By way of background, I sailed the west coast of Mexico for 8 winter seasons, averaging about 5 months each season, so I'll share my experiences/opinions on a few of the things mentioned. Davits were so useful there for coastal cruising. Every night the dinghy was secured in the davits, safe from wandering away, the bottomed stayed clean, it didn't bump the hull in the night, and also, if the wind came up at night and I had to bail on an anchorage, I didn't have to deal with the dinghy, in the dark, nothing was getting sucked into the prop as I dealt with other stuff. When I sailed offshore for extended passages I either deflated it, or a few times, lashed it on deck... deflated was a lot easier and uncomplicated... nothing to snag. My Raymarine Auto pilot, for me, worked flawlessly ( one of the few things that did) and used less than a couple amps an hour usually... it was the best crew I ever had, it never went to sleep on it's watch, had minimal appetite for energy and put in years of reliable service. There was no resistance felt at the helm... unless it was engaged :^) If you feel increased friction on the helm after an install then I believe something is not right.. and that could explain a big power draw too? I would consider checking the auto pilot rudder arm that engages the rudder stock.. that it is all lined up correctly, and that the system moves freely. The actuator arm on your auto pilot drive should have very little to no resistance as well. Your electric auto pilot could also be a useful backup system to use if the Monitor fails for some reason.. frees up hands at the helm when you might need them. Wind vanes are great for long offshore passages but that usually represents a very small percentage of time actually spent on the boat, at least in my world. Some wind vanes give you the redundancy of a 2nd rudder, which could be priceless. I would consider taking off the wind vane when not doing long passages and keeping your dinghy on davits when coastal... Battens do allow for a better shaped main, and therefore better sailing performance, and I would not consider them to ever be a negative when thinking of a mainsail. Sometimes new technology doesn't work out as it's presented... Your laminated sail experience sounds terrible... bummer.. big time bummer... but I wouldn't throw out the battens with the bathwater. Best ever investment.. Solar panels, solar panels... and more solar panels. Cruising for most people is about power management and solar gives and gives. Don't leave home w/o them. Some form of self steering might be next on the list. I guess some form of dinghy is right up there too :^) RD, I really enjoy your videos, lots of good stuff, you're out there, and deserve all the cred and props. I'm just sharing my experience and opinions and appreciate your input and initiation of these topics. Thanks. Enjoy and be safe.
Very good Points. Regarding Mainsails, I'm going with in mast Furling, and battens are a Sail life shortening nightmare, plus get in the way of reliable Furling and unfurling. Yes, traditional Main Sails are the best option, but due to disability, I've had to look at making things easier options., so in mast furling, and foresail Furling, are what will keep me in Sailboats. So I had a chat with a Sailmaker, who makes a lot of Battenless Furling Mains, as well as battened ones. They said there is not much loss of performance with a triradial Dacron Battenless Main, compared to a Cross Cut Dacron Main with Battens plus wear and tear and unreliability are significantly reduced. With a triradial Ocean spec Foresail, a size of 125% was recommended for ease of heavy weather Furling, with adequately specced, electric winches, and upgraded Halyards and Sheets to handlebincreased working loads comfortably. Not that expensive an upgrade, but another reliability mod, is to have all mast fittings and Cleats, if aluminium, replaced with 316 Stainless Steel ones. Quite Cheap really, forvthe extra reliability. For an I flatable tender, I'm starting to wonder about those simple tilt up transom Davits? Never used them personally, but we're not looking atva lot of weight - 41 kg for thev10ft hypalon air deck air keel I'm looking at, just pop the Outboard of the 6hp 25kg Outboard o to a secure bracket before tilting up the Dinghy? Best Wishes and Fair Winds. Bob 👍
Totally agree on the Raymarine Autopilot. Ihave the same, and it uses very little power. However, from the description, I think RD have something else, like with a chain system to the steering wheel, as opposed to direct connection to the rudder. Either way, I agree, it should not be dragging the wheel. It never does for me, and it has been a life saver with single-handed sailing. I, too, only use the windvane on long passages.
@@jacksbackable Presumably you mean if the mortgage is paid. Cause net profit in a single rental situation is generally not anywhere near enough to live any kind of life independently, including a minimalist lifestyle. But paying those mortgages off early and stacking 5-10 homes in your portfolio would be ideal!
What a brilliant, informative video which I'm sure will save boat owners a ton of cash. Thanks for sharing your mistakes, painful though some of them turned out to be. Kudos.
It's amusing to see the dichotomies of opinions like this. I often hear the comment, "We saved too much for too long to live like we're camping!" Usually in reference to saving any money on doo-dads and extras that make life more comfortable. Then the other side of the coin is, "Keep it simple, only spend on what you need. The more stuff that you have is just more stuff that will break." I have both tiller pilot and wind vane. Each has its purpose. I hesitate to use the tiller pilot, but we did use it on one trip where we had numerous 10-hour days chugging away on diesel. Wind vanes are useless under power without sails. I can't say I regret any of my boat purchases other than trying to replace an old electronics package with the same (old) vintage "to save money". In the end, I replaced the old tech 2 years later which is what I should have done at the beginning. My view is keep it simple, buy good quality instead of quantity, and buy based on your budget - not someone else's. Big Budget and lots of time? Buy everything you want. Small budget and no time? Buy quality, NEW, bare essentials - you don't want to spend your sailing time fixing stuff. Small budget, lots of time? Buy quality gear with the option of buying used (since you have time to maintain and fix it). There's no room for low-quality - either it breaks when you depend on it, or it breaks and you don't care which means you didn't need it in the first place.
That was really good. It definately gives one pause about the whole "more is better" philosophy. The latest is not always the greatest - and less is often, more. I may not have had those exact experiences, but plenty just like them. Thanks for that... your honesty is so helpful.
Our thoughts on your list after 10 years of building/sailing/cruising: 1. Electric autopilot, love ours, its old but goes through very little power, use it much more than our windvane because of the ease. If our below deck ever fails and is not repairable we would still replace it. If you have a wheel check out CPT, easy install. 2. Battenless main. Completely agree. We have the same on Prism, including a soft head, and a leechline that goes back to the tack. 3. Flexible solar panels, been there done that, agree unless you want to spend the $$$ for the top of the line but even then not worth it. 4. Lightwind main. I get it and have considered doing this as well to go along with our drifter but have yet to for the same reasons and we are currently mostly in the trades so not really needed. 5.Fishman anchor. Never bothered either 6. Davits. Agree, our first boat had them and we nearly ripped off the pushpit. 7. Gopro sessions. They where never that great nor where they supposed to compete with the hero. The simple controls are all we had on the original hero. They are really designed to do one thing, record. Dont try to mess with any settings in the field. As we would say "mash it and forget it". 8. Prop speed. We use bottom paint or zinc paint depending on what prop we are using. If it begins to need more we pull the prop in the water (we have a prop puller) clean a reapply. 9. Hand line. They work, but its call fishing, not catching. 10. Hard Dinghy. Ok this is the one I really dont agree with. All the things you bring up can be addressed with a well suited hard dinghy. We cruised 4 years with a Walker bay 8, loved it and just recently moved up to a fatty knees 8. What you guys dont mention is that with an inflatable you are pretty much reliant on using an engine if the wind is up. With a good hard dinghy you can row in pretty much any conditions in an anchorage. You cant pop them and when you do need an engine they motor great with a 2hp 18lb outboard. And if you want to cover some ground without the motor you can sail them quite well. Also a hard dinghy will last forever and can be easily repaired. I'm going to go out and say you just havent seen the light yet when it comes to this one.
So many choices to make for a cruising boat. This is a great video. We learn more from failures than successes, so thanks for sharing. Some of these "regrets" are things I've pondered, so you may have saved me a few bucks!
I'm vary happy with my Raymarine Auto pilot. I installed it with help from my dad and ran it night and day for long trips south...plus love the radar and chart set up. It was great to spot the markers going in thick fog NFLand and also avoiding vessels that had no Ais.
I love these video reviews from people who have actually used stuff and found it wanting. Also of course the videos about stuff that is worth having. There's so much jargon and marketing claims out there from businesses that turns out to be just words on the wind. You guys will save us guys a ton of money, thanks very much.
I’ve not watched your other videos but based on your comments here I’m thinking your opinions are based on a relatively small sample size. Let me provide some counter balance. First regarding davits. I carry my inflatable on davits and love them. Granted I’ve yet to find the wave large enough to fill my tender with water but I doubt the weight of the water would cause any damage, certainly not the kind of damage you described. While maybe not the best idea I travel with the drain plug out so my dinghy will self drain. It’s easy enough to put back in when needed. The davits also allow me to raise the tender out of the water while at anchor so it is less prone to theft and will not be banging against the hull all night. All of that said my davits are designed to carry the anticipated load and my tender is very well secured while at sea. I agree you can’t have a wind vane along with davits but my electronic auto helm works like a champ. It draws very little power, keeps the boat tracking along the course I want and the only noise it makes is a little squeak. Mildly annoying yes, but better than hand steering. Lastly I can’t speak to the high tech fabric that caused you so much grief but my main is fully battened and can get caught on the lazy jacks when raising it, but it’s no big deal to raise the main carefully to avoid getting it hung up and I’ve never got them caught on a shroud. I can’t even see how that could happen, at least not on my boat. So for those looking for guidance I’d suggest doing your own research, for your own type of sailing. In my limited experience I’ve found almost everything on my boat is a compromise. I like the convenience and security of the davits and my properly installed and calibrated auto helm performs perfectly and I take a little extra care when raising the main cuz I know where he battens might get hung up. I may sacrifice something for those conveniences but it works for me.
Poorly selected gear badly installed is a pain in the ass. I've watched most of their videos...it seems they don't ask the right questions of the right people.
Now i have battons to. In the beginnig my sail got cought too. So now when raising the main i take down away the lazy jacks. And put them back after to lower the sail. No more problems...
charles harper It takes a brave couple to put themselves into a public forum like this and subject themselves to the often harsh critic that is sure to follow. FWIW I should have chosen my words more carefully. I could have made my points in a more friendly, diplomatic manner. Normally I try to avoid definitive statements. They are one of those emotional triggers that often evoke an automatic defensive response. That was not my intent. I applaud this couple for making a positive contribution to the conversation about sailing. At the end of the day we shared our opinions on some sailboat gear, no more, no less.
Sorry to hear that you spent all that money on a fully battened Mylar mainsail for cruising. In the UK they seem to be mainly used by rich people for racing. I hope you got a good price for it. Great idea, though, to advise people on what not to buy. Very useful vid.
Great video guys. That was a sweet list of things to avoid. We have noticed the flexible solar are quite flimsy as well. Dont fully agree about the davits but we have lost a bad set with a wave as you described. But still think they are worth it for calm non offshore passages. Although if we ever wanted a wind vane we would have to get ride of them. We have noticed our autopilot loves to oversteer as well but its a small unite for lighter winds mounted on the wheel.
Here is how to rig a fisherman's anchor. You securely fasten the chain to the tee where the shank is welded to the arm and then secure the chain to the ring with 1/8" line. If the anchor gets stuck in the rocks the winch breaks the twine or you run the engine full speed to break the twine and release the anchor from the rocks.
What a fabulously useful video, and I haven't even got a boat (yet)...you two are a peach and a pearl and passing on this sort of info is invaluable....many thanks.
Thank you! All of the items you mentioned are fantasy and I just crossed them off my list😊. The hard dingy? Yup future yard ornament. All others I just could not afford or I am just too cheap. Greatly appreciated this video cheers
Seems like they got an overly fancy version. I have a tiller pilot that costs $200 and steers to the compass. LOVE my tillerpilot, though granted i do have a smaller boat.
I prefer the wind vane but one can adjust the sensitivity on most autopilots. That will reduce the electrical usage to an extent. Many people have a hard time with this though. The natural tendency is to want to see the autopilot make an adjustment right away and find it hard to wait a minute or two for it to correct the course. They are most handy when the wind dies and one is motoring.
Arguably, most of your regrets were just a bad fit for your particular boat. The laminated mainsail is a good option for faster hulls that can makes use of them. The tanbark sail is a better fit for yours. Same goes for the autopilot. Folding solar panels are a good fit for a smaller coastal boat, but not good for bluewater use. The prop paint is another story. Maybe they meant the prop should be moving instead of just the boat? Still hard to justify if it did work. That being said, "learning to sail" isn't just about handling your boat just like "learning to hike" isn't just about how to put one foot in front of the other. It's also about the lessons we learn along the way. Thanks for the video!
I agree. Some of the things in this video would greatly benefit different sailboats or sailors. All we can share is our personal experiences and hope to spark a conversation! :)
I usually single hand sail and use my Raymarine autopilot all the time. It is great, I can't imagine sailing without it. You bought wrong brand or type. I've had problems such as bad connectors, accidently cut cables which caused other problems like blown fuses and failed to use loctite on tillar arm bolts. Payed about $2500. Not shilling for Raymarine, they have terrible customer service at times.
It’s biggest issue was the power consumption. We simply couldn’t afford to have it on with the amount of amps it was guzzling! Next Wednesday we will put out a video of 10 bests and there we talk about our other autopilot :)
We were given a Raymarine for work we had done in WPB and I was still fitting it as we sailed past Peanut Island. It connected to the GPS. We stopped doing that when we found out people coming the other way were doing the same and we nearly collided. You have to do a route slightly off the way points. I didn't notice a large draw. We could disengage the drive when needed.
Your power consumption problem again sounds like install/settings issue(s). If it wasn’t over-steering and hunting constantly, your energy use would drop considerably.
As someone who has a similar budget traveling the country on a lower paying job, this video is absolutely invaluable, cruising is one of the things i am saving up for and avoiding financial pitfalls is a must if i plan to realistically cruise in the next decade. Thank you both very much!
One of the reasons for not using standard bottom paint on your propeller is the copper in the paint starts causing electrolysis in your propeller. Propeller specific antifouling is what to paint it with.
Hmmm very good point! Thankfully I have prop speed isolating the two. Yes, I painted regular bottom paint over slippery prop speed. The result after crossing the Atlantic: the bottom paint was still on the prop because the prop speed wasn’t all that slippery 🤣
@@capnbilll2913 actually it does i have first hand experience. We painted a near new propeller with standard antifouling. After two years when we hauled out little pink specs have formed all over the prop. That copper going back to base metal. When i say near new the prop was installed new in 2011 by the previous owner. Props arnt made from silicon bronze but manganese bronze or something similar that isnt as noble.
Folding fisherman/admiralty anchor is a great spare, but can easily trip themselves with change of wind or tide direction! Inflatable dinghy with a hard bottom is really hard to beat as a tender, both because they are so stable and friendly when along side! The hard bottom means that they’ll plane easily and take some punishment on the shore!
Thanks for your insights. The biggest mistake purchase has to be to buy any boat followed by buying the wrong boat. Been there got the T shirt and still went in 2017 to buy another boat. They say boats are like standing under a cold shower tearing up large notes like $100 if its a smaller boat and more for larger boats . I prefer small old boats less than 25 feet but could only get a 1970 era 27 foot cheap this time . As a project boat doing it up to sail away from Ireland ,2020.The boat before was 34 foot cat which cost too much in marina costs so had to sell up so was the wrong boat . Before that had 20 to 25 footers and stayed in budget and cheap enough to park them and fly home to get work to continue the journey .Also smaller boat if weather is bad on the anchor just get ashore and stay there until storm is over and if the boat breaks the anchor and is lost not so much money lost .I prefer to try to sail alone but always so far on big jumps ended up with crew .I prefer to crew on my cousins boat 37 foot cat as he paid the bills but after a decade of that he died from cancer at 53 so was forced to buy the 27 footer in 2017: Cruising boats don't need half the equipment of race boats but nice if you can get it free or cheap second hand . I avoid too much investment in electrical stuff and normally prefer oil lamps and gas cooking. However this time prices of solar panels at ~$1 a watt makes getting 4 of the 100 watt hard type panels ( about 400 ,watts total ) and 4 of the 6 volt golf cart 220 amp batteries at ,$200 a pop or $800 total in Expensive ireland is maybe a possibility . Either that or its going to be a 100 amp AGM and one of the 100 watt panels and normal car battery to start the 10 HP SAAB inboard . That is enough power to use the simplex piston type direct to tiller electronic self steering solutions which wit KISS keep it simple stupid works most the time . There is one eastern Europe guy every year he buys a ,20 to 25 foot boat in Holland in the start for the summer tweaks it a bit hardly buys any extra equipment and then sails into the north a!Atlantic for the summer . Then he returns to Holland after a few months .Then he sells the boat and repeats the solution the next year . No destination problems just sail around the north Atlantic . That guy might be onto something few if any marina costs and sail in the warmer times in the region where winds are often strong so less risk of no wind . I do respect the owners of big boats for their choices but as I get older my preference is smaller cheaper and even to bring a tent and camp out when I arrive the new location as much cheaper than owning a much bigger boat .As I get older smaller sails make life much more easy. For younger folk with energy and also some with a family then bigger boats can make more sense. I might even in 2025 look to get 21 foot type boat to join in the Mini Sat race across the Atlantic . Some 100 boats all limited to max size of 21 feet race across the Atlantic as single handed sailors . Most boats are not going to win they just do it for the entertainment factor as the race machine that win cost over $ 60,000 plus The rest of the fleet are often just homebuilt wooden crafts along for the joy ride. Lots of choice's
This video hooked me. I would like a fully battened main... but I don’t cruise trades. I’m down in the 40s. But it wouldn’t be a laminated sail. I’m surprised about your comments on electronic auto pilot. That can wait clearly. All the breakages of windvanes means they make me nervous too..... might have to have both😁. The others are spot on, and very helpful. I plan on having davits... easy to launch and retrieve with kids etc. but will have a high pressure roll up, rather than RIB to make stowage for passage easier. Very interested in your solar panel experience, not what I expected at all! Can’t wait to see more.
We were thinking about flex panels for our electric boat....no so much now. It is a little Cape Dory 30 and we wanted something that would not ruin her good looks. We have an electric motor like yours, cept smaller, we also have the honda generator we have not tired run and gen. Do you have an idea what may be causing the problem? Ours is pretty simple, no solar or wind generator. Nice video I lost track when you were on land. Glad you are back in the water. Everyone has made mistakes....some admit them some don't and some folks think they never have but we all know they have. Dee and Deb
I agree on the below deck autopilot for your specific application with a larger boat auto is a good thing for long passages but only to supplement the steering when under power the windvane is a far better choice i have an old RVG windvane and love it but it works a trim tab on an auxiliary rudder for redundancy
I don't want to be rude but, hey, an autopilot is not a chocolate bar! You have do your homework (read user manual , recommendations and so on) and finally decide about the purchase. Regarding the price, a lot of sailors use pyPilot or tinypilot which "brain" is a cheap raspberry. You can build it yourself for less than 200$ or buy a ready build one like Pelagic. Or better ask this autopilot software creator Sean d'Epagnier. In my country we inherited a saying from the old time when pepper was very expensive: "If you have (a lot of) money you'll pour pepper in porridge too.
Can you share what brand of electric auto pilot you had issues with? Thats strange because if you look at Delos they have always used an auto pilot and no wind vane but they have had issues with there's though. There boat is also a bit bigger and has a generator.
I have a Raymarine Evolution with mechanical linear drive (36feet 10ton steel sailboat), you cannot hear it from the cockpit, it handles all weather and do not use a lot of power. I use it 90% of the time on all my sailing. It connects to remote, my old autohelm wind, depth, course, speed and to a plotter. It took probably 5 minutes to get it all working after install. I can even steer from my Galaxy phone with Raycontrol. There is absolutely no added force needed to steer the boat either. It costs about 5000$ and I would rather lay dead in a ditch, as someone just said, then swap it for a wind vane. :)
That system is what I imagined and hoped for when I bought the autopilot! I payed extra for the remote and the wind gauge, then swapped it out for a wind steering system. I guess it’s all about what you get used to because I feel the same way as you, but in the other direction! 🤣
@@RiggingDoctor So... 1. It takes 0,1 second to set an accurate course. 2. It will maintain that course AND line for 400hours without any solar charging or running the engine and forever with sun. 3. It does not require any tweaking what so ever. 4. It does not care about the wind direction (if I don't want it to) 5. If I want I can let it steer through 200 waypoints with an accuracy of 2 meters, including narrow channels (20 meter width and lot's of turns), however I don't trust it that much but have tested several times. 6. I can steer from anywhere including remote control How does your wind vane keep up? Is it fun to let it steer in harbours around other boats while setting sails or fixing things on deck? :D
That’s how we use it. We set the wind angle we want and then go forward to work the sails. I pull a little control line to turn the airblade to the wind angle I want and it keeps us there. It does take longer than 0.1s since sometimes you have to spin it pretty far if you are jibing, but it’s not so bad. With it set, we don’t worry about accidental jibes while we are forward because it holds us to the wind. Once you get used to it, setting the windvane becomes as second nature as setting the sails.
Johnny Andersson Agree but if it fails on a long trip you’re in trouble. I use an ST2000 90% of the time with a windvane as a backup. If you don’t do more than 24 hour trips an auto helm is sufficient in my experience as the windvane can get very annoying in light and changing winds.
@@johnnyandersson5622 Too many people don't tune their pilot properly during setup, then bitch and whine about it. Buy the pilot and the course plotter from the same dealer and make sure that they work well together before you buy them. When done properly, Iron Mike is the best shipmate you can have.
4-stroke outboard motor, electric start only. I have never rowed so much in bad weather as that summer. When a multimeter and a spare starting battery is higher on the checklist than petrol something is wrong. The positive from this is that I'm planing on making a gaffrig for the boat during the winter.
If you dont like the performance of propspeed, your best option is to leave the prop bare. Sealing a metal propeller in a cuprous oxide bottom paint can create issues with dissimilar metals and cost you the entire prop.
Hand held digital depth sounders for scouting anchorage spots from the dinghy. The lead line lasts forever but it took two dead hand held sounders to appreciate my 30 year old lead line.
You have so much more patience than I. I have read EVERY comment on this film, and I appreciate what you've done, and the courage that you showed by putting it out. Whether I agree with you or not in every instance, you are providing your experience, and those people who comment about their conclusions based on their experience are doing exactly the same thing, and all the information is just more information that can be used by still others to help them make a decision. To those jerks (and yes, they are jerks), who want to look down their "highly experienced" noses, and tell the world to disregard what you say because you have only been a practitioner of living in your boat for a few years, I say, if you just want to denigrate a young couple trying to help others to avoid screwing-up where they did, and can't provide any information from your own (presumably) deep well of experience, you should just crawl back into your bitter, nasty shell, and wait until next Halloween to come out.
Your very very smart to continue using paper charts , traditional navigation methods, sextant, etc. Also very smart to use trysail, staysail on inner forestay with running backstays to keep the loads low and centered on the mast in questionable weather conditions. Electronics are nice but as Don Street says “electricity and seawater together make green gunge.
I couldn't disagree more. Paper charts and celestial navigation are dangerous, particularly if used infrequently or for emergencies. Far too easy to make catastrophic mistakes and much harder to share the navigation skills with other crew, for when the navigator is incapacitated or unavailable. Much safer to have electronic navigation aids and a well thought out set of electronic backups.
@@tomharrell1954 those are great till the prop fails to open or the furler refuses to open or close. Hence, simple may be inconvient but it is reliable.
Hi guys, Great “Wisdom!” I’m 73 yo & bought an Albin Balland 30. An old elec auto pilot. It doesn’t work well & is noisy. I disconnected it & was thinking about an upgrade. No more, thanks for the advice! I subscribed and I am following your adventures. Jim Grigsby Virginia Beach
I have a raymarine evo autopilot going into my nmea 2000 system it took 3 days to set it up changing wires to inputs now it works brilliant it settles down after awhile learning the role of the sea and not correcting just for waves. It knows when your rolling off a big wave and corrects to allow the boat the roll down the side rather than falling off the top it then corrects back on to the course set. It follows a wind angle at the push of a button it follows a charred route from the plotters at the push of a button,
Wish ours was like that! We have fallen in love with our windvane because that’s how it steers. That made us fall out of love completely with our electric autopilot!
I think I agree with nearly everything you've said with the possible exception of the hard dingy. I have a Portland Pudgy which I keep on the foredeck (the davits I also ditched.) Yes I have to hoist it aboard and launch it with the main halyard, but that's where it belongs anyway. It also doubles as a lifeboat which doesn't have to be inflated. The best part is that it requires no outboard motor but rows beautifully. Nobody wants to steal it because it's heavy and motorless. I've owned at least a half dozen inflatables and they've all made their way into the trash. My autohelm also stopped working but my (very old) Sayes Rig, wind vane steering, refuses to quit. It works even with the engine running at low RPM's and just the staysail set. Prop paint is also only good for people who let their engine sit for months. As soon as you start the engine, all the paint comes off PDQ. You're absolutely right, a little anti-fouling paint is as good as anything "high-tech." And high tech sails are only for guys who change sails like racecar drivers change tires.
The Portland Pudgy is an awesome dinghy! I wanted one but it was out of our budget so we had a series of other dinghies. Now we have disposable cheap inflatable dinghies that last maybe 2 years. They really do belong on the foredeck!
After reading the comments I decided to add my story.... I live in the Puget Sound area so boats are everywhere. But I wanted a home with heat, a roof, and carpet and that homie stuff. So I purchased a fixer upper since I have the skills to do the remodel work. After the purchase I did all the repairs out of pocket. So in the end I have a 2500 sq ft home with 3 bedrooms, dining room, living room, kitchen, 2 1/2 baths, and a 12'x20' enclosed back porch with a view of the Olympic Mountains.... My monthly mortgage payment $ 420.00 a month. Taxes and insurance another $325.00 a month... So $745 dollars a month for my home leaves me plenty of cash to save up for First Class Vacations every year. I fly first class, stay in 5 star hotels all around the world.... I just don't have to sail to get there and I am not limited to seaside attractions. LIVE is what you make it....
I forgot to say I also know how to sail on most vessels. So in my town there is always someone seeking a few crew members to come out for a day or two.... I pay my way, chip in for fuel, bring my own gear as needed. BUT when we port I help hose off the vessel (if they even bother) and go home with no worries about THE BOAT.... Live as I said is what you make it....
I reckon a collapsible dinghy that can be taken apart for stowage would be a good option for a tender - something like the passage makers - stitch and glue one together yourself in a week.
I love my auto helm . No idea what monster you got that sucks so much power , I went with an octopus drive on a simrad system and one solar panel keeps it going 24/7 if I wish . Sails to the chart plotter , the compass and the wind .Wind one is great when being lazy with the kite up - it keeps it full with the wind oscillations .
Biggest regret... using a camping toilet (not composting, just a seat with a tank below it) onboard. Can't use it when the boat is heeling over too much. Can't use it when the boat is bouncing over waves too much. Second biggest regret: Selling the boat.
I'm interested in your going electric. That's our goal too. We bought a Hartley 34 for $4,000 Australian. We've been living aboard for only 2 months. Cheers Gray and Irene
A wise decision. Fuels from oil will become very expensive soon. For every 6 barrels mankind consumes, the oil industry can only find one. Unsustainable!
Hello. Thank you. I am finishing up my Downeast 32 cutter re fit and have been agonizing over the electronics. I have a good vhf radio and an ipad with digital charts. Looking at wind vane vs raymarine but keep hearing about problems.
@@RiggingDoctor No one talks about the bad ideas and buys so very helpful. A Moniter is a huge purchase at $6000, it will break the bank but I dont want to be messing around with expensive electronics that fail. Thanks again
Wow, very interesing! Thanks for posting this! I wonder - if you turn this around - what has been the 10 most successful investments of gadgets or equipment you put on your boat? Not thinking about the boat itself or safety equipment, but things you find rewarding?
Strange how experiences differ. I absolutely love flexible solar panels. Of course you shouldn’t walk on them.. Hang your spares on the sea fence, one on each side or use carabiners to change the sides according to the sun. This is what I do and one 100W panel powers my electrical tiller pilot all day long, provided that it is partially sunny. Works great for 3 months and 3000 miles now.
I personally have had good experiences with prop speed, but that was on power boats that are probably only used once or twice a week for a few hours. Also heard good things about the flexible solar panels. Interesting to hear what you had to say on them.
We bought flexible solar panels (2 x 150W) and mounted them on a rigid board on a solar arch. We went for flexible because they weighed 3kg each instead of 20kg as for solid panels. Our autopilot is electric and is stupid. You set a compass heading and she steers it. If there are rocks ahead she will steer you straight into them, but she did not cost anywhere near 10K.. What I am saying here is that these things can work just fine, but it depends on the set up of your boat.
Got swamped and sunk = problem solved. I have a house, always something to fix , very expensive, always something to do in the yard ,plus tax and insurance. Boating is a great way to go. Stuff we need and need to fix a part of life. Nice young couple, ya'll learned from regrets at 60 I learned a lot from this video. Sail on enjoy!!!!!
Hey guys, How do you store your dinghy without davits? In my situation, my boat is only 30 feet. The good news is I don’t have a dinghy now. Just a small kayak. Thanks for the great info!!
Wow, a great study in errors made! For sure something to be said for actually going sailing before spending. I've never even heard of a light air mainsail. What a terrible idea for cruising! What sort of auto pilot did you waste so much money on?
Good content, so far have not made any of your mistakes ... so consider myself lucky. The Raymarine autopilot was toast when I bot my boat but we knew it wasn't getting replaced because of all the groaning and noise it made even in standby. Went with a new but old school design CPT autopilot and wow this thing is nice. Accurate, quiet and sips energy.
So very surprised to hear about Propspeed not being the best thing since sliced cheese! We love it!!! Things grow but easily easily wipe away, for years! -Rebecca on SV Brick House
Great video. It's in my Saved list. GoPro Sessions. It's not just TH-camrs. I had an early GoPro for a couple of days. 45 minutes sitting at my desk with the instructions - I couldn't get it to work. Did I feel stupid and incompetent? No because I'm older and I've done all sorts of mechanical, computer, writing...photography (I was a pro for years). Devices like the Sessions are blockages, nothing happens until these devices which occasional do work are replaced. Instead for 1/4 the price I bought a Kodak Sport. One button. I got two blue whales heading right for my kayak, then passing by 15 feet away. Nothing complicated would've worked. The Hand Reel. Basic idea is okay, but they never improved it, then improved it again, etc... So cheap plastic breaking down from oxidation and light (I don't even need to see it to know). I wanted a reel like that for kite flying, except I wasn't going to fly kites with it. I saw a reel in China that a guy had. They don't sell them here. There are plenty of alpha-versions here that are crap. I finally made one out of plywood. When you can cobble something together that works better than what's being offered for sale?... you learn a couple of things. 1. That thing you can imagine? Someone is making and selling something close enough to it to get your money, whether it actually works is not even in the equation. and 2. Selling is more important than working. This creates a dead end. (I like cheap hot air pop corn poppers. No one makes a great one because the 'it's okay' ones sell for less than $20. People like me wouldn't hesitate spending $60 for a great one. Great solutions at reasonable prices are invisible. Some do. Fiberglass itch. 1. Vacuum the area 2. Hot shower than a cold rinse. Put this stuff into well written Amazon Reviews.
Ouch. May I suggest you check out Lin and Larry Pardey? Skip Novak has good insights on sails. My biggest regret is buying a spinnaker. Total waste of money.
The Pardey books are what mentioned the Drifter and light air main. Should have thought about it a bit further: they had a Drifter and took a picture of someone else’s boat that had a light air main.
@@RiggingDoctor Double ouch. When I saw your video about using the barometer and clouds to understand the local weather, I thought: "man that is so Pardey, go simple". Sorry the light air main didn't work out.
I actually have Garmin GHP20. It sort of works. I use it because the windwane that I currently have is a pain to set up for short coastal hops. The regret I have is electronic instruments. So buggy!
I would say their autopilot had something wrong with it. In nearly 50 years of sailing I would put my autopilots as one of my most useful things. Simple to use and draw very little power. The fact they say it was noisey and constantly overcorrecting is an indication of poor set up.
Mark Turner could it have been their brand selection? I know there are ten brands for everything and I would guess the same applies here. I’m 100% a newbie here so I’m absorbing everything and discarding what I find in error. So what is a good brand and why are some bad p?
@@dalethebelldiver7740 Possibly, though I would have thought one performing so poorly would have soon been withdrawn or the company closed. Another plus is that you can use the autopilot compass to check the accuracy of the boat compass and draw up a compass deviation chart easily if necessary. The best thing to do is go to YBW.com and sign up as a forum member (it's free) and there is a wealth o info available there. They have a technical forum, a cruising yachtsman forum, a long term liveaboard forum and a classic boat forum. You will get loads of different opinion t sift through - personally I would say my autohelm on all my boats was one of the most useful things I had. Wind steering vanes are great for long passages with long periods of consistent winds. What is best for your individual situation will depend on A. the type and characteristics of the boat you have, and b, what sort of sailing you want to do with it. Hence its good to get a wide variety of different opinions from as many sailors as possible.
Mark Turner great reply and info; thanks. That site sounds very interesting. I have a tentative schedule for all this to happen the changes will be if; I get enough opinions concerning optimal size and buy used to fix it up or buy used; ready to go. I’m leaning toward a fixer-up-er mainly because it forces me to know and deal every part and aspect of the boat. I’m leaning towards a steel hull because I’m a structural fabricator and actually helped a guy retrofit a steel hull boat. His boat looked like a future bottom dweller but; that’s a different story; lol. Realistically; it will be a fiberglass over wood. I built several stainless parts for a 30’+. Plus sections of the the SS railing. Oh yeah; I built the bow sprit railing too. So; anyway I figure I can work on the boat at my business location and I’m going to start building custom sails. I have the space and equipment; I just need to find out who makes the best sails and make mine better or minimally; equal. And the support and advice of the sailing community.
Mark Turner just to touch on the kind of sailing I want to do based on my nature; because I have zero experience sailing. I imagine I’ll end up rebuilding the boat I get, build my own sails, find someone to show me how to go from A to B and then deal with what comes up. And; I want to go anywhere I want to go. I lived on a diving crew boat for 8 months so; as long as the boat is on the surface; I don’t care how long it takes to get there.
I have raymarine wheel pilot and works quite well doesn't use much power and does not over correct when stet up right and you use good sail trim. i have hydraulic steering so in my case it requires very light forces to turn my wheel. a quick search reveals that a RM wheel pilot is about $1200.00 US at that price you can afford to have spares and you will need them if your crossing oceans for several years.
When I bought my unit (sure sounds like I should have gone with Raymarine) my boat was too big for a wheel pilot system, so I had to go with a “below the deck” setup. I really like the simplicity of a wheel pilot!
If it’s a Raymarine autopilot...you can adjust it to not be so sensitive. Glad you have the Monitor though...we definitely consider our Monitor to be our MVP ;) Let’s see our biggest waste of money. Well, one must have a stove/oven, so we got a Seaward Princess model because our old 35+ year old one was looking pretty bad and parts were breaking faster than we could find new ones. But this seaward replacement is HORRIBLE. We just live with it. It rusted worse than the 35 year old one in 6 months. The back burner is irreparable, the oven doesn’t stay lit until the 3rd try. And their customer service was last to none. That was probably the biggest mistake we ever made. But it was expensive and not in the budget (yet) to get a new one. -Rebecca on Sv Brick House
This was one of your very best informative videos, and I'm sure there's a lot of people out there who are saying , gosh ! if only he posted this video 3 months ago ! LMAO Thanks for sharing your "Wisdom" Cheers
The scenery is so beautiful and stunning.Very enjoyable! Reminds me of my trips where I take the good music like the Guns N Roses, Imagine Draongs or the Delta Parole and then enjoy the powerful feeling of the sea. ¡vamos!
I loved your video even though I don’t have a boat or have plans to get one. It was probably cathartic to get all that off your chests. I think the Rock Anchor was my favorite mistake, but listen, sometimes we just have to experience things first hand. I will keep watching and good luck to you two.
I just meet a guy who got into a multi day storm and had a dinghy on davits that was banging so bad after a couple of days he cut the lines and abandoned it.
That is so sad! We keep our life raft in a valise inside because a friend of mine got hit by a massive wave in a storm and it activated his liferaft on deck in a hard case. The liferaft was acting as a massive drogue and he had to cut the line to it. Now he had lost all that money and had no liferaft in that bad storm!
Any thoughts on getting a tiller pilot to hook to your wind vane? Not exactly necessary, but I see them pop up on Craigslist for $100 every now and then. 100 watt panels in an aluminum frame are down to $84 on Amazon. It amazes me how they are less than half the price I paid for mine one year ago.
Our windvane doesn’t have a tiller attachment, hydrovane does though (we have a monitor). Our big solar panels were a little less than $1/W. When I bought my first panel, it was almost $100 for a 50W in an aluminum frame!
10K on a sail??? 10 K on an auto pilot,,, wow,, I have a 36 trawler,,, and never ever spent that kind of cash, granted I do not cruise every day, but really??
Interesting tips. You can of course get a hard tender that's quite light. You can also fit a soft strake around it to minimise bumps and chafing. You can also fit a cover to prevent it being suddenly swamped by a wave, and remove the drain-plug to ensure any water that does enter it drains away. As to davits themselves - well, you invariably get what you pay for. What I WOULD recommend is that davits fold, otherwise money-grubbing marinas will charge you an extra metre! For me, manning the helm and feeling the vessel interacting with the sea is one of the great meditations of sailing, so an autohelm is just a back-up for when I need to eat, sleep or do other chores. You can get a perfectly adequate one for under £500. Yours was two-thirds the price of my boat! Didn't you check what its power consumption would be prior to purchase? My budget is well over twice yours, but I still nearly always buy secondhand. A grand for just one sail? No thanks - I'd sooner stitch my old shirts together!
I did look at the power consumption but I also had a diesel motor at that time so I was going to be able to power it while motoring in no winds. Then we switched to electric and that whole plan disappeared!
Hi guys, very useful and interesting information. The spinnaker cloth main....ehh who talked you into that? The full batten Mylar main, interesting about the taffata cover fibers..... If it had been built with reef points it might have worked but it also needed to be left up and used continuously. Raising , lowering and treating it like a cruising sail does not work well. I remove my racing Mylar mainsail at the end of the day and carefully roll it .The battens actually also help stop the sail 'flapping' which is death to a Mylar sail..... Auto pilots are a huge problem and show the limitations of you non-hybrid electric yacht. I wonder if simple tiller type autohelm on the weather vane could be a low power solution ' doubt it. Biggest regret...... buying a boat that needs more work than I thought and had time or enthusiasm for! Fortunatly the initial outlay was low ish ...... Cheers Warren.
@@RiggingDoctor which is very very much on my mind… I started looked at 200k cats… which I could ‘just’ afford. But the more I have looked the more I am leaning towards a late 80s centre cockpit mono… at a max of 50k… leaving the rest to cover a good few years sailing. When I first looked I just thought you buy a boat and that’s it… I had never realized the costs… my previous boats all being day boats. Love your channel.
Another great video. Thanks. I have the NEMa nightmare on my boat. Helloooo monitor. The harder it blows the better she goes. Not one volt of electricity used and never a crash. Any advice on a boom brake?
We use a thick three lay dock line tied to the end of the boom and led to a deck cleat. It acts as a preventer but gives a little elasticity in the event we screw up and cause a jibe!
@ Rigging Dr. you can call Mike at Scanmar, they make the monitor vanes. Give them the serial number and they can tell u everything about it. They’re wicked nice there
I know people who hate their RIB's. They are always patching them. It just seems like nothing ever works correctly in the saltwater environment. Bottom paint is the same way, as well as varnish. Its all crap !!!!. If I was crossing ocean's, a windvane would be my choice, and a dinghy flipped upside down on the deck. However, coastal cruising or island hopping in the Bahamas, at davit system may work well. If you listen to lots of "sailors" they say they motor sail between islands anyway. Guess they need an electric autopilot for that. I guess it depends on how you want to cruise. I've been catching fish for years with my rod and reels. No hand lines for me. I just cant imagine reeling in a 25 lb tuna by hand. Thanks for your input. Your opinion is important.
I wish we would have had that problem of bringing in a big fish! It worked well for the two small fish we caught but we are really excited to have a rod now :)
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What has been your biggest boat “purchase regret”?
Almost everything I bought used (to save money) except for obvious things with no moving parts like cleats etc..
Rigging Doctor just my boat so far lol
I was really worried that someone would answer that :(
So far I've only made one mistake by getting a 3/8 sized anchor chain not knowing that my windlass can only use 5/16. There goes $2000
Athanos Kerensky ouch!
By way of background, I sailed the west coast of Mexico for 8 winter seasons, averaging about 5 months each season, so I'll share my experiences/opinions on a few of the things mentioned.
Davits were so useful there for coastal cruising. Every night the dinghy was secured in the davits, safe from wandering away, the bottomed stayed clean, it didn't bump the hull in the night, and also, if the wind came up at night and I had to bail on an anchorage, I didn't have to deal with the dinghy, in the dark, nothing was getting sucked into the prop as I dealt with other stuff. When I sailed offshore for extended passages I either deflated it, or a few times, lashed it on deck... deflated was a lot easier and uncomplicated... nothing to snag.
My Raymarine Auto pilot, for me, worked flawlessly ( one of the few things that did) and used less than a couple amps an hour usually... it was the best crew I ever had, it never went to sleep on it's watch, had minimal appetite for energy and put in years of reliable service.
There was no resistance felt at the helm... unless it was engaged :^) If you feel increased friction on the helm after an install then I believe something is not right.. and that could explain a big power draw too? I would consider checking the auto pilot rudder arm that engages the rudder stock.. that it is all lined up correctly, and that the system moves freely. The actuator arm on your auto pilot drive should have very little to no resistance as well. Your electric auto pilot could also be a useful backup system to use if the Monitor fails for some reason.. frees up hands at the helm when you might need them.
Wind vanes are great for long offshore passages but that usually represents a very small percentage of time actually spent on the boat, at least in my world. Some wind vanes give you the redundancy of a 2nd rudder, which could be priceless. I would consider taking off the wind vane when not doing long passages and keeping your dinghy on davits when coastal...
Battens do allow for a better shaped main, and therefore better sailing performance, and I would not consider them to ever be a negative when thinking of a mainsail. Sometimes new technology doesn't work out as it's presented... Your laminated sail experience sounds terrible... bummer.. big time bummer... but I wouldn't throw out the battens with the bathwater.
Best ever investment.. Solar panels, solar panels... and more solar panels. Cruising for most people is about power management and solar gives and gives. Don't leave home w/o them.
Some form of self steering might be next on the list. I guess some form of dinghy is right up there too :^)
RD, I really enjoy your videos, lots of good stuff, you're out there, and deserve all the cred and props. I'm just sharing my experience and opinions and appreciate your input and initiation of these topics. Thanks. Enjoy and be safe.
Very good Points. Regarding Mainsails, I'm going with in mast Furling, and battens are a Sail life shortening nightmare, plus get in the way of reliable Furling and unfurling. Yes, traditional Main Sails are the best option, but due to disability, I've had to look at making things easier options., so in mast furling, and foresail Furling, are what will keep me in Sailboats. So I had a chat with a Sailmaker, who makes a lot of Battenless Furling Mains, as well as battened ones. They said there is not much loss of performance with a triradial Dacron Battenless Main, compared to a Cross Cut Dacron Main with Battens plus wear and tear and unreliability are significantly reduced. With a triradial Ocean spec Foresail, a size of 125% was recommended for ease of heavy weather Furling, with adequately specced, electric winches, and upgraded Halyards and Sheets to handlebincreased working loads comfortably. Not that expensive an upgrade, but another reliability mod, is to have all mast fittings and Cleats, if aluminium, replaced with 316 Stainless Steel ones. Quite Cheap really, forvthe extra reliability. For an I flatable tender, I'm starting to wonder about those simple tilt up transom Davits? Never used them personally, but we're not looking atva lot of weight - 41 kg for thev10ft hypalon air deck air keel I'm looking at, just pop the Outboard of the 6hp 25kg Outboard o to a secure bracket before tilting up the Dinghy? Best Wishes and Fair Winds. Bob 👍
Totally agree on the Raymarine Autopilot. Ihave the same, and it uses very little power. However, from the description, I think RD have something else, like with a chain system to the steering wheel, as opposed to direct connection to the rudder.
Either way, I agree, it should not be dragging the wheel. It never does for me, and it has been a life saver with single-handed sailing. I, too, only use the windvane on long passages.
My biggest monetary regret is buying a home and not a boat.
My biggest is buying a boat and not a home.
I have a home for sale if you have a boat for sale....lol. I laugh, but I'm serious.
The advantage to having a home is, you rent it and use the funds for cruising! Of course you have to buy a cheaper boat!
@@jacksbackable Presumably you mean if the mortgage is paid. Cause net profit in a single rental situation is generally not anywhere near enough to live any kind of life independently, including a minimalist lifestyle. But paying those mortgages off early and stacking 5-10 homes in your portfolio would be ideal!
Tom D. +1 I messed up and sold my rental property to buy a “real” home. At least I have the space to keep all the stuff I can’t afford anymore.
Thanks for your honesty. Us newbies appreciate it.
What a brilliant, informative video which I'm sure will save boat owners a ton of cash. Thanks for sharing your mistakes, painful though some of them turned out to be. Kudos.
It's amusing to see the dichotomies of opinions like this. I often hear the comment, "We saved too much for too long to live like we're camping!" Usually in reference to saving any money on doo-dads and extras that make life more comfortable. Then the other side of the coin is, "Keep it simple, only spend on what you need. The more stuff that you have is just more stuff that will break."
I have both tiller pilot and wind vane. Each has its purpose. I hesitate to use the tiller pilot, but we did use it on one trip where we had numerous 10-hour days chugging away on diesel. Wind vanes are useless under power without sails.
I can't say I regret any of my boat purchases other than trying to replace an old electronics package with the same (old) vintage "to save money". In the end, I replaced the old tech 2 years later which is what I should have done at the beginning. My view is keep it simple, buy good quality instead of quantity, and buy based on your budget - not someone else's. Big Budget and lots of time? Buy everything you want. Small budget and no time? Buy quality, NEW, bare essentials - you don't want to spend your sailing time fixing stuff. Small budget, lots of time? Buy quality gear with the option of buying used (since you have time to maintain and fix it). There's no room for low-quality - either it breaks when you depend on it, or it breaks and you don't care which means you didn't need it in the first place.
That was really good. It definately gives one pause about the whole "more is better" philosophy. The latest is not always the greatest - and less is often, more. I may not have had those exact experiences, but plenty just like them. Thanks for that... your honesty is so helpful.
Our thoughts on your list after 10 years of building/sailing/cruising:
1. Electric autopilot, love ours, its old but goes through very little power, use it much more than our windvane because of the ease. If our below deck ever fails and is not repairable we would still replace it. If you have a wheel check out CPT, easy install.
2. Battenless main. Completely agree. We have the same on Prism, including a soft head, and a leechline that goes back to the tack.
3. Flexible solar panels, been there done that, agree unless you want to spend the $$$ for the top of the line but even then not worth it.
4. Lightwind main. I get it and have considered doing this as well to go along with our drifter but have yet to for the same reasons and we are currently mostly in the trades so not really needed.
5.Fishman anchor. Never bothered either
6. Davits. Agree, our first boat had them and we nearly ripped off the pushpit.
7. Gopro sessions. They where never that great nor where they supposed to compete with the hero. The simple controls are all we had on the original hero. They are really designed to do one thing, record. Dont try to mess with any settings in the field. As we would say "mash it and forget it".
8. Prop speed. We use bottom paint or zinc paint depending on what prop we are using. If it begins to need more we pull the prop in the water (we have a prop puller) clean a reapply.
9. Hand line. They work, but its call fishing, not catching.
10. Hard Dinghy. Ok this is the one I really dont agree with. All the things you bring up can be addressed with a well suited hard dinghy. We cruised 4 years with a Walker bay 8, loved it and just recently moved up to a fatty knees 8. What you guys dont mention is that with an inflatable you are pretty much reliant on using an engine if the wind is up. With a good hard dinghy you can row in pretty much any conditions in an anchorage. You cant pop them and when you do need an engine they motor great with a 2hp 18lb outboard. And if you want to cover some ground without the motor you can sail them quite well. Also a hard dinghy will last forever and can be easily repaired. I'm going to go out and say you just havent seen the light yet when it comes to this one.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply! Good to hear from you guys.
New yacht owner here. Thanks for saving us a bunch of money! Love your channel. Binge watching right now.
So many choices to make for a cruising boat. This is a great video. We learn more from failures than successes, so thanks for sharing. Some of these "regrets" are things I've pondered, so you may have saved me a few bucks!
No one likes to admit mistakes but should cause we all love to learn how not to waste $$$$. Excellent Video Cheers
I'm vary happy with my Raymarine Auto pilot. I installed it with help from my dad and ran it night and day for long trips south...plus love the radar and chart set up. It was great to spot the markers going in thick fog NFLand and also avoiding vessels that had no Ais.
My dodger works but it kind of sucks oh well...love our walker bay dingy ..
I love these video reviews from people who have actually used stuff and found it wanting. Also of course the videos about stuff that is worth having. There's so much jargon and marketing claims out there from businesses that turns out to be just words on the wind. You guys will save us guys a ton of money, thanks very much.
You are very welcome!
I’ve not watched your other videos but based on your comments here I’m thinking your opinions are based on a relatively small sample size. Let me provide some counter balance.
First regarding davits. I carry my inflatable on davits and love them. Granted I’ve yet to find the wave large enough to fill my tender with water but I doubt the weight of the water would cause any damage, certainly not the kind of damage you described. While maybe not the best idea I travel with the drain plug out so my dinghy will self drain. It’s easy enough to put back in when needed. The davits also allow me to raise the tender out of the water while at anchor so it is less prone to theft and will not be banging against the hull all night. All of that said my davits are designed to carry the anticipated load and my tender is very well secured while at sea.
I agree you can’t have a wind vane along with davits but my electronic auto helm works like a champ. It draws very little power, keeps the boat tracking along the course I want and the only noise it makes is a little squeak. Mildly annoying yes, but better than hand steering.
Lastly I can’t speak to the high tech fabric that caused you so much grief but my main is fully battened and can get caught on the lazy jacks when raising it, but it’s no big deal to raise the main carefully to avoid getting it hung up and I’ve never got them caught on a shroud. I can’t even see how that could happen, at least not on my boat.
So for those looking for guidance I’d suggest doing your own research, for your own type of sailing. In my limited experience I’ve found almost everything on my boat is a compromise. I like the convenience and security of the davits and my properly installed and calibrated auto helm performs perfectly and I take a little extra care when raising the main cuz I know where he battens might get hung up. I may sacrifice something for those conveniences but it works for me.
Poorly selected gear badly installed is a pain in the ass.
I've watched most of their videos...it seems they don't ask the right questions of the right people.
Now i have battons to. In the beginnig my sail got cought too. So now when raising the main i take down away the lazy jacks. And put them back after to lower the sail. No more problems...
charles harper It takes a brave couple to put themselves into a public forum like this and subject themselves to the often harsh critic that is sure to follow. FWIW I should have chosen my words more carefully. I could have made my points in a more friendly, diplomatic manner. Normally I try to avoid definitive statements. They are one of those emotional triggers that often evoke an automatic defensive response. That was not my intent. I applaud this couple for making a positive contribution to the conversation about sailing. At the end of the day we shared our opinions on some sailboat gear, no more, no less.
@@donb4386
Watch their videos from the start and explain why i'm wrong.
charles harper Regardless of right or wrong this conversation ha been a good one. I enjoy reading others opinions on sailing kit.
The best sailing channel. Love the detail
Sorry to hear that you spent all that money on a fully battened Mylar mainsail for cruising. In the UK they seem to be mainly used by rich people for racing. I hope you got a good price for it. Great idea, though, to advise people on what not to buy. Very useful vid.
Great video guys. That was a sweet list of things to avoid. We have noticed the flexible solar are quite flimsy as well. Dont fully agree about the davits but we have lost a bad set with a wave as you described. But still think they are worth it for calm non offshore passages. Although if we ever wanted a wind vane we would have to get ride of them. We have noticed our autopilot loves to oversteer as well but its a small unite for lighter winds mounted on the wheel.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video!
Here is how to rig a fisherman's anchor. You securely fasten the chain to the tee where the shank is welded to the arm and then secure the chain to the ring with 1/8" line. If the anchor gets stuck in the rocks the winch breaks the twine or you run the engine full speed to break the twine and release the anchor from the rocks.
What a fabulously useful video, and I haven't even got a boat (yet)...you two are a peach and a pearl and passing on this sort of info is invaluable....many thanks.
So glad you found it useful!!
Thank you! All of the items you mentioned are fantasy and I just crossed them off my list😊. The hard dingy? Yup future yard ornament. All others I just could not afford or I am just too cheap. Greatly appreciated this video cheers
Glad we could save you from making our same costly mistakes!
Autopilot can be adjusted in order to have more or less response. Yes, use a lot of power but help a lot when is well adjusted.
Seems like they got an overly fancy version. I have a tiller pilot that costs $200 and steers to the compass. LOVE my tillerpilot, though granted i do have a smaller boat.
I prefer the wind vane but one can adjust the sensitivity on most autopilots. That will reduce the electrical usage to an extent. Many people have a hard time with this though. The natural tendency is to want to see the autopilot make an adjustment right away and find it hard to wait a minute or two for it to correct the course. They are most handy when the wind dies and one is motoring.
@@PanzerDave oh wind vane is also a great tool, but a bit involved for my trailer-sailor :P
Summary of #1 and #2 : stay away from fancy, high tech equipment and stick with simple, "tried and true" equipment !
Yep, a good radio, and a better sea tow package.
Arguably, most of your regrets were just a bad fit for your particular boat.
The laminated mainsail is a good option for faster hulls that can makes use of them. The tanbark sail is a better fit for yours.
Same goes for the autopilot.
Folding solar panels are a good fit for a smaller coastal boat, but not good for bluewater use.
The prop paint is another story. Maybe they meant the prop should be moving instead of just the boat? Still hard to justify if it did work.
That being said, "learning to sail" isn't just about handling your boat just like "learning to hike" isn't just about how to put one foot in front of the other. It's also about the lessons we learn along the way.
Thanks for the video!
I agree. Some of the things in this video would greatly benefit different sailboats or sailors. All we can share is our personal experiences and hope to spark a conversation! :)
I usually single hand sail and use my Raymarine autopilot all the time. It is great, I can't imagine sailing without it. You bought wrong brand or type. I've had problems such as bad connectors, accidently cut cables which caused other problems like blown fuses and failed to use loctite on tillar arm bolts. Payed about $2500. Not shilling for Raymarine, they have terrible customer service at times.
It’s biggest issue was the power consumption. We simply couldn’t afford to have it on with the amount of amps it was guzzling!
Next Wednesday we will put out a video of 10 bests and there we talk about our other autopilot :)
We were given a Raymarine for work we had done in WPB and I was still fitting it as we sailed past Peanut Island. It connected to the GPS. We stopped doing that when we found out people coming the other way were doing the same and we nearly collided. You have to do a route slightly off the way points. I didn't notice a large draw. We could disengage the drive when needed.
Your power consumption problem again sounds like install/settings issue(s). If it wasn’t over-steering and hunting constantly, your energy use would drop considerably.
I also have a raymarine auto pilot. I single hand a lot. I can sail without it but why. It makes putting up and taking down sails so easy.
Which brand of autopilot did you buy?
Loved the regrets! Thanks for sharing...I have a few things on my list that I need to scratch off ⛵👍🙆♂️
As someone who has a similar budget traveling the country on a lower paying job, this video is absolutely invaluable, cruising is one of the things i am saving up for and avoiding financial pitfalls is a must if i plan to realistically cruise in the next decade.
Thank you both very much!
You’re welcome! Stay tuned for the Best Purchases video!!
One of the reasons for not using standard bottom paint on your propeller is the copper in the paint starts causing electrolysis in your propeller. Propeller specific antifouling is what to paint it with.
Hmmm very good point!
Thankfully I have prop speed isolating the two.
Yes, I painted regular bottom paint over slippery prop speed. The result after crossing the Atlantic: the bottom paint was still on the prop because the prop speed wasn’t all that slippery 🤣
Its not going to do it overnight but something to be aware of
Same issue that happens with aluminum hulls and copper paint.
I know what I’ll be doing next haul out!!
Doesn't happen with bronze, or stainless props, they are more noble than copper.
@@capnbilll2913 actually it does i have first hand experience. We painted a near new propeller with standard antifouling. After two years when we hauled out little pink specs have formed all over the prop. That copper going back to base metal. When i say near new the prop was installed new in 2011 by the previous owner. Props arnt made from silicon bronze but manganese bronze or something similar that isnt as noble.
Folding fisherman/admiralty anchor is a great spare, but can easily trip themselves with change of wind or tide direction! Inflatable dinghy with a hard bottom is really hard to beat as a tender, both because they are so stable and friendly when along side! The hard bottom means that they’ll plane easily and take some punishment on the shore!
We really like ribs, but they are beyond our budget.
Agreed!
These videos are most helpful to newbies.
I’m so glad! We definitely put them out with newbies in mind :)
So helpful, thank you, thank you.
🥰
Thanks for your insights. The biggest mistake purchase has to be to buy any boat followed by buying the wrong boat. Been there got the T shirt and still went in 2017 to buy another boat. They say boats are like standing under a cold shower tearing up large notes like $100 if its a smaller boat and more for larger boats . I prefer small old boats less than 25 feet but could only get a 1970 era 27 foot cheap this time . As a project boat doing it up to sail away from Ireland ,2020.The boat before was 34 foot cat which cost too much in marina costs so had to sell up so was the wrong boat . Before that had 20 to 25 footers and stayed in budget and cheap enough to park them and fly home to get work to continue the journey .Also smaller boat if weather is bad on the anchor just get ashore and stay there until storm is over and if the boat breaks the anchor and is lost not so much money lost .I prefer to try to sail alone but always so far on big jumps ended up with crew .I prefer to crew on my cousins boat 37 foot cat as he paid the bills but after a decade of that he died from cancer at 53 so was forced to buy the 27 footer in 2017: Cruising boats don't need half the equipment of race boats but nice if you can get it free or cheap second hand . I avoid too much investment in electrical stuff and normally prefer oil lamps and gas cooking. However this time prices of solar panels at ~$1 a watt makes getting 4 of the 100 watt hard type panels ( about 400 ,watts total ) and 4 of the 6 volt golf cart 220 amp batteries at ,$200 a pop or $800 total in Expensive ireland is maybe a possibility . Either that or its going to be a 100 amp AGM and one of the 100 watt panels and normal car battery to start the 10 HP SAAB inboard . That is enough power to use the simplex piston type direct to tiller electronic self steering solutions which wit KISS keep it simple stupid works most the time . There is one eastern Europe guy every year he buys a ,20 to 25 foot boat in Holland in the start for the summer tweaks it a bit hardly buys any extra equipment and then sails into the north a!Atlantic for the summer . Then he returns to Holland after a few months .Then he sells the boat and repeats the solution the next year . No destination problems just sail around the north Atlantic . That guy might be onto something few if any marina costs and sail in the warmer times in the region where winds are often strong so less risk of no wind . I do respect the owners of big boats for their choices but as I get older my preference is smaller cheaper and even to bring a tent and camp out when I arrive the new location as much cheaper than owning a much bigger boat .As I get older smaller sails make life much more easy. For younger folk with energy and also some with a family then bigger boats can make more sense. I might even in 2025 look to get 21 foot type boat to join in the Mini Sat race across the Atlantic . Some 100 boats all limited to max size of 21 feet race across the Atlantic as single handed sailors . Most boats are not going to win they just do it for the entertainment factor as the race machine that win cost over $ 60,000 plus The rest of the fleet are often just homebuilt wooden crafts along for the joy ride. Lots of choice's
This video hooked me. I would like a fully battened main... but I don’t cruise trades. I’m down in the 40s. But it wouldn’t be a laminated sail. I’m surprised about your comments on electronic auto pilot. That can wait clearly. All the breakages of windvanes means they make me nervous too..... might have to have both😁.
The others are spot on, and very helpful. I plan on having davits... easy to launch and retrieve with kids etc. but will have a high pressure roll up, rather than RIB to make stowage for passage easier.
Very interested in your solar panel experience, not what I expected at all!
Can’t wait to see more.
Cheers to sharing. I appreciate you guys.
Thanks!
We were thinking about flex panels for our electric boat....no so much now. It is a little Cape Dory 30 and we wanted something that would not ruin her good looks. We have an electric motor like yours, cept smaller, we also have the honda generator we have not tired run and gen. Do you have an idea what may be causing the problem? Ours is pretty simple, no solar or wind generator.
Nice video I lost track when you were on land. Glad you are back in the water. Everyone has made mistakes....some admit them some don't and some folks think they never have but we all know they have. Dee and Deb
Great info. We have a leaking sink hose. $70 to get a new one but very hard to install. Then we found out about a basin wrench. So that's next.
I agree on the below deck autopilot for your specific application with a larger boat auto is a good thing for long passages but only to supplement the steering when under power the windvane is a far better choice i have an old RVG windvane and love it but it works a trim tab on an auxiliary rudder for redundancy
I don't want to be rude but, hey, an autopilot is not a chocolate bar! You have do your homework (read user manual , recommendations and so on) and finally decide about the purchase. Regarding the price, a lot of sailors use pyPilot or tinypilot which "brain" is a cheap raspberry. You can build it yourself for less than 200$ or buy a ready build one like Pelagic. Or better ask this autopilot software creator Sean d'Epagnier. In my country we inherited a saying from the old time when pepper was very expensive: "If you have (a lot of) money you'll pour pepper in porridge too.
Can you share what brand of electric auto pilot you had issues with? Thats strange because if you look at Delos they have always used an auto pilot and no wind vane but they have had issues with there's though. There boat is also a bit bigger and has a generator.
Garmin GHP 12
The windvane has worked great for years and thousands of miles 😎
I have a Raymarine Evolution with mechanical linear drive (36feet 10ton steel sailboat), you cannot hear it from the cockpit, it handles all weather and do not use a lot of power. I use it 90% of the time on all my sailing. It connects to remote, my old autohelm wind, depth, course, speed and to a plotter. It took probably 5 minutes to get it all working after install. I can even steer from my Galaxy phone with Raycontrol. There is absolutely no added force needed to steer the boat either.
It costs about 5000$ and I would rather lay dead in a ditch, as someone just said, then swap it for a wind vane. :)
That system is what I imagined and hoped for when I bought the autopilot! I payed extra for the remote and the wind gauge, then swapped it out for a wind steering system.
I guess it’s all about what you get used to because I feel the same way as you, but in the other direction! 🤣
@@RiggingDoctor So...
1. It takes 0,1 second to set an accurate course.
2. It will maintain that course AND line for 400hours without any solar charging or running the engine and forever with sun.
3. It does not require any tweaking what so ever.
4. It does not care about the wind direction (if I don't want it to)
5. If I want I can let it steer through 200 waypoints with an accuracy of 2 meters, including narrow channels (20 meter width and lot's of turns), however I don't trust it that much but have tested several times.
6. I can steer from anywhere including remote control
How does your wind vane keep up? Is it fun to let it steer in harbours around other boats while setting sails or fixing things on deck? :D
That’s how we use it. We set the wind angle we want and then go forward to work the sails. I pull a little control line to turn the airblade to the wind angle I want and it keeps us there.
It does take longer than 0.1s since sometimes you have to spin it pretty far if you are jibing, but it’s not so bad. With it set, we don’t worry about accidental jibes while we are forward because it holds us to the wind.
Once you get used to it, setting the windvane becomes as second nature as setting the sails.
Johnny Andersson Agree but if it fails on a long trip you’re in trouble. I use an ST2000 90% of the time with a windvane as a backup. If you don’t do more than 24 hour trips an auto helm is sufficient in my experience as the windvane can get very annoying in light and changing winds.
@@johnnyandersson5622
Too many people don't tune their pilot properly during setup, then bitch and whine about it.
Buy the pilot and the course plotter from the same dealer and make sure that they work well together before you buy them.
When done properly, Iron Mike is the best shipmate you can have.
4-stroke outboard motor, electric start only. I have never rowed so much in bad weather as that summer. When a multimeter and a spare starting battery is higher on the checklist than petrol something is wrong. The positive from this is that I'm planing on making a gaffrig for the boat during the winter.
Thanks for sharing, sorry the motor wouldn’t work when you needed it most
Thank you, this type of video save your viewers actual $$$ just found your channel, this is the first vid, will catch up thx
You’re very welcome! We figure: if you can learn from our mistakes, they won’t have to be repeated!
If you dont like the performance of propspeed, your best option is to leave the prop bare.
Sealing a metal propeller in a cuprous oxide bottom paint can create issues with dissimilar metals and cost you the entire prop.
The metal of the propeller is isolated from the paint by the prop speed. Ironically, it works really well as a primer for ablative paint!
@@RiggingDoctor Egg whites, 4 coats on a clean prop.
facebook.com/erik.hardtle/posts/2871156046229783
Hand held digital depth sounders for scouting anchorage spots from the dinghy. The lead line lasts forever but it took two dead hand held sounders to appreciate my 30 year old lead line.
We almost bought that device! I wanted it but Maddie insisted that we keep with our lead line as well.
Now I’m glad she said no on that one!
You have so much more patience than I.
I have read EVERY comment on this film, and I appreciate what you've done, and the courage that you showed by putting it out. Whether I agree with you or not in every instance, you are providing your experience, and those people who comment about their conclusions based on their experience are doing exactly the same thing, and all the information is just more information that can be used by still others to help them make a decision. To those jerks (and yes, they are jerks), who want to look down their "highly experienced" noses, and tell the world to disregard what you say because you have only been a practitioner of living in your boat for a few years, I say, if you just want to denigrate a young couple trying to help others to avoid screwing-up where they did, and can't provide any information from your own (presumably) deep well of experience, you should just crawl back into your bitter, nasty shell, and wait until next Halloween to come out.
Thanks for this comment. I’m really glad you’re gaining from our uninformed mistakes exactly how we were hoping you would!
Your very very smart to continue using paper charts , traditional navigation methods, sextant, etc. Also very smart to use trysail, staysail on inner forestay with running backstays to keep the loads low and centered on the mast in questionable weather conditions. Electronics are nice but as Don Street says “electricity and seawater together make green gunge.
I couldn't disagree more. Paper charts and celestial navigation are dangerous, particularly if used infrequently or for emergencies. Far too easy to make catastrophic mistakes and much harder to share the navigation skills with other crew, for when the navigator is incapacitated or unavailable. Much safer to have electronic navigation aids and a well thought out set of electronic backups.
www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/u-s-navy-resumes-celestial-navigation-training-04042016/
@@firebir11 How many 'modern security threats' are you likely to encounter while cruising?
Excellent information. Helped me cross off at least a couple of things on my wishlist!
Glad to help!!
In cruising, simple and low tech is the best.
Agreed!
I agree except propellers. The folding props are high tech but I prefer those. Roller furling and snap on hmm boy that’s tough.
@@tomharrell1954 those are great till the prop fails to open or the furler refuses to open or close. Hence, simple may be inconvient but it is reliable.
Hi guys,
Great “Wisdom!” I’m 73 yo & bought an Albin Balland 30. An old elec auto pilot. It doesn’t work well & is noisy. I disconnected it & was thinking about an upgrade. No more, thanks for the advice! I subscribed and I am following your adventures.
Jim Grigsby
Virginia Beach
Mindi’s sound of the auto pilot made me lol
The electric autopilot was the biggest waste of money and the Monitor windvane was the best money we ever spent!
I have a raymarine evo autopilot going into my nmea 2000 system it took 3 days to set it up changing wires to inputs now it works brilliant it settles down after awhile learning the role of the sea and not correcting just for waves. It knows when your rolling off a big wave and corrects to allow the boat the roll down the side rather than falling off the top it then corrects back on to the course set. It follows a wind angle at the push of a button it follows a charred route from the plotters at the push of a button,
Wish ours was like that! We have fallen in love with our windvane because that’s how it steers. That made us fall out of love completely with our electric autopilot!
I think I agree with nearly everything you've said with the possible exception of the hard dingy. I have a Portland Pudgy which I keep on the foredeck (the davits I also ditched.)
Yes I have to hoist it aboard and launch it with the main halyard, but that's where it belongs anyway. It also doubles as a lifeboat which doesn't have to be inflated. The best part is that it requires no outboard motor but rows beautifully. Nobody wants to steal it because it's heavy and motorless.
I've owned at least a half dozen inflatables and they've all made their way into the trash.
My autohelm also stopped working but my (very old) Sayes Rig, wind vane steering, refuses to quit. It works even with the engine running at low RPM's and just the staysail set.
Prop paint is also only good for people who let their engine sit for months. As soon as you start the engine, all the paint comes off PDQ. You're absolutely right, a little anti-fouling paint is as good as anything "high-tech."
And high tech sails are only for guys who change sails like racecar drivers change tires.
The Portland Pudgy is an awesome dinghy! I wanted one but it was out of our budget so we had a series of other dinghies. Now we have disposable cheap inflatable dinghies that last maybe 2 years.
They really do belong on the foredeck!
After reading the comments I decided to add my story.... I live in the Puget Sound area so boats are everywhere. But I wanted a home with heat, a roof, and carpet and that homie stuff.
So I purchased a fixer upper since I have the skills to do the remodel work. After the purchase I did all the repairs out of pocket. So in the end I have a 2500 sq ft home with 3 bedrooms, dining room, living room, kitchen, 2 1/2 baths, and a 12'x20' enclosed back porch with a view of the Olympic Mountains.... My monthly mortgage payment $ 420.00 a month. Taxes and insurance another $325.00 a month... So $745 dollars a month for my home leaves me plenty of cash to save up for First Class Vacations every year. I fly first class, stay in 5 star hotels all around the world.... I just don't have to sail to get there and I am not limited to seaside attractions. LIVE is what you make it....
I forgot to say I also know how to sail on most vessels. So in my town there is always someone seeking a few crew members to come out for a day or two.... I pay my way, chip in for fuel, bring my own gear as needed. BUT when we port I help hose off the vessel (if they even bother) and go home with no worries about THE BOAT.... Live as I said is what you make it....
Steve Mazz that sounds like a good idea to get experience sailing.
Battenless main would be my choice for cruising.
I reckon a collapsible dinghy that can be taken apart for stowage would be a good option for a tender - something like the passage makers - stitch and glue one together yourself in a week.
Great video 👍
I love my auto helm . No idea what monster you got that sucks so much power , I went with an octopus drive on a simrad system and one solar panel keeps it going 24/7 if I wish . Sails to the chart plotter , the compass and the wind .Wind one is great when being lazy with the kite up - it keeps it full with the wind oscillations .
We have the Garmin GHP12
Hi thanks for making this video. Sorry that you've had to go through the pain, but I'm glad I now don't have to!
Glad to help!!
Biggest regret... using a camping toilet (not composting, just a seat with a tank below it) onboard. Can't use it when the boat is heeling over too much. Can't use it when the boat is bouncing over waves too much.
Second biggest regret: Selling the boat.
Aww 😢
Lessons learned. Thanks for the info.
Good tips to think about in sailing adventure planning. Wish you sweet sailing. Thanks for the video.
👍
Thank you for a very informative post. Cheers Gray and Irene
🙂
I'm interested in your going electric. That's our goal too. We bought a Hartley 34 for $4,000 Australian. We've been living aboard for only 2 months. Cheers Gray and Irene
We have had it for years and thousands of miles with no regrets!
A wise decision. Fuels from oil will become very expensive soon. For every 6 barrels mankind consumes, the oil industry can only find one. Unsustainable!
Hello. Thank you. I am finishing up my Downeast 32 cutter re fit and have been agonizing over the electronics. I have a good vhf radio and an ipad with digital charts. Looking at wind vane vs raymarine but keep hearing about problems.
Our monitor has been one of our BEST purchases as you’ll hear about next Wednesday 😉
@@RiggingDoctor No one talks about the bad ideas and buys so very helpful. A Moniter is a huge purchase at $6000, it will break the bank but I dont want to be messing around with expensive electronics that fail.
Thanks again
Steve Willis once we had both, we wished we did the monitor and only the monitor. We would have had a lot of cash in the bank!
Windvane works great
Wow, very interesing! Thanks for posting this! I wonder - if you turn this around - what has been the 10 most successful investments of gadgets or equipment you put on your boat? Not thinking about the boat itself or safety equipment, but things you find rewarding?
Stay tuned for this Wednesday 😉
@@RiggingDoctor Lol... nice! I will! :)
@@RiggingDoctor Almost Wednesday ... :)
Thank for the money saving tips.
Strange how experiences differ. I absolutely love flexible solar panels. Of course you shouldn’t walk on them.. Hang your spares on the sea fence, one on each side or use carabiners to change the sides according to the sun. This is what I do and one 100W panel powers my electrical tiller pilot all day long, provided that it is partially sunny. Works great for 3 months and 3000 miles now.
Thanks for the input!
I personally have had good experiences with prop speed, but that was on power boats that are probably only used once or twice a week for a few hours. Also heard good things about the flexible solar panels. Interesting to hear what you had to say on them.
Very informative. Thank you so much
We bought flexible solar panels (2 x 150W) and mounted them on a rigid board on a solar arch. We went for flexible because they weighed 3kg each instead of 20kg as for solid panels.
Our autopilot is electric and is stupid. You set a compass heading and she steers it. If there are rocks ahead she will steer you straight into them, but she did not cost anywhere near 10K..
What I am saying here is that these things can work just fine, but it depends on the set up of your boat.
Great idea with the solar panels! You’ve got a very good point.
Got swamped and sunk = problem solved. I have a house, always something to fix , very expensive, always something to do in the yard ,plus tax and insurance. Boating is a great way to go. Stuff we need and need to fix a part of life. Nice young couple, ya'll learned from regrets at 60 I learned a lot from this video. Sail on enjoy!!!!!
Hey guys,
How do you store your dinghy without davits? In my situation, my boat is only 30 feet. The good news is I don’t have a dinghy now. Just a small kayak. Thanks for the great info!!
Wow, a great study in errors made! For sure something to be said for actually going sailing before spending. I've never even heard of a light air mainsail. What a terrible idea for cruising! What sort of auto pilot did you waste so much money on?
Great video guys! Thanks for the info.
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Gosh... thank you so much for this....👍👍
Good content, so far have not made any of your mistakes ... so consider myself lucky. The Raymarine autopilot was toast when I bot my boat but we knew it wasn't getting replaced because of all the groaning and noise it made even in standby. Went with a new but old school design CPT autopilot and wow this thing is nice. Accurate, quiet and sips energy.
I’m glad you have managed to avoid these expensive pitfalls!
So very surprised to hear about Propspeed not being the best thing since sliced cheese! We love it!!! Things grow but easily easily wipe away, for years! -Rebecca on SV Brick House
Thank you for using cheese as your example. Cheese is the best.
Great video. It's in my Saved list. GoPro Sessions. It's not just TH-camrs. I had an early GoPro for a couple of days. 45 minutes sitting at my desk with the instructions - I couldn't get it to work. Did I feel stupid and incompetent? No because I'm older and I've done all sorts of mechanical, computer, writing...photography (I was a pro for years). Devices like the Sessions are blockages, nothing happens until these devices which occasional do work are replaced. Instead for 1/4 the price I bought a Kodak Sport. One button. I got two blue whales heading right for my kayak, then passing by 15 feet away. Nothing complicated would've worked.
The Hand Reel. Basic idea is okay, but they never improved it, then improved it again, etc... So cheap plastic breaking down from oxidation and light (I don't even need to see it to know). I wanted a reel like that for kite flying, except I wasn't going to fly kites with it. I saw a reel in China that a guy had. They don't sell them here. There are plenty of alpha-versions here that are crap. I finally made one out of plywood. When you can cobble something together that works better than what's being offered for sale?... you learn a couple of things. 1. That thing you can imagine? Someone is making and selling something close enough to it to get your money, whether it actually works is not even in the equation. and 2. Selling is more important than working. This creates a dead end. (I like cheap hot air pop corn poppers. No one makes a great one because the 'it's okay' ones sell for less than $20. People like me wouldn't hesitate spending $60 for a great one. Great solutions at reasonable prices are invisible. Some do.
Fiberglass itch. 1. Vacuum the area 2. Hot shower than a cold rinse.
Put this stuff into well written Amazon Reviews.
Ouch. May I suggest you check out Lin and Larry Pardey? Skip Novak has good insights on sails. My biggest regret is buying a spinnaker. Total waste of money.
The Pardey books are what mentioned the Drifter and light air main.
Should have thought about it a bit further: they had a Drifter and took a picture of someone else’s boat that had a light air main.
@@RiggingDoctor Double ouch. When I saw your video about using the barometer and clouds to understand the local weather, I thought: "man that is so Pardey, go simple". Sorry the light air main didn't work out.
I fitted twin foresails and use a twizzle rig downwind,much easier to handle,especially singlehandedly
This is the type of information a sailing channel should have!!! Finally!!
👍
So far as the autopilot goes, at least, I really think you should name names.. what make and model is it?
Garmin GHP 12
I actually have Garmin GHP20. It sort of works. I use it because the windwane that I currently have is a pain to set up for short coastal hops.
The regret I have is electronic instruments. So buggy!
This is an invaluable video. I’m buying a sail boat and most people brag about their auto pilot but it’s always a short subject.
I would say their autopilot had something wrong with it. In nearly 50 years of sailing I would put my autopilots as one of my most useful things. Simple to use and draw very little power. The fact they say it was noisey and constantly overcorrecting is an indication of poor set up.
Mark Turner could it have been their brand selection? I know there are ten brands for everything and I would guess the same applies here.
I’m 100% a newbie here so I’m absorbing everything and discarding what I find in error.
So what is a good brand and why are some bad p?
@@dalethebelldiver7740 Possibly, though I would have thought one performing so poorly would have soon been withdrawn or the company closed. Another plus is that you can use the autopilot compass to check the accuracy of the boat compass and draw up a compass deviation chart easily if necessary. The best thing to do is go to YBW.com and sign up as a forum member (it's free) and there is a wealth o info available there. They have a technical forum, a cruising yachtsman forum, a long term liveaboard forum and a classic boat forum. You will get loads of different opinion t sift through - personally I would say my autohelm on all my boats was one of the most useful things I had. Wind steering vanes are great for long passages with long periods of consistent winds. What is best for your individual situation will depend on A. the type and characteristics of the boat you have, and b, what sort of sailing you want to do with it. Hence its good to get a wide variety of different opinions from as many sailors as possible.
Mark Turner great reply and info; thanks. That site sounds very interesting.
I have a tentative schedule for all this to happen the changes will be if; I get enough opinions concerning optimal size and buy used to fix it up or buy used; ready to go.
I’m leaning toward a fixer-up-er mainly because it forces me to know and deal every part and aspect of the boat.
I’m leaning towards a steel hull because I’m a structural fabricator and actually helped a guy retrofit a steel hull boat. His boat looked like a future bottom dweller but; that’s a different story; lol.
Realistically; it will be a fiberglass over wood. I built several stainless parts for a 30’+. Plus sections of the the SS railing. Oh yeah; I built the bow sprit railing too. So; anyway I figure I can work on the boat at my business location and I’m going to start building custom sails. I have the space and equipment; I just need to find out who makes the best sails and make mine better or minimally; equal. And the support and advice of the sailing community.
Mark Turner just to touch on the kind of sailing I want to do based on my nature; because I have zero experience sailing.
I imagine I’ll end up rebuilding the boat I get, build my own sails, find someone to show me how to go from A to B and then deal with what comes up. And; I want to go anywhere I want to go. I lived on a diving crew boat for 8 months so; as long as the boat is on the surface; I don’t care how long it takes to get there.
Thanks for the info about prop speed!
Great video. Thank you. What was the make and model of the autopilot, so we may avoid it?
Garmin GHP 12 (I bought it in 2013ish)
I have raymarine wheel pilot and works quite well doesn't use much power and does not over correct when stet up right and you use good sail trim. i have hydraulic steering so in my case it requires very light forces to turn my wheel. a quick search reveals that a RM wheel pilot is about $1200.00 US at that price you can afford to have spares and you will need them if your crossing oceans for several years.
When I bought my unit (sure sounds like I should have gone with Raymarine) my boat was too big for a wheel pilot system, so I had to go with a “below the deck” setup. I really like the simplicity of a wheel pilot!
I think you just saved me some money great video, I also think that the ten best would be a great accompanying video!
Glad to help! And stay tuned for it next Wednesday 🤗
If it’s a Raymarine autopilot...you can adjust it to not be so sensitive. Glad you have the Monitor though...we definitely consider our Monitor to be our MVP ;)
Let’s see our biggest waste of money. Well, one must have a stove/oven, so we got a Seaward Princess model because our old 35+ year old one was looking pretty bad and parts were breaking faster than we could find new ones. But this seaward replacement is HORRIBLE. We just live with it. It rusted worse than the 35 year old one in 6 months. The back burner is irreparable, the oven doesn’t stay lit until the 3rd try. And their customer service was last to none. That was probably the biggest mistake we ever made. But it was expensive and not in the budget (yet) to get a new one. -Rebecca on Sv Brick House
Thanks for sharing! It’s a shame when a “new” version of your old favorite will never last to become your “old favorite”
such a funny vid, can't stop larfing here...HNY guys take care
This was one of your very best informative videos, and I'm sure there's a lot of people out there who are saying , gosh ! if only he posted this video 3 months ago ! LMAO Thanks for sharing your "Wisdom" Cheers
So glad you were able to benefit from it!!
The scenery is so beautiful and stunning.Very enjoyable! Reminds me of my trips where I take the good music like the Guns N Roses, Imagine Draongs or the Delta Parole and then enjoy the powerful feeling of the sea. ¡vamos!
I loved your video even though I don’t have a boat or have plans to get one. It was probably cathartic to get all that off your chests. I think the Rock Anchor was my favorite mistake, but listen, sometimes we just have to experience things first hand. I will keep watching and good luck to you two.
Thank you for enjoying the adventure with us!
I just meet a guy who got into a multi day storm and had a dinghy on davits that was banging so bad after a couple of days he cut the lines and abandoned it.
That is so sad!
We keep our life raft in a valise inside because a friend of mine got hit by a massive wave in a storm and it activated his liferaft on deck in a hard case.
The liferaft was acting as a massive drogue and he had to cut the line to it. Now he had lost all that money and had no liferaft in that bad storm!
Any thoughts on getting a tiller pilot to hook to your wind vane? Not exactly necessary, but I see them pop up on Craigslist for $100 every now and then. 100 watt panels in an aluminum frame are down to $84 on Amazon. It amazes me how they are less than half the price I paid for mine one year ago.
Our windvane doesn’t have a tiller attachment, hydrovane does though (we have a monitor). Our big solar panels were a little less than $1/W. When I bought my first panel, it was almost $100 for a 50W in an aluminum frame!
Thanks for making this video it will help those who know nothing ,like me .
Glad it could help :)
It was gonna be awesome, they said...I feel your pain and appreciate the honesty! Fair winds you guys!
🤑
10K on a sail??? 10 K on an auto pilot,,,
wow,, I have a 36 trawler,,, and never ever spent that kind of cash, granted I do not cruise every day, but really??
Interesting tips. You can of course get a hard tender that's quite light. You can also fit a soft strake around it to minimise bumps and chafing. You can also fit a cover to prevent it being suddenly swamped by a wave, and remove the drain-plug to ensure any water that does enter it drains away. As to davits themselves - well, you invariably get what you pay for. What I WOULD recommend is that davits fold, otherwise money-grubbing marinas will charge you an extra metre! For me, manning the helm and feeling the vessel interacting with the sea is one of the great meditations of sailing, so an autohelm is just a back-up for when I need to eat, sleep or do other chores. You can get a perfectly adequate one for under £500. Yours was two-thirds the price of my boat! Didn't you check what its power consumption would be prior to purchase? My budget is well over twice yours, but I still nearly always buy secondhand. A grand for just one sail? No thanks - I'd sooner stitch my old shirts together!
I did look at the power consumption but I also had a diesel motor at that time so I was going to be able to power it while motoring in no winds.
Then we switched to electric and that whole plan disappeared!
Hi guys, very useful and interesting information.
The spinnaker cloth main....ehh who talked you into that?
The full batten Mylar main, interesting about the taffata cover fibers.....
If it had been built with reef points it might have worked but it also needed to be left up and used continuously. Raising , lowering and treating it like a cruising sail does not work well. I remove my racing Mylar mainsail at the end of the day and carefully roll it .The battens actually also help stop the sail 'flapping' which is death to a Mylar sail.....
Auto pilots are a huge problem and show the limitations of you non-hybrid electric yacht. I wonder if simple tiller type autohelm on the weather vane could be a low power solution ' doubt it.
Biggest regret...... buying a boat that needs more work than I thought and had time or enthusiasm for! Fortunatly the initial outlay was low ish ......
Cheers Warren.
I know it’s a few years old.
But as someone planning to spend my life cruising it was really interesting and helpful.
We’re glad we could help you avoid wasting cruising funds on needless items that way you can cruise with more of your saved money :)
@@RiggingDoctor which is very very much on my mind… I started looked at 200k cats… which I could ‘just’ afford. But the more I have looked the more I am leaning towards a late 80s centre cockpit mono… at a max of 50k… leaving the rest to cover a good few years sailing. When I first looked I just thought you buy a boat and that’s it… I had never realized the costs… my previous boats all being day boats. Love your channel.
Another great video. Thanks. I have the NEMa nightmare on my boat. Helloooo monitor. The harder it blows the better she goes. Not one volt of electricity used and never a crash. Any advice on a boom brake?
We use a thick three lay dock line tied to the end of the boom and led to a deck cleat. It acts as a preventer but gives a little elasticity in the event we screw up and cause a jibe!
Might want to change how your fishing?
Now I get all my fish from the freezer section of the super market 🤣
What about your 10 BEST purchases? Would be a great companion video.
Already filmed and coming out next week same time!
@@RiggingDoctor great. I bet your Monitor is close to #1.
@ Rigging Dr. you can call Mike at Scanmar, they make the monitor vanes. Give them the serial number and they can tell u everything about it. They’re wicked nice there
I know people who hate their RIB's. They are always patching them. It just seems like nothing ever works correctly in the saltwater environment. Bottom paint is the same way, as well as varnish. Its all crap !!!!. If I was crossing ocean's, a windvane would be my choice, and a dinghy flipped upside down on the deck. However, coastal cruising or island hopping in the Bahamas, at davit system may work well. If you listen to lots of "sailors" they say they motor sail between islands anyway. Guess they need an electric autopilot for that. I guess it depends on how you want to cruise. I've been catching fish for years with my rod and reels. No hand lines for me. I just cant imagine reeling in a 25 lb tuna by hand. Thanks for your input. Your opinion is important.
I wish we would have had that problem of bringing in a big fish! It worked well for the two small fish we caught but we are really excited to have a rod now :)
Sv delos has an aluminum dinghy with foam bumpers. Works great for many years now.