self steering options

[CharlieJ]

"My well balanced, full keeled Alberg 30, for example, has "self steered" close hauled off the coast of Charleston, SC by me merely easing the main just a very slight skosh and letting go of the tiller.  "

An interesting little tale about me and Tehani. Just after i had gotten the tiller pilot, I was sailing across Matagorda Bay- about a 20 mile sail. Had hooked up the pilot, set a course, and she was sailing along well BUT every 5-6-8. minutes, I was having to nudge the boat back on course. Was beginning to get real aggravated with the tiller  pilot until after about an hour of fiddling, I realized I had it set to STANDBY. The boat was sailing itself for the most part, but was being hindered by the pilot holding the tiller!!!

Here's a video of Tehani sailing under STT over in Mississippi sound. Notice how small the tiller movements are. And you can see where the power is being picked off from the dead end part of the main sheet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NokZpCJIuBg

Looks like the tiller could pretty much just be lashed in place.    I'm convinced that the towed dingy is what's doing the steering.   Pull the dingy aboard and the boat would wander all over the place ;-)

                                                                                    H.W.

                                        H.W.

Nope- read my post about the tiller pilot not being "on" And properly balanced, Tehani doesn't wander. Even under just engine power, I can leave the tiller and go below to fix a sandwich. NOT something to be done in congested areas for sure:)

[ralay]

I woke up one night offshore and thought Woody had fallen overboard cause all I could see was the tiller swinging back and forth.  Ran up to the companionway and saw the boat was just steering itself hard of the wind.  Woody was hidden behind the pilothouse where the tiller couldn't knock him around.  Sounds like many (most?)  boats can steer themselves with a free tiller close hauled.  Now if only we liked sailing close hauled more. :P

[CharlieJ]

Scary darn feeling huh?

[ralay]

Yessir. 

That also highlights my point about the tiller being hard to handle even if the boat is balanced.  Just because the boat is sailing straight doesn't mean that the tiller is still; it's often swinging back and forth as we waddle through the seas.  Since it's about 6' long and baseball bat-sized, if you want to sit most places in our tiny cockpit, you've got to do something to tame it, whether by holding it, lashing it, or hooking it up to the windvane.  Hooking it up to the wind vane is by far my favorite choice.  Of course, it's easy to say "get a windvane" if you're boat already came with a windvane.  I just looked up how much windvanes cost and was shocked.  I suppose if we didn't have one we'd be trying to figure out how to build one as well.  Or scouring the consignment shops. 
 

[Owly055]

Yessir. 

That also highlights my point about the tiller being hard to handle even if the boat is balanced.  Just because the boat is sailing straight doesn't mean that the tiller is still; it's often swinging back and forth as we waddle through the seas.  Since it's about 6' long and baseball bat-sized, if you want to sit most places in our tiny cockpit, you've got to do something to tame it, whether by holding it, lashing it, or hooking it up to the windvane.  Hooking it up to the wind vane is by far my favorite choice.  Of course, it's easy to say "get a windvane" if you're boat already came with a windvane.  I just looked up how much windvanes cost and was shocked.  I suppose if we didn't have one we'd be trying to figure out how to build one as well.  Or scouring the consignment shops. 

     The best solution for the 6' baseball bat in the cockpit syndrome as far as I'm concerned is what was done on the Nor' Sea 27 center cockpit.  The tiller for the transom mounted rudder swings over top of the small aft cabin coach roof.  Good utilization of space on a small narrow boat.   Unfortunately there is almost nothing left of the cockpit lockers, as the cabin I believe incorporates foot wells, that run under the cockpit seating due to it's small size.   The only remaining locker is under the bridge deck.   The remaining cockpit is fairly small, and appears no higher than the ordinary stern cockpit, but the space is all usable space with no tiller or steering pedestal in the way to speak of.   By contrast, cockpits often approach 10' in length, but are chopped up by a wheel or tiller.  That's a big chunk of space in a small boat, particularly an ocean cruising boat.

                                                                        H.W.

[ralay]

Our tiller doesn't really protrude that far into the seating area.  Mostly it goes over an aft lazarette lid and then our wide rear coaming.  Our seating area is just REALLY small.  We have a WS32 hull and rig but the deck is nothing like a WS.  Inside our coaming there is just enough room for two ralay and woody-size people to sit side by side with their feet on the leeward seat.  In fact, when woody rebuilt the cockpit, we both had to sit in it with a tape measure to be sure we'd both fit.  That's the price we pay to have a WS with a pilothouse and a coaming.  Since we rarely have crew, it suits me fine.  I like being jammed in there behind a coaming and 6" bulwarks.  But it does make it hard to escape the end of the tiller.

[Godot]

I woke up one night offshore and thought Woody had fallen overboard cause all I could see was the tiller swinging back and forth.  Ran up to the companionway and saw the boat was just steering itself hard of the wind.  Woody was hidden behind the pilothouse where the tiller couldn't knock him around.  Sounds like many (most?)  boats can steer themselves with a free tiller close hauled.  Now if only we liked sailing close hauled more. :P

Last summer I was returning back home from across the bay after an overnight in Fairlee Creek. I had my gal and my mother aboard. The wind, originally forecast for 15-20 was 30-35 and it was pretty much straight into the wind to get back home. Try as I might, I couldn't get the boat to point and make headway at the same time. Reef, unreef, overtrim, undertrim. It seemed like I could do one or the other. Eventually my gal asked what would happen if I just let go of the tiller. Darned thing tracked straight and true and went like a bat out of the hot southern place and we made it home in no time. Go figure.

[w00dy]

There are so many variables, but self-steering (hard on the wind, in this picture) can be as simple as this:



If the boat's well trimmed and the rig is balanced, no lines may be necessary at all. Having lots of options and the knowledge to implement them is best. It never hurts to have a few extra tools in the bag, especially when one may suddenly break or fall over board.

On our boat, we have an electric autopilot, which handles the tiller in calm to moderate conditions. It's an old Autohelm 2000, which is not really engineered for a boat of our displacement, so we try not to use it when the tiller forces become to powerful. When the wind becomes moderate to really piping, the robust Aries can take over. We have nicknamed the vane gear "Flippy", as it tends to flop around and steer the boat somewhat drunkenly. Over a longer course, it steers straight and true. Sometimes (as in picture above) conditions are just right and Mona will steer herself without any interference at all.

In the future, I would consider eliminating the Aries in favor of a trim tab (less weight) that would allow an integrated autopilot (much smaller autopilot needed for trim tab over actual rudder). Perhaps a low powered hydraulic autopilot would suffice. Our current setup may not be the most ideal, but the windvane came with the boat and the autopilot was a hand-me-down gift from a retired fellow cruiser, so in the interests of frugality, simplicity, and waste-not-want-not etc, we will probably use what we have until something irreparably breaks, becomes patently unsafe, or something better falls into our laps.