Back in the mid 80’s when I owned and operated the first Vessel Assist boat in the central Puget Sound area I picked up a 55’ power boat tow when his rudder “jammed” hard to port. After a difficult tow in boisterous conditions, close to the tow’s slip the owner hailed me to state he could now control his vessel and would dock without assistance.
What the owner found out was the autopilot had failed and pushed the rudder hard over. During the time I had him under tow he diagnosed the trouble and determined he could steer if he disconnected the power from his autopilot. The tow fee was not that expensive compared to risking his expensive vessel. I was more than happy that he was able to dock under his own power as the wind/current was conspiring to make the landing more entertaining than usual. Martin Calypso 1971 C&C 43 Seattle [Description: cid:D1BF9853-22F7-47FB-86F2-4115CE0BAF2F] From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Della Barba, Joe via CnC-List Sent: Monday, November 03, 2014 8:20 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List Autopilot Gremlin - Caution! Worst one I ever dealt with was a SeaRay 55 whose owner had decided to spare no expense in autopilots. His huge autopilot would typically grace the bridge of a tanker or a tugboat. It had northerly turning errors that would give sudden course corrections and overshoots when headed north. A big steel ship at 10-15 knots would never notice these little twitches, but a boat running 35-45 knots sure WOULD. Running twin 1200 HP diesels up to full blast and playing with Mr. Otto was kind of a scary day at work. Joe Della Barba Coquina C&C 35 MK I
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