Adding the wheel pilot took several years of over-thinking.
When we got the boat, our broker, surveyor, and many friends said we would really enjoy an auto-pilot, but I thought we should consider other options before moving too fast.
Our first season, the old 1990's Nexus instruments started to fail. First, we lost the wind data, then the computer started randomly re-booting. We could figure out the wind without electronics, of course, and the old garmin chartplotter with gps provided speed. I really didn’t understand how to use the Garmin, but since it looked outdated, I assumed it was part of the problem. When we stopped getting regular depth data, I was ready to make some changes.
We spent lots of time researching our options, and were very interested in moving to an N2K network. We decided to go with B&G, and we started to build our system, picking up new electronics piece by piece over several winter sale seasons. First, we replaced the chart plotter with a Zeus3. With such a significant investment we had committed to B&G, or so I thought. Except for running the wires through the pedestal, it was a pretty easy installation, and I really liked the new color screen! Of course, most of the spiffy MFD software is only useful if you have it connected to a working network that sends good data. I now recognize that the old Garmin might have served us reasonably well for a few more seasons, if we had fixed the other instruments first.
The next winter sale, we picked up a B&G wireless wind package that included a DTS, two Triton2 instruments, and an N2K starter network kit. Now we were ready for the new network, but couldn't find an installer. It was probably a good thing that the experts weren’t available, because paying someone $85 or more per hour to crawl around and hang upside down in the lazarette, scrape a knuckle here or there, practice colorful language now and then, and carefully attach tiny little wires to connectors would have been painful. We would have easily tripled the cost of the instruments.
We had to cut our first hole in the boat (removing the old depth transducer thru-hull from the inside with a rotary tool, then patiently drilling a larger opening through the very strong fiberglass hull from the outside) before we could install the new depth-temp-speed transducer. It was such a relief to find a nice, dry bilge after we launched.
The Zeus and other instruments were now talking to each other, and the N2K backbone was in place and ready for the next phase. The wind transducer was paired with its wireless receiver, but it would have to stay mounted off the stern rail until we could access the top of the mast (at haul out). Still, the Zeus could not do much with its magic apps, because there was no functioning computer or digital compass sending data. We were debating whether to add a wheel pilot or hold out for a below-deck auto-pilot. The cost for any B&G option seemed prohibitive and options were confusing, so we added a few other items at the next winter sale season instead.
The Vesper AIS and antenna splitter were easy to add to the network, and the Horizon VHF with AIS went in quickly. The old stereo had begun to die, so we picked up a new receiver that could be controlled by the Zeus (with two zones from the helm) and be paired to receive music via bluetooth sources. It proved to be worthwhile, even before we had it on the network.
We were still thinking a B&G linear drive might be two years down the road when folks here called our attention to the big sale on the Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot this past winter. Would it integrate with our B&G instruments and N2K network? It wasn’t clear from all we read, but Christian Williams had shared that his systems don't all talk, and it didn't seem to matter. The sale price was so reasonable, we decided to give it a try.
For some reason, I then decided we should proceed with the DC panel upgrade, removal of those dangerous trailer plugs, and that led to the engine panel re-fresh. Somehow, a new EV-100 with its ACU and EV-1 sensor seemed to require all this, but I don’t remember why I thought so, now that it’s all done.
Last Sunday, we had our first chance to really test the wheel pilot.
Everyone was right, we should have done this in the first place.
Sure, it‘s great to control the cabin and cockpit sound from the helm, and it's fun to see boats identified by name on the chartplotter, but it’s even better to be able to move away from the wheel and get out from under the bimini. It's so fine to take hold of the main sheet, to take the time to look up and study the shape of the sails, to see the effect of a tweak on the traveler, or the impact of a vang adjustment. It's great to get off one's feet, too. The boat feels different underway from the perspective of the bow, at the mast, or the cabin top.
Ah, the wheel pilot!
When we got the boat, our broker, surveyor, and many friends said we would really enjoy an auto-pilot, but I thought we should consider other options before moving too fast.
Our first season, the old 1990's Nexus instruments started to fail. First, we lost the wind data, then the computer started randomly re-booting. We could figure out the wind without electronics, of course, and the old garmin chartplotter with gps provided speed. I really didn’t understand how to use the Garmin, but since it looked outdated, I assumed it was part of the problem. When we stopped getting regular depth data, I was ready to make some changes.
We spent lots of time researching our options, and were very interested in moving to an N2K network. We decided to go with B&G, and we started to build our system, picking up new electronics piece by piece over several winter sale seasons. First, we replaced the chart plotter with a Zeus3. With such a significant investment we had committed to B&G, or so I thought. Except for running the wires through the pedestal, it was a pretty easy installation, and I really liked the new color screen! Of course, most of the spiffy MFD software is only useful if you have it connected to a working network that sends good data. I now recognize that the old Garmin might have served us reasonably well for a few more seasons, if we had fixed the other instruments first.
The next winter sale, we picked up a B&G wireless wind package that included a DTS, two Triton2 instruments, and an N2K starter network kit. Now we were ready for the new network, but couldn't find an installer. It was probably a good thing that the experts weren’t available, because paying someone $85 or more per hour to crawl around and hang upside down in the lazarette, scrape a knuckle here or there, practice colorful language now and then, and carefully attach tiny little wires to connectors would have been painful. We would have easily tripled the cost of the instruments.
We had to cut our first hole in the boat (removing the old depth transducer thru-hull from the inside with a rotary tool, then patiently drilling a larger opening through the very strong fiberglass hull from the outside) before we could install the new depth-temp-speed transducer. It was such a relief to find a nice, dry bilge after we launched.
The Zeus and other instruments were now talking to each other, and the N2K backbone was in place and ready for the next phase. The wind transducer was paired with its wireless receiver, but it would have to stay mounted off the stern rail until we could access the top of the mast (at haul out). Still, the Zeus could not do much with its magic apps, because there was no functioning computer or digital compass sending data. We were debating whether to add a wheel pilot or hold out for a below-deck auto-pilot. The cost for any B&G option seemed prohibitive and options were confusing, so we added a few other items at the next winter sale season instead.
The Vesper AIS and antenna splitter were easy to add to the network, and the Horizon VHF with AIS went in quickly. The old stereo had begun to die, so we picked up a new receiver that could be controlled by the Zeus (with two zones from the helm) and be paired to receive music via bluetooth sources. It proved to be worthwhile, even before we had it on the network.
We were still thinking a B&G linear drive might be two years down the road when folks here called our attention to the big sale on the Raymarine EV-100 Wheel Pilot this past winter. Would it integrate with our B&G instruments and N2K network? It wasn’t clear from all we read, but Christian Williams had shared that his systems don't all talk, and it didn't seem to matter. The sale price was so reasonable, we decided to give it a try.
For some reason, I then decided we should proceed with the DC panel upgrade, removal of those dangerous trailer plugs, and that led to the engine panel re-fresh. Somehow, a new EV-100 with its ACU and EV-1 sensor seemed to require all this, but I don’t remember why I thought so, now that it’s all done.
Last Sunday, we had our first chance to really test the wheel pilot.
Everyone was right, we should have done this in the first place.
Sure, it‘s great to control the cabin and cockpit sound from the helm, and it's fun to see boats identified by name on the chartplotter, but it’s even better to be able to move away from the wheel and get out from under the bimini. It's so fine to take hold of the main sheet, to take the time to look up and study the shape of the sails, to see the effect of a tweak on the traveler, or the impact of a vang adjustment. It's great to get off one's feet, too. The boat feels different underway from the perspective of the bow, at the mast, or the cabin top.
Ah, the wheel pilot!
