Welcome Ray, the Autopilot
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Big excitement! The parts arrived. With their arrival come big decisions on placement. Like the gyro compass, which must sit amidships, in the aft 2/3 of the boat, away from ferrous metals and engines/motors. In a small space like a 40-foot boat where metals and motors are packed tightly together, locating a suitable position was difficult. We found just the spot underneath the garbage can in the galley.
Gyro compass mounted in the garbage locker, underneath the new
garbage can platform,
which doubles as a convenient bag dispenser
The auto pilot computer mounted alongside
the AC circuit breaker panel
The AP computer isn't as finicky, it just needs to be well ventilated, secure
and dry. The aft bulkhead at the top of the wet locker seems like a good location
for the computer. We don't use that locker as a
wet locker, but it still has good ventilation.
The really hard part is going to be mounting the drive unit and attaching it to
the rudder post. A built-in propane locker sits about 7 inches behind our rudder post,
obstructing clearance backwards. The arm that attaches to the rudder post
is 10 inches long. The drive arm is 31 inches long and must attach at right angles
to the rudder post arm, which needs enough room to swing in an arc of 30 degrees or so,
around the rudder post. We can shorten the attaching arm, lessening the arc, but the goal
is to salvage length to optimize performance. All of you physics majors understand completely. Stan drew pictures for
MJ. Luckily, he's a mechanical genius.
Access to the rudder post is a claustrophobic little space underneath the cockpit
floor between the floor and the diesel fuel tank. Our mechanical genius
will be spending alot of time inside the cockpit lazarette as he works on this installation.
Stan figures AP installation will take two weeks. MJ figures two months.
The AP drive unit bolted to the newly glassed
shelf. The
vent hose looped below the shelf was
shortened
to provide a clean run to the outside.
Wiring the autopilot components into the Raymarine
computer,
in the "wet" locker.
Stan spent the remaining days of February completing the autopilot installation. It went surprisingly smoothly. One little slowdown was waiting for a McMaster-Carr delivery. Raymarine provided a ball stud assembly too tall for the clearance between the quadrant and the fuel tank. Stan ordered a shorter version but had to otherwise occupy himself until it was delivered.
At first, we were looking at mounting the drive unit back behind the rudder post, but tight clearance would have necessitated reducing the length of the rudder post attachment. By maneuvering all the parts and pieces around, this way and that, Stan found a way to mount the rudder post arm in front of the rudder post, which provided a better angle with the drive unit positioned farther forward.
Once the positions were figured out, out came the level and calipers to measure just exactly where the drive unit shelf should go. After meticulous measuring, hemming and hawing, Stan glassed in a very substantial, permanent construction.
Rudder post connecting arm sitting on tape measure.
Semicircle on the left side snugs up around the rudder
post
and clamps on. The feedback sensor's ball stud is
attached half-way down the arm.
The little feedback unit that tells the computer where the rudder is. It is mounted on the opposite side of the quadrant, fit in somehow amongst the mess on the port side. The end of the feedback unit arm cleverly snaps onto the ball stud and magically senses the arm's position.
Fuel tank vent, running over top of the
SSB's copper ribbon ground.
It's a boat, therefore nothing's easy. The vent hose from the diesel tank interfered with the run between the space the drive unit wanted and the rudder post. So, off came the old hose, on went a new, longer one that was rerouted out of the way.
In preparation for all of this work, the contents of the lazarette migrated into the trunk of the car: kayak, paddles, life vests, seats and swim ladder all moved so Stan could access the rudder post and build a shelf for the drive unit.
Auto pilot control box in the upper corner of the companionway
Auto pilot control box, with cover
After moving our radar screen two or three times, we've learned to tape things in place and live with them a few days before permanently installing. We want the AP contols to be visible from the cockpit, but also visible from the nice, dry seat underneath the dodger. Stan beveled a piece of teak and mounted the control box in the corner of the companionway hatch. After climbing in and out of the companionway without damaging shoulders or scalps, we decided it could stay there. Next step, the wiring; then on to mounting the control arms.
