I really love how you've embraced digital switching. It cuts the wiring in half and opens up so many possibilities. The built in redundancy is amazing, looking forward to seeing future iterations in off road and RV applications.
Hello, I congratulate you both on not proceeding to France when you were not comfortable with circumstances that represented additional risk. As a retired Bush pilot from Alaska I've seen the "got to get there" syndrome strike all to often, with well over 24 friends and associates lost. Not that my opinion matters, but well done. Cheers
Hmm. So two things - if you are going to rely on an autopilot then Install a COMPLETE second unit. Not just a spare for the drive unit and have it on standby on a second circuit breaker. If you are incapacitated can your crew change the drive unit? If not can they hand steer until you are on your feet again? If your crew is not capable of hand steering for two/three hours or 6/7 then you have questions to ask. I’ve done that trip from Ireland to France many times since the 70s and all with no autopilots (they didn’t exist). Two crew, 3 on, 3 off. Can be easily done with the right crew.
Hello Mads. Install a windvane for the Atlantic crossing. Electric autopilots are cute and funny toys for daysailors. I have four pacific crossings under my belt and on three of them, I had autopilot failures. Two of those boats had windvanes that steered the rest of the way without tiring or using an amp-hour. The boat that didn't have a windvane had us hand steering for two months between Nuku Hiva, Gambier to Puerto Williams (this was on a 90 foot schooner with two BIG hydraulic autopilots. Both failed). Keep the electric autopilot for motoring or coastal use, but if you intend to cross oceans on the long run, get a windvane. Nick.
So glad to hear that you had a good experience with Garmin support. I live about 10 miles from their headquarters and a factory in Olathe, KS and I've always found them to be top notch as well. The staff there is good ol' Midwest Nice.
I've followed lots of people who have sailed around the world and one thing is clear to me. You should never attempt it without a Hydropane Steering Gear as a backup to an autopilot. Love following the two of you and your adventure!!
Thank you so much :) I wanted to reinstall the old Hydrovane, but unfortunately, even with their stubby vane, it wouldn't fit under the arch. I don't think it's the end of the world :) For instance, in the 2012 ARC, only 20 out of 227 boats had a windvane aboard. I'll feel perfectly safe with a backup drive unit :)
There are other good wind vanes. There are always option in sailing and never just one way to do anything. It is also important to note the professionals racers gave up on wind vanes years ago. I like them but they also require maintenance and spare parts.
@@SailLife You could install a Windpilot. uses a servo rudder. It has the possibilty to use a very basic tiller autopilot (raymarine ST 1000 f.i.) to move the servorudder.
I think he should go out and do a lot of daysailing with a good coach just to push his abilities and physicsl knowledge to what he and the boat can do.
You're handling of this unexpected failure was phenomenal. You're making so many good, safe, exciting decisions. The change of plans may seem like a downer, but it seems to me that you are moving with the flow of life instead of fighting it. Looking forward to next week!
Mads could you please show us a detailed view of how you set up your preventer. There seem to be various ways of doing it and no doubt you’ve thought yours thru pretty well. Thanks mate.
I genuinely enjoyed the video (again!) You are both so calm when facing normal boating issues, yet Ava was under the gun to get back to MI, USA. Athena has been so beautifully refit, and she is so seaworthy. How uncommon is that? Good on Ya for the excellently presented DIY- I love it.
I'm sure someone else will have probably said this but if time permits maybe the manufacturer would be willing to let you do a tour, and diagnose your old unit and repair it so you can have it as a backup 😉. Good for them and helpful for you.
I would be pretty upset if the original unit failed with no explanation. Send it back so they can diagnose the problem, and fix it. The other trick if cruising is to balance the sails perfectly so that the boat pretty much self corrects, easier with a tiller to set up a cord on either side so you can do very little actual steering
Mads, I truly enjoy your videos. It has inspired me to properly refinish my Macgregor 26D. I am fiberglassing the deck hull joint and I now understand "Oh Glorious Sanding" oh to well!
Hahaaa, welcome to Mayflower Marina! It's our berth, so when work permits and I'm next down, look out! I've steered for 10hours without an autopilot (flat batteries) and it's like a chinese torture. It's the one think you can't do without.. you did the right thing. There's always something it seems - I'll be surprised if you've done anything wrong though, in a choppy sea state they work their socks off. I always set to the lowest sensitivity to try and preserve the motor and the brushes in particular. How many spares! You could, of course, opt for a redundant second system with a switchover. Like the bus system, this is the domain of bigger boats, and the benefit is significant.
At some point Mads, short of storms and terrible weather which seemed to be not present, the boat was safe and so deciding to hand steer seemed like a good opportunity to clock some experience for the 2 of you. A Wind Vane would solve a lot of mechanical issues - if you have the space....
Yet Another Great vidclip ..... So glad that All has worked out ..... It is not so much about things going wrong as it is about just How you deal with it ..... Well done ..... Thanks a Stack for ' Letting us into your Lives' ..... Very best to All from NZ
After x years of watching you work I'm 99.99% sure it isn't the install job . I also think by summers end y'all will be dauntless when it comes to sailing.
The people who make the monitor wind vane autopilot are developing a "remote" wind vane head that can be mounted up high at the top of the arch to drive the system down below at the waterline. I looked at their prototype at the Annapolis show last summer and it looked pretty modular and should be fairly easy to install. They might be introducing them officially fairly soon. I am not sure but it should be possible to fabricate a similar remote vane head for the hydrovane system as well.
Back in 1998, when recreation grade GPS was a relatively new thing, I purchased a handheld GPS from this new company named Garmin. Right before I was about to go out on a two week expedition in remote Alaska the device failed. Garmin overnighted a replacement unit for me. That was good customer service, and they won me over.
I've had a Garmin Forerunner watch since at least 2017 and it won't die. I'm not known for being gentle with watches - I have a drawer full of broken ones - but this thing still looks and works like it's brand new except for band replacements. I'm annoyed because I want to buy a newer model but can't justify it. Contrast that with Microsoft from whom I've only experienced buggy products that don't last, and I spend more time waiting for Microsoft to "verify" Excel than I do actually using it. (This is not an exaggeration. I only use Excel for a minute or two at a time and it takes far longer than that to load.) I wish every company were like Garmin.
I remember getting my first Garmin GPS in 1999 :) I have always had good luck with Garmin's support. I've only ever contacted them a handful of times but it's always been 10/10 service :)
Bad luck on losing the autopilot, but looking on the bright side, at least it didn't fail in the middle of the Atlantic. There are ways to rig a 'sheet to helm' emergency steering system, but I never got mine to work very well. (It is much easier to rig a sheet to tiller rig, but the round steering helm and under-deck gearing is more difficult to get to work other than 'approximately'.) It is worth experimenting to test an emergency solution anyway. Having a full replacement unit aboard as you plan is, of course, an ideal solution.....
Hi Patrick :) That would be fun to play with :) I'll bring some blocks and bungee cord for our trip across the Biscay. Did I hear in your latest video that you're heading to Spain later in the summer? Maybe our paths will cross :) I think we'll leave here around middle of August. I'm very excited to find out what your next boat will be :)
Obviously you have never hand steered on a short handed crew for days at a time. This is cruising, not pleasure sailing for a few hours. Maybe you should just use your legs and walk everywhere instead of using cars, busses, trains, or planes. I mean, that's was what humans did before those things came along.
Love your videos and have been enjoying them for years! I live about 4 miles from the Garmin headquarters and love to hear the great report, I too like their products, and no don’t work for them.
Welcome to the broken autopilot club. They all break and having a spare is a terrific idea. Anxious to see what the problem was but I am very doubtful it was your installation that cause it to fail. Also big fan of digital switching. But not such a big fan on dock lines thru and then around the cleats. That just seems like an unnecessary pain. Hope Eva has a good trip. Best wishes and thank you for posting these videos.
That’s yachting and why electronics and the salt environment are not good bed fellows and why people keep making adverse comments about all the electronics on board. Your building in the potential for problems. Keep it simple. Time to think about wind vane steering. Have fun and hope you get it sorted.
I used to do a bit of racing, and we always got our crew to start taking the pills twenty four hours before boarding, this worked, otherwise they were either sea sick or drowsy the first day. A lot of it is nerves, and recent sailing experience. Also I used to find helming stopped it as otherwise you are watching boat rising and falling, falling and rising and so on.
Hiya Mads, We'll miss Ava too. I was chatting to a mate online who is a liveaboard like you, he said the first thing he put in his ditch bag was several pairs of glasses, both sun and normal, he says as he is as blind as a bat without them and had to have unbreakable ones that float, not metal frames. I can't remember if you put these in so I thought as he was saying about them I'd pass it on. Fair winds and following seas, even in the marina, Steve...
I have a suggestion for a future video. A while back you did a good video on your drogue chute. My suggestion is that you do a storm tactics video on how you would use your drogue chute depending on wind and wave severity.
Mads, one word, or two. One word 'Hydrovane', two words 'Cape Horne', both non-electrical, or electronic, also, both out of Canada. Both used by UA-cam Sailors, one Canadian , one UK. Best wishes from Northern Manitoba.
Did I see a glimpse of a teaser for Garmin manufacturer doing post-mortem on the failed unit? :D Anyway, that would be a cool video, if you can pull this one off. Very good call on the diversion. It looks like Eva will be there on time and nobody got into this kind of an adventure that it nice to watch only on somebody else's video :D
I'm surprised you don't have wind vane steering. That way you always have a back up that is very simple and reliable that you can switch to and one that is not dependent on power too. Another big benefit on long passages.
on a king crab boat in Alaska the skipper would always buy two but we had lots of storage space. a spare auto pilot is a good idea unless you have a backup. this time of year should be nice in michigan.
Been following you a long time! Excellent content! I watch you on my Amazon Fire Stick and TV and wonder if you get my likes and watches since I can't see comments or your content. Can't make comments either unless I use my phone, like this. If not, I wonder how many likes you are missing out on. Love you guys.
You made the right choice. I've lost three friends to the 'I've got to get there' mindset. And each time they were tired and made some sort of mistake and ended up dead.
Sorry that your autopilot failed. I noticed that your wheel was turning excessively while you were underway and wonder if that was a precursor to the failure. Have you considered getting your original drive unit rebuilt?
Hi Mads, thanks for the video. I would prefer to have an "in the box" spare CPT autopilot for this type of situation. Alternatively, an inexpensive tiller pilot for the emergency tiller (or even to the wheel) is also a decent backup.
I see you have the stugeron now. If these cause drowsiness at all I recommend that Ava brings Dramamine non drowsy back from USA. Very effective and less side effects
Hi Mads just be aware that Mayflower can get really lumpy in strong westerlies. I was there a couple of weeks ago and I have never seen pontoons leaping up and down so much and the boat was thrashing about. There is a reason most of the berths seem to have old tyres which they use as snubbers. John
Hi, our boat is different to yours however looking at your video the steering input on yours is massive. The autopilot is make really big corrections. We have a 1.3 meter wheel and it makes correction of maybe 15 degrees max you have a small wheel look at your video 6:10 your wheel should not move this much. You probably need to think more about your sail trim if this is happening. If your sails are trimmed correctly your boat should virtual sail itself. The answer might be to think more about sailing and less about the electronics maybe?
Later that day, I did notice the autopilot was struggling to keep us on course. It wasn't because of sail trim but because the ram moved too slowly to keep up. In hindsight, this was an early symptom of the drive unit failing. It's the exact same issue we had the next day, only much worse.
@@SailLife Yes but also when you are hand steering the input seems very high? Less input means less work which is a win win. Maybe your boat wallows a bit because you are carrying too much weight above the keel (not you personally). We are 12m and the manufactures capacity plate say max 900kg load that is crew and anything else you add. What do the manufactures of your boat say is the safe max load? It is all too easy to keep adding thing a bit at a time to the point where your boat is overloaded is you are coastal sailing this is not an issue but if your boat rolls slowly in moderate seas then this can be an indication of reduced stability so worth check before you go properly offshore! Also just to say I have be watching your channel from the beginning and you have done some interesting projects. I am also the guy that was up the mast behind the junk rigged boat you videoed at in Gosport.
@@lesliebeaumont7163 I don't think the input is high considering we were in a following sea :) On the way to Plymouth on day two I hardly had to touch the wheel. I'm not worried about the stability of the boat :)
Nerves on any trip are a good thing, keeps me from getting blasé, and the associated mild sea sickness is something I suffer from. I was trying to cross the Atlantic into that sea state and it was horrendous. BTW apologies for disturbing you in Mayflower Marina but this channel is the best of how to do it properly and now you are sailing this hasn't faltered 🙂
@7:43 CUE ROXXXXXXXXXANE! LOL! As for the drive unit...will Garmin honor the warranty on it? They should...Things happen, glad you were able to track down a new unit.
Are you going to have the factory diagnose and factory rebuild your failed unit? That might become a really top level spare? The idea of a wind steer vane is excellent as well think about that tool to install.
She does have an emergency tiller but it wouldn't be suited for sheet to tiller :) It might be possible to do sheet to wheel by just using the center bottom spoke in the wheel instead of a tiller. I think we might play with that when we get our staysail (in September)
Kudos to Garmin for the quick service. If it fails again though, you might consider an L&S hydraulic drive unit. I have a Garmin Reactor on my J/42 as well, but the very experienced local yard here in Seattle recommended the L&S drive unit for efficiency and reliability. It seems to work very well with the Garmin autopilot, and has been flawless so far - though I have only owned it for a couple of years.
Fun fact: You can use any driveunit you want, on any autopilot. Just make sure the brain can handle the power consumption and even if it can't, you can install solenoids... I don't know who has manufactured Mads driveunit, but I have had a Jofa in my Garmin working just perfect since 2013 now.
I hand steered my ship through the straights of gibraltar when in the US Navy. I was in aft steering and had to keep the Angle Order Indicator exactly on course. Well the wheel back there was about 12" across and made of solid brass. Lord what a pain, I did it for my whole watch (6 hours). I can empathize with you guys.
I'm disappointed, of all the techies in the world, I would have thought Mads would have a spare everything. Now that I've jinxed him, his autopilot will never fail ever again for the rest of his life, and that's a good thing.
Ahhhh! The life of living on a boat. Much like owning a home on the hard, there is always something to liven up your day. Well handled Mads and Ava. Hope Ava has made it home and is a new aunt by now. Looking forward to hearing and seeing how the auto pilot turns out. Mads, as precise as you are about following instructions and being detailed on your installations, I can't imagine you not installing the Garmin drive perfectly. Maybe you should buy a lottery ticket since you managed to find the one in a million Garmin units to fail. Take care and best wishes for a wonderful and productive week.
Fate is a funny thing... Plans an boating somehow don't work together well. Taking it in it's stride as you both do is what makes everything work out! Hope the birth of the wee one is a joy Auntie an Uncle.. now!! Glad, Madd's you ended up in the right place to do .. oh glorious boat work...! Thanks for sharing your lives with us ✌🏼💗😊❣️
Each week when your video shows up I check Marine Traffic to see where you are. Saw that you were in Plymouth a couple of weeks ago and wondered what happened. Now we know. Good luck with your repairs. Looking forward to your future adventures.
Nothing annoying with beating against the wind. It's an artform, a really good mental excercise most rewarding. It is great for developing sailing skills and last but not least you will spend a whole lot of time beating so It's best to start loving it sooner or later.
with a fully loaded boat, a furling mainsail, a fixed propeller and a high windage solar panel installation probably it CAN become quite annoying to attempt to beat against the wind unless you have a rather silent engine and you can sort of pretend it's not on.
I really doubt you made a mistake so ride the 40 and get all the parts to build two more you got this I can’t wait to see that thing all apart on the counter days to come see you
I really love how you've embraced digital switching. It cuts the wiring in half and opens up so many possibilities. The built in redundancy is amazing, looking forward to seeing future iterations in off road and RV applications.
Core channel fans are like ‘thank god, some DIY!’
Hello, I congratulate you both on not proceeding to France when you were not comfortable with circumstances that represented additional risk. As a retired Bush pilot from Alaska I've seen the "got to get there" syndrome strike all to often, with well over 24 friends and associates lost. Not that my opinion matters, but well done. Cheers
John well said - Kind Regards
If they're not comfortable on a boat without an autopilot they have no business contemplating open ocean passages.
Hmm. So two things - if you are going to rely on an autopilot then Install a COMPLETE second unit. Not just a spare for the drive unit and have it on standby on a second circuit breaker. If you are incapacitated can your crew change the drive unit? If not can they hand steer until you are on your feet again? If your crew is not capable of hand steering for two/three hours or 6/7 then you have questions to ask.
I’ve done that trip from Ireland to France many times since the 70s and all with no autopilots (they didn’t exist). Two crew, 3 on, 3 off. Can be easily done with the right crew.
Stugeron in the background during one of the shots, love it!
Hello Mads. Install a windvane for the Atlantic crossing. Electric autopilots are cute and funny toys for daysailors. I have four pacific crossings under my belt and on three of them, I had autopilot failures. Two of those boats had windvanes that steered the rest of the way without tiring or using an amp-hour. The boat that didn't have a windvane had us hand steering for two months between Nuku Hiva, Gambier to Puerto Williams (this was on a 90 foot schooner with two BIG hydraulic autopilots. Both failed). Keep the electric autopilot for motoring or coastal use, but if you intend to cross oceans on the long run, get a windvane. Nick.
Erik Aanderaa ask him wind vane- the big but here I don't think Mad's has any room on his aft transom let alone the air flow with the do dads - lol
Yes, I agree. A windvane is a great idea.
Agree
You need a wind-vane. Safe journey, Ava.
"Stuff" happens, and when it does, a positive attitude such as that you've always showed, Mads, is ideal. Good luck with everything!
So glad to hear that you had a good experience with Garmin support. I live about 10 miles from their headquarters and a factory in Olathe, KS and I've always found them to be top notch as well. The staff there is good ol' Midwest Nice.
I've followed lots of people who have sailed around the world and one thing is clear to me. You should never attempt it without a Hydropane Steering Gear as a backup to an autopilot. Love following the two of you and your adventure!!
Thank you so much :) I wanted to reinstall the old Hydrovane, but unfortunately, even with their stubby vane, it wouldn't fit under the arch. I don't think it's the end of the world :) For instance, in the 2012 ARC, only 20 out of 227 boats had a windvane aboard. I'll feel perfectly safe with a backup drive unit :)
@@SailLife I certainly hope it all works out!! :-)
@@SailLife I saw a video a while ago with a boat that had the vane on top of the arch...
There are other good wind vanes. There are always option in sailing and never just one way to do anything. It is also important to note the professionals racers gave up on wind vanes years ago. I like them but they also require maintenance and spare parts.
@@SailLife You could install a Windpilot.
uses a servo rudder.
It has the possibilty to use a very basic tiller autopilot (raymarine ST 1000 f.i.) to move the servorudder.
Making those memories. Hate that the autopilot failed but hand steering seems like a good skill to master when living on a sailboat
Lots of motor sailing on this DYI channel? Maybe a trawler is next on the goodie list.
I think he should go out and do a lot of daysailing with a good coach just to push his abilities and physicsl knowledge to what he and the boat can do.
@@horstlauch453 Agreed
Amazing how fast Garmin can be when 106 thousand subscribers are looking in.
Lol
and how crap their customer service is when there are no spectators.
Imagine the guy who just got a phone call that his autopilot will be delayed another 8 weeks...
Same thing every time
Hahahahaha right
You're handling of this unexpected failure was phenomenal. You're making so many good, safe, exciting decisions. The change of plans may seem like a downer, but it seems to me that you are moving with the flow of life instead of fighting it. Looking forward to next week!
Thank you so much! :)
Clint Eastwood “Every which way but loose” reference”!!!!!!!!!!!👍
"Right Turn Clyde"......funny you know that quote.
It's stuck in my brain ever since I saw Every Which Way But Loose as a teenager :)
great video, upbeat and fun as always. Bummer about the autopilot, but you guys took it in your stride. All the best for Ava's sisters new baby
Welcome back to the UK
Mads could you please show us a detailed view of how you set up your preventer. There seem to be various ways
of doing it and no doubt you’ve thought yours thru pretty well. Thanks mate.
I genuinely enjoyed the video (again!) You are both so calm when facing normal boating issues, yet Ava was under the gun to get back to MI, USA. Athena has been so beautifully refit, and she is so seaworthy. How uncommon is that? Good on Ya for the excellently presented DIY- I love it.
I'm sure someone else will have probably said this but if time permits maybe the manufacturer would be willing to let you do a tour, and diagnose your old unit and repair it so you can have it as a backup 😉. Good for them and helpful for you.
Good idea!
I’d be interested in watching that video!
I would live this video! I really like your in depth boat videos.
I would be pretty upset if the original unit failed with no explanation. Send it back so they can diagnose the problem, and fix it. The other trick if cruising is to balance the sails perfectly so that the boat pretty much self corrects, easier with a tiller to set up a cord on either side so you can do very little actual steering
Mads, I truly enjoy your videos. It has inspired me to properly refinish my Macgregor 26D. I am fiberglassing the deck hull joint and I now understand "Oh Glorious Sanding" oh to well!
Well done Sail Life
Sea sickness is definitely stress related.
Cheers
Hahaaa, welcome to Mayflower Marina! It's our berth, so when work permits and I'm next down, look out! I've steered for 10hours without an autopilot (flat batteries) and it's like a chinese torture. It's the one think you can't do without.. you did the right thing. There's always something it seems - I'll be surprised if you've done anything wrong though, in a choppy sea state they work their socks off. I always set to the lowest sensitivity to try and preserve the motor and the brushes in particular. How many spares! You could, of course, opt for a redundant second system with a switchover. Like the bus system, this is the domain of bigger boats, and the benefit is significant.
All in all, Mads is sooo happy to be back to 'More DIY Fun'.
exspecially good video!
At some point Mads, short of storms and terrible weather which seemed to be not present, the boat was safe and so deciding to hand steer seemed like a good opportunity to clock some experience for the 2 of you. A Wind Vane would solve a lot of mechanical issues - if you have the space....
Congratulations to Garmin!
Hope that Ava enjoys her time in the US and that you enjoy your DIY time in Plymouth!
Yet Another Great vidclip ..... So glad that All has worked out ..... It is not so much about things going wrong as it is about just How you deal with it ..... Well done ..... Thanks a Stack for ' Letting us into your Lives' ..... Very best to All from NZ
If you add a shunt into circuit for the ram drive you can monitor the current/load, which might give you an early warning of mechanical stresses.
Great episode Mads and Eva! Please continue to use the "slide in" entrance at 0:11!!
After x years of watching you work I'm 99.99% sure it isn't the install job . I also think by summers end y'all will be dauntless when it comes to sailing.
Thank you so much :)
Hey Mads, in all the years I've been watching your videos, I can't remember seeing you once with such a healthy colour as today.
Well done Garmin, Peace and blessings to you and your family.
Wind vanes are a great backup for your autopilot. Especially if you have a catastrophic loss of power.
Yes, he needs a Hydrovane…oh wait a minute he had one but sold it. I would say an autopilot is a great backup for a windvane…
His arch design is in the way of a wind vane, I believe that was the reasoning.
@@WaterFaucet24 and the dingy right?
The people who make the monitor wind vane autopilot are developing a "remote" wind vane head that can be mounted up high at the top of the arch to drive the system down below at the waterline. I looked at their prototype at the Annapolis show last summer and it looked pretty modular and should be fairly easy to install. They might be introducing them officially fairly soon.
I am not sure but it should be possible to fabricate a similar remote vane head for the hydrovane system as well.
He has said that even the stubby wind vane didn't fit under the solar arch.
Back in 1998, when recreation grade GPS was a relatively new thing, I purchased a handheld GPS from this new company named Garmin. Right before I was about to go out on a two week expedition in remote Alaska the device failed. Garmin overnighted a replacement unit for me. That was good customer service, and they won me over.
I've had a Garmin Forerunner watch since at least 2017 and it won't die. I'm not known for being gentle with watches - I have a drawer full of broken ones - but this thing still looks and works like it's brand new except for band replacements. I'm annoyed because I want to buy a newer model but can't justify it.
Contrast that with Microsoft from whom I've only experienced buggy products that don't last, and I spend more time waiting for Microsoft to "verify" Excel than I do actually using it. (This is not an exaggeration. I only use Excel for a minute or two at a time and it takes far longer than that to load.)
I wish every company were like Garmin.
I remember getting my first Garmin GPS in 1999 :) I have always had good luck with Garmin's support. I've only ever contacted them a handful of times but it's always been 10/10 service :)
My yellow eTrex from 2000 is still going strong... (Ok, a few lines in the display failed, but it's still working)
Sorry Mes, bad for you .... good for us! 😕
Bad luck on losing the autopilot, but looking on the bright side, at least it didn't fail in the middle of the Atlantic. There are ways to rig a 'sheet to helm' emergency steering system, but I never got mine to work very well. (It is much easier to rig a sheet to tiller rig, but the round steering helm and under-deck gearing is more difficult to get to work other than 'approximately'.) It is worth experimenting to test an emergency solution anyway. Having a full replacement unit aboard as you plan is, of course, an ideal solution.....
Hi Patrick :) That would be fun to play with :) I'll bring some blocks and bungee cord for our trip across the Biscay. Did I hear in your latest video that you're heading to Spain later in the summer? Maybe our paths will cross :) I think we'll leave here around middle of August. I'm very excited to find out what your next boat will be :)
Good luck this week!!
I'm maybe old fashioned sailor but steering was always part of sailing as only few boats had autopilot feature.
😁
Obviously you have never hand steered on a short handed crew for days at a time. This is cruising, not pleasure sailing for a few hours. Maybe you should just use your legs and walk everywhere instead of using cars, busses, trains, or planes. I mean, that's was what humans did before those things came along.
So glad you were able to obtain a new drive. And nice to see the Sanding shirt, again! 💕💕💕😎
Love your videos and have been enjoying them for years! I live about 4 miles from the Garmin headquarters and love to hear the great report, I too like their products, and no don’t work for them.
Welcome to the broken autopilot club. They all break and having a spare is a terrific idea. Anxious to see what the problem was but I am very doubtful it was your installation that cause it to fail. Also big fan of digital switching. But not such a big fan on dock lines thru and then around the cleats. That just seems like an unnecessary pain. Hope Eva has a good trip. Best wishes and thank you for posting these videos.
Oh, Glorious Technology! (If it can break, it's just a matter of when... 😉)
Eva, you should shut off the red light at look at the stars. They would appear so bright without any light polution.
Shame it was scuppered by the auto pilot failure, glad you are both safe and thanks for a great watch👍
That’s yachting and why electronics and the salt environment are not good bed fellows and why people keep making adverse comments about all the electronics on board. Your building in the potential for problems. Keep it simple. Time to think about wind vane steering. Have fun and hope you get it sorted.
No new country ritual 😓 the cuteness can't be gone already 😂😂
I know you guys had other things on your minds but still, a ritual is a ritual 🙏🏻
I used to do a bit of racing, and we always got our crew to start taking the pills twenty four hours before boarding, this worked, otherwise they were either sea sick or drowsy the first day. A lot of it is nerves, and recent sailing experience. Also I used to find helming stopped it as otherwise you are watching boat rising and falling, falling and rising and so on.
Safe travels
Oh! I see, you replaced sanding with hand steering, Good job!
Hiya Mads,
We'll miss Ava too. I was chatting to a mate online who is a liveaboard like you, he said the first thing he put in his ditch bag was several pairs of glasses, both sun and normal, he says as he is as blind as a bat without them and had to have unbreakable ones that float, not metal frames. I can't remember if you put these in so I thought as he was saying about them I'd pass it on.
Fair winds and following seas, even in the marina, Steve...
Would try to get a wind pilot as redundant system… Athena is a tiny boat and it will work petty well…
I always find myself smiling at the end of your ventures. Thanks!
Glad to hear it! Thank you so much :)
Sorry to hear of the "failure" of your auto-steer. Nice to see your reaction and outcome! Its all about the journey
I have a suggestion for a future video. A while back you did a good video on your drogue chute. My suggestion is that you do a storm tactics video on how you would use your drogue chute depending on wind and wave severity.
Also when you would use stern vs bow attachment
Mads, one word, or two. One word 'Hydrovane', two words 'Cape Horne', both non-electrical, or electronic, also, both out of Canada. Both used by UA-cam Sailors, one Canadian , one UK.
Best wishes from Northern Manitoba.
Oh glorious sanding.
indeed :D
Did I see a glimpse of a teaser for Garmin manufacturer doing post-mortem on the failed unit? :D Anyway, that would be a cool video, if you can pull this one off.
Very good call on the diversion. It looks like Eva will be there on time and nobody got into this kind of an adventure that it nice to watch only on somebody else's video :D
Good choice on the diversion. I would think you're in a better location for getting work done.
I'm surprised you don't have wind vane steering. That way you always have a back up that is very simple and reliable that you can switch to and one that is not dependent on power too. Another big benefit on long passages.
Since they are only 40 miles away I wonder if you could get it to them and see if it can be repaired.
on a king crab boat in Alaska the skipper would always buy two but we had lots of storage space. a spare auto pilot is a good idea unless you have a backup. this time of year should be nice in michigan.
Been following you a long time! Excellent content! I watch you on my Amazon Fire Stick and TV and wonder if you get my likes and watches since I can't see comments or your content. Can't make comments either unless I use my phone, like this. If not, I wonder how many likes you are missing out on. Love you guys.
You made the right choice. I've lost three friends to the 'I've got to get there' mindset. And each time they were tired and made some sort of mistake and ended up dead.
Looking forward to more of your DIY 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for the Great video , you guys are awesome.
Sorry that your autopilot failed. I noticed that your wheel was turning excessively while you were underway and wonder if that was a precursor to the failure. Have you considered getting your original drive unit rebuilt?
Hi do you have an episode on the digital switching I think this is exactly something my husband would love to have on our boat.
Well that sucks.. glad you were able to roll with the punches and adapt.
Hi Mads, thanks for the video. I would prefer to have an "in the box" spare CPT autopilot for this type of situation. Alternatively, an inexpensive tiller pilot for the emergency tiller (or even to the wheel) is also a decent backup.
nice shout out to Clyde! Every which way but Loose
I see you have the stugeron now. If these cause drowsiness at all I recommend that Ava brings Dramamine non drowsy back from USA. Very effective and less side effects
Does ginger really help with sea sickness ?
I think we have a new saying, "Oh Glories Hand Sailling". 😆 🤣
While you're in a stationary place, you should order a danish yachtflag, instead of the dannebrog you have on the backstay at the moment. :-)
Done :)
Hi Mads just be aware that Mayflower can get really lumpy in strong westerlies. I was there a couple of weeks ago and I have never seen pontoons leaping up and down so much and the boat was thrashing about. There is a reason most of the berths seem to have old tyres which they use as snubbers. John
Hi, our boat is different to yours however looking at your video the steering input on yours is massive. The autopilot is make really big corrections. We have a 1.3 meter wheel and it makes correction of maybe 15 degrees max you have a small wheel look at your video 6:10 your wheel should not move this much. You probably need to think more about your sail trim if this is happening. If your sails are trimmed correctly your boat should virtual sail itself. The answer might be to think more about sailing and less about the electronics maybe?
Later that day, I did notice the autopilot was struggling to keep us on course. It wasn't because of sail trim but because the ram moved too slowly to keep up. In hindsight, this was an early symptom of the drive unit failing. It's the exact same issue we had the next day, only much worse.
@@SailLife Yes but also when you are hand steering the input seems very high? Less input means less work which is a win win. Maybe your boat wallows a bit because you are carrying too much weight above the keel (not you personally). We are 12m and the manufactures capacity plate say max 900kg load that is crew and anything else you add. What do the manufactures of your boat say is the safe max load? It is all too easy to keep adding thing a bit at a time to the point where your boat is overloaded is you are coastal sailing this is not an issue but if your boat rolls slowly in moderate seas then this can be an indication of reduced stability so worth check before you go properly offshore! Also just to say I have be watching your channel from the beginning and you have done some interesting projects. I am also the guy that was up the mast behind the junk rigged boat you videoed at in Gosport.
@@lesliebeaumont7163 I don't think the input is high considering we were in a following sea :) On the way to Plymouth on day two I hardly had to touch the wheel. I'm not worried about the stability of the boat :)
Nerves on any trip are a good thing, keeps me from getting blasé, and the associated mild sea sickness is something I suffer from. I was trying to cross the Atlantic into that sea state and it was horrendous. BTW apologies for disturbing you in Mayflower Marina but this channel is the best of how to do it properly and now you are sailing this hasn't faltered 🙂
@7:43 CUE ROXXXXXXXXXANE! LOL!
As for the drive unit...will Garmin honor the warranty on it? They should...Things happen, glad you were able to track down a new unit.
Are you going to have the factory diagnose and factory rebuild your failed unit?
That might become a really top level spare?
The idea of a wind steer vane is excellent as well think about that tool to install.
I don't think they offer that service. They suggested taking it to a hydraulic workshop but it's pretty cool that they sell a seal kit for it :)
Rotten luck but good outcome in the end. Stay safe always. Thank you.
All's well ends well great job
Thank you :)
Well, that sucks about the Autopilot, but at least Garmin found you a replacement quickly.
Hej Mads og Eva. Don't recall if Athena has an emergency tiller. If so, the sheet to tiller method could be backup plan C. God vind!
She does have an emergency tiller but it wouldn't be suited for sheet to tiller :) It might be possible to do sheet to wheel by just using the center bottom spoke in the wheel instead of a tiller. I think we might play with that when we get our staysail (in September)
Kudos to Garmin for the quick service.
If it fails again though, you might consider an L&S hydraulic drive unit. I have a Garmin Reactor on my J/42 as well, but the very experienced local yard here in Seattle recommended the L&S drive unit for efficiency and reliability. It seems to work very well with the Garmin autopilot, and has been flawless so far - though I have only owned it for a couple of years.
Fun fact: You can use any driveunit you want, on any autopilot. Just make sure the brain can handle the power consumption and even if it can't, you can install solenoids...
I don't know who has manufactured Mads driveunit, but I have had a Jofa in my Garmin working just perfect since 2013 now.
Alot of excitement and suspense in this episode. Looking forward for some more diy projects coming up.
I hand steered my ship through the straights of gibraltar when in the US Navy. I was in aft steering and had to keep the Angle Order Indicator exactly on course. Well the wheel back there was about 12" across and made of solid brass. Lord what a pain, I did it for my whole watch (6 hours). I can empathize with you guys.
Is there a chance of opening up the 'faulty' unit to see what went wrong and potentially fixing. Would make a great video !
I'm disappointed, of all the techies in the world, I would have thought Mads would have a spare everything. Now that I've jinxed him, his autopilot will never fail ever again for the rest of his life, and that's a good thing.
Ahhhh! The life of living on a boat. Much like owning a home on the hard, there is always something to liven up your day. Well handled Mads and Ava. Hope Ava has made it home and is a new aunt by now. Looking forward to hearing and seeing how the auto pilot turns out. Mads, as precise as you are about following instructions and being detailed on your installations, I can't imagine you not installing the Garmin drive perfectly. Maybe you should buy a lottery ticket since you managed to find the one in a million Garmin units to fail. Take care and best wishes for a wonderful and productive week.
Fate is a funny thing... Plans an boating somehow don't work together well. Taking it in it's stride as you both do is what makes everything work out! Hope the birth of the wee one is a joy Auntie an Uncle.. now!! Glad, Madd's you ended up in the right place to do .. oh glorious boat work...!
Thanks for sharing your lives with us ✌🏼💗😊❣️
Each week when your video shows up I check Marine Traffic to see where you are. Saw that you were in Plymouth a couple of weeks ago and wondered what happened. Now we know. Good luck with your repairs. Looking forward to your future adventures.
Nothing annoying with beating against the wind. It's an artform, a really good mental excercise most rewarding. It is great for developing sailing skills and last but not least you will spend a whole lot of time beating so It's best to start loving it sooner or later.
with a fully loaded boat, a furling mainsail, a fixed propeller and a high windage solar panel installation probably it CAN become quite annoying to attempt to beat against the wind unless you have a rather silent engine and you can sort of pretend it's not on.
@@pierrevanhalteren5733 I can appreciate that.
Being safe is the most important thing. Wise choice!
nice clint eastwood aside. what is the unladened velocity of a sparrow
Going to miss Eva while she's away. She brings a lot to the channel.
It's Ava I think? Steve...
@@stephencoster9532 Oops.
"The Isles of Silly" sounds like a Monty Python skit. . . . 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Factory tour and refurnish/rebuild!!
I really doubt you made a mistake so ride the 40 and get all the parts to build two more you got this I can’t wait to see that thing all apart on the counter days to come see you
I got told years ago. everything on a boat is broken you just don't know it yet