The other day I posted a couple of links to a windvane self-steering project and as usual got a few emails telling me that windvane steering is a thing of the past and I should publish some proper electronic autopilot content to show my readers the one true path...
Off hand, I'd say that Boat Bits is a "fair" blog but it ain't ever going to be "balanced"! As far as electronic autopilots being the one true path I lost my faith having to hand steer from Gibraltar to Lanzarote when our brand new autopilot quit working with less than a couple of hours of fair weather use.
I understand if someone might prefer not to use windvane self-steering as there are some passable reasons why it is not the optimum system for some people. Reasons such as...
- I don't know how to sail or balance my boat...
- I really enjoy hand steering and simply can't get enough of it...
- I motor all the time...
- I've never sorted out that the best way to get from point A to B on a sailboat is not always (if ever) a straight line...
- I have an irrational fear of simple technology that works and am phobic about such things as a manual can-opener...
- My IQ is a bit lower than room temperature in Cut Bank Montana in the dead of winter...
- I'm a Panbo sort of dude and if it does not have a touch screen, LCD's and beeps, it simply is not high tech enough to interest me...
Windvane self-steering works and since it is appropriate tech it has all sorts of advantages as it is repairable and excluding the silly pricing of new self-steering systems is very affordable (as many commercial gears are available used for pennies on the dollar) and since it is rather cheap and simple to build (by any except the most hopeless tyros)... What's not to like?
On the other hand, the real reason that windvane steering makes so much sense is it simply teaches you to sail better because it is a wind driven system, and that dear readers, is the thing that makes them special...
Listening to Jimmy...
So it goes...
