[Rhodes22-list] Autopilot

[William E. Wickman]

Art,
It's hard to put a price on the S100 because everyone has a different
perspective on value and disposable income.  If you force me to say a
price, I would guess around $150 or so.  My guess as to why it is priced so
high right now is that it is brand new on the market and Raymarine wants to
recover it R&D costs; or more likely that it can/is used on much bigger
boats with much more expensive autopilots owned by much more wealthy
people.  Don't get me wrong.  I am glad that I have it now that the credit
card is paid off.

The GPS was actually interfaced with the autopilot.  The S100 remote only
allows you to do what you would do on directly on the autopilot, only from
anywhere on the boat.  It is plain and simple a luxurious convenience.

I did not use waypoints when crossing the Gulf Stream because of the strong
current relative to my boatspeed.  If you simply enter a waypoint when
crossing, the autopilot will attempt to steer a straight course to the
waypoint.  When the current starts pulling the boat off of that course
line, the autopilot will compensate by steering the boat more and more into
the current to stay on that course line thus greatly slowing your VMG
(velocity made good).  If the current is strong enough you would find
yourself standing still in the current, making no headway at all.  Instead,
I steered an S shaped course.  Near the land masses where the current is
not so strong, I would enter a bearing that was further south than a
straight line to the destination.  Then as I entered the main axis of the
Gulf Stream I steered a bearing that was perpendicular to the current.  Of
course, entering the Stream at a point south of your destination helps
quite a bit and reduces the amount of S in your curve.  It was really
interesting to look at the track on my GPS afterwards.

Bill Wickman




Original Message:
Bill,

Thanks for such a detailed post, a very positive one about Raymarine.  What
dollar worth would you put on the s100 remote after your experience using
it?

It sounds like it did well with GPS, what GPS did you interface with it?
Did you use waypoints across the Gulfstream or just steer a course?

I have read similar comments from blue water sailors about the positive
value of an autopilit.

Thanks again,

Art