying and installing a new one.

 

[ifmdalvey]

I have a Airmar 200 coupled with Raymarine i70 and a 400 autopilot, this set up allows me to set the autopilot to any point of sail, which if you are doing an sort of distance is nice. It also provides a yellow arrow of true wind direction direct to the chart plotter. I would not do without it.

 

[jibes138]

I was told you can get an anemometer that plugs into your iphone to get wind speed? Has anyone ever seen one of these or have a source?

Also a guy in my marina put in a wireless anemometer about two years ago and it is already not working. A couple hurricanes and these things burn right up I guess. Looking at all the boats in the marina I would guess about half of them are not spinning at all, or are spinning much slower than others. I think like most boat stuff they are expensive junk with a very low life expectancy.

 

[Kings Gambit]

The mechanical anemometers spinning at the masthead evidently can get dirty. There's otherwise nothing wrong with them. You have to take 'em down and clean the moving part every 10 or so years. I had the same observation w/ mine (turning too slowly or not at all in light air); works fine now after cleaning.

 

[capta]

I was told you can get an anemometer that plugs into your iphone to get wind speed? Has anyone ever seen one of these or have a source?

Also a guy in my marina put in a wireless anemometer about two years ago and it is already not working. A couple hurricanes and these things burn right up I guess. Looking at all the boats in the marina I would guess about half of them are not spinning at all, or are spinning much slower than others. I think like most boat stuff they are expensive junk with a very low life expectancy.

Like any other industry, you get what you pay for (and what you maintain), in the marine industry. Most people I know have mast head anemometers that are at least 10 years old and still working fine. So, for an $800 unit, that's a whopping $80 a year or less for some pretty handy gear. If these folks around your marina use their boats as much as most, then their gear is just spinning away up there, gathering all the dirt the land can throw at it and hardly ever gets any attention or use.
I don't really see how you would expect any piece of gear, from an anemometer to a sail to hold up through "A couple hurricanes". An intelligent person would either unplug it (there is a handy dandy plug just for that purpose) and stow it away, or consider it expendable, in the event of a hurricane. If you left your roller furling jib on the stay and a hurricane tore it to shreds, would you blame the sail maker?

 

[Kings Gambit]

Yeah. Even a casual stroll through the land of "boats for sail" can reveal that relatively few owners maintain their boats well; not anywhere near the requirement. One sees so many that are dirty, stinky, greasy; strewn with rusted hardware of various type including lifelines, engine mounts, and jacklines; those with degraded teak caulk, leaky portlights and hatches, filthy stove tops, ... etc. So why not add un-maintained anemometers, broken compasses, opaqued lenses on running lights, faded, torn, and bird-splatted canvass, worn out sails, etc. These are what brokers disingenuously call "cosmetic repairs..."

 

[Gunni]

I think it really is about the kind of sailing one does. If you are just a day sailor, and never intend long overnight voyages, then you can probably give it all a miss. But if you intend to sail considerable distances in any weather, then I'd put the time and effort into getting those instruments working.
I began sailing, and completed a circumnavigation long before those instruments were available for small cruising boats, at a price most of us could afford. Sailing with them now, I would repair them ASAP if they went down, as I find them very useful and they definitely increase the ease and pleasure of sailing.
If I was in your position, whether making long voyages or not, I would definitely take the time to figure out the wiring and get them working.

What Capta said. Trying to discern your rag telltales at night or a foul day at sea is a fools errand. Your decision.

 

[ifmdalvey]

buy the Airmar 200wx, no moving parts for seagulls to sit on and bust, nothing needing greasing.

 

[PotomacDaysailer]

Speaking of telltales: I had a pair of Newport telltales which were a piece of ribbon trailing from a split plastic washer which slides onto the shrouds. The washer spins freely so they were pretty sensitive. A piece of tape wound around the shroud kept it from sliding down. When I went to replace them though they don't seem to be available anymore.

 

[Joe]

Speaking of telltales: I had a pair of Newport telltales which were a piece of ribbon trailing from a split plastic washer which slides onto the shrouds. The washer spins freely so they were pretty sensitive. A piece of tape wound around the shroud kept it from sliding down. When I went to replace them though they don't seem to be available anymore.

I love the shroud tell tales, so easy to see without craning your neck.

I've been using these:

They are easy to attach and remove, which extends their live indefinitely. You can purchase replacement vanes... but taking them off when not needed is the key... just like your sails.

I have used the ribbon type you mentioned...also cassette tape and yarn.. none last too long. However, these little vanes are the ticket. IMHO.

Here's a resource for the type you mentioned and others. http://www.apsltd.com/c-4713-telltalesshrouds.aspx

 

[capta]

Without getting all fancy, a piece of yarn makes an excellent telltale on the after lowers. Even with all the fancy gear, there are always a couple of bits of yarn on my boat, and have been since the first day I set foot on a sailing boat.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

When I'm sailing with Sue and she is at the helm, I want to avoid jumping around the boat trimming sails with all the wind shifts we have. The direction we're sailing doesn't matter all that much, so I tell Sue which wind angle to steer to. It doesn't even matter that it's apparent, as long as she pays attention to the wind indicator. I'll say something like "just keep us heading on 60" and everything works great! The funny thing is, Sue seems to keep a much more consistent course when she steers to the wind indicator angle than when I say to point the boat to one destination or other. When we do that, she wanders all over the place and the sails are never trimmed right. That's one of the reasons I love the wind indicator and won't leave port without it!

 

[woodster]

buy the Airmar 200wx, no moving parts for seagulls to sit on and bust, nothing needing greasing.

what display at the helm do you use with this transducer

 

[charliegrau]

To get true wind don't you have to have a speed transducer interfaced with your display?

 

[Gunni]

To get true wind don't you have to have a speed transducer interfaced with your display?

No.

 

[Jackdaw]

To get true wind don't you have to have a speed transducer interfaced with your display?

Yes.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Moreover, the thing (transducer) has to be calibrated.

 

[kito]

http://airmartechnology.com/2009/products/marine-product.asp?prodid=200
Looks like it needs some kind of display. Laptop or otherwise.

 

[Meriachee]

The Airmar transducer is not a display, it outputs data to the network, you pick the version for the network you have. Or, add an adapter cable or protocol converter.
For the STng network, you'd need the NMEA2000 version of the Airmar, and the NMEA2000 to STng adapter cable from Ray.

It strikes me as a rather expensive device for recreational use, even for a toy junky.

 

[Meriachee]

Yes.

Is the boatspeed on the right a phrf correction, or an illegal start? :cussing: