Update- just back from a 6 day cruise to the San Juans. No AP on the boat yet so we hand steered, incuding 2 long days of 6 and 8 hours. The weather was great, so 75% was steering from the bridge. My wife took the helm for several 30 minute periods to give me a break. I did not find hand steering overly tiring, and was able to avoid several logs. So thinking that an AP will be a good upgrade in the future, not having one in no way detracted from our enjoyment or ability to navigate in the San Juans and I enjlyed being at the helm. With the caveat that we had great weather all week.
Update- I continue to hand steer and it continues to be working well. I find that hand steering results in good situational awareness as always looking back and forth at compass, chart, plotter, and what's in front of me (e.g. logs, crab pots, other boats, large ferries). I can see that on an extended trip in open water an AP would be a convenience and may add one in the future, but have found not having the AP no barrier to the enjoyment of PNW boating.
Totally agree. 15 years of hand steering with my Krogen Manatee to the San Juans was never an issue. I think the main difference in AP vs manual steering is the boat. At 7 knots my boat tracked perfectly straight. I only had to make slight adjustments, which gave me plenty of time to check radar, chartplotter and use binos. At seven knots in my current boat (speed limit in ship canal) Im all over the place. I am constantly steering back and forth as the boat wonders. At these speeds a auto pilot is a necessity. At 8-9 knots these issues disappear and the boat tracks like it’s on rails.
Is it necessary? No. But when I first bought my Helmsman 38, and actually got underway for the start of the delivery, the autopilot did not work. The delivery captain and I took turns steering for six hours. We were exhausted when a friendly marine electronics tech talked us through the repair. The rest of the trip was quite enjoyable.
I'm falling on the side of nice but not necessary. Much depends on both the responsiveness of the boat to rudder input and to how you cruise. Our average run in the PNW is 2 hours. Within that time even on AP I have to make dozens of manual interventions to avoid debris (logs and crab/shrimp pots are common) in the water and traffic. That said I do have AP and I do use it but I've gone days sometimes without using it. However, I've run boats that refuse to go in a straight line without constant correction (deep V hulls without skegs seem prone to this). Then an AP becomes almost a requirement.
When it's foggy is when the autopilot really pays off. Maintaining a course so the targets stay put.
Which obsolete Robertson do you have? I've got a very old Robertson AP100. Works OK. Nothing like the new stuff.I have one, an old obsolete Robertson. Verified operational during sea test, does not take GPS info, just keeps a steady course. Have old chain/sprocket/cable steering and auto pilot works with hydraulic cylinder to rudders with feedback on rudders and flux gate for direction.
Haven't used it yet. Just going down the river for now.
Have to try it though in a big channel, don't even know how to operate it. Would be good in the future, for that trip to Monterey -
Yes, that's the one! Very big rugged looking panel on the lower helm and also had a small hand unit on the fly, but that was non-op.
