RayMarine EV-100 Autopilot Installation

[colbysmith]

Anyway....it works ok at cruise speeds... I may still entertain the idea of just spending the money and purchase the Garmin Autopilot which comes with the bigger pump anyway, as I'm not changing out my chart plotters! (I'd have to get a good offer to purchase the EV-100 from me first. However, I don't use the AP at troll speeds very often, and not sure after having this for the season I really need one. The C-Dory tracks fairly straight anyway, without touching the wheel. (Of course except in wavy water.... Colby

[hardee]

[Not For Hire]

IMHO an AP for salmon trolling Lk. Michigan has to have a Rudder Position Sensor. When the waves are 2 to 3s each wave weighs so much nore than our little boats. The stern or bow can be moved several feet (many degrees) off intended course. This happens most going uphill but it happens when quartering and even going downhill also. Now if you have a probe with temp and speed at the cannonball and you want to troll into a 2 mph undersurface current and you are only going 1/2 mph at the surface and you are being moved around by waves in lots of directions, the unit just has no idea which way to go without the rps. Check the charter boats and talk to other GL skippers, even with their much heavier boats (which helps), they favor a rps on the autopilot. So although a larger pump and faster updates may help, for this specialized application, I think a rps would help more.

Hoping for a mild winter but enough snow to keep the lakes up.

Regards,
Mark

[colbysmith]

Mark, I doubt even a rudder sensor would allow the auto pilot to keep the boat straight at very slow speeds on quartering seas. There have been times addition of power has been required as well.
It's been great having the water levels back up. Let's hope El Nina this year doesn't push them back down! Colby