Windvane Self Steering for the Coastal Sailor, ??

[Jasper Windvane]

I don't have any desire to cross the Atlantic. I may sail to the Bahamas, sometime. But, mostly, I just plod along the coast, day sail, anchor for the night, with my fabulous looking former Playmate of the month .. oops, another story.. Anyway, I love the idea of, look of, and have always wanted a self steering windvane. It would be very sweet to set it, let the boat steer along, and then sit back and relax, or fiddle about, or chase the fabulous looking former Miss January. I once had a self steering tiller master in a boat I owned, the thing ate the electrons until dry. I searched for, and found an original copy of Self-Steering for Sailing Craft by John S. Letcher, Jr. The sheet to tiller book. I read it. I then read it aloud. I did everything the book recommended. I stayed on course for 1/2 hour. Miss January needs more than 1/2 hour.

So, I wonder. What self steering windvane is the least expensive to set up.
Are some only for certain types of boats? Cost versus benefit? The sales rig, is that what one calls it, looked pretty simple, on line. Where does a boater go to purchase the equipment and what type of product support do the manufactures of the equipment provide?

Got to go, Miss January is talking about a turkey dinner, again. Never let a Playboy Bunny cook, if you value your life, health, and well being.

[mitiempo]

Jasper
Unfortunately wind vanes have to work as well for coastal sailing as for crossing oceans. To my knowledge there is no `weekend sailor` version available - they`re all pretty good and therefore pretty expensive. One solution is to check Craigs list etc for a used one but quite often they need a good overhaul as they`re sold after lots of miles. Here`s a few links to some of the makers as well as a windvane forum and a site where a cruiser goes through the process and picks one for his boat. The Norvane - first link- is the one I`m thinking of and it`s less than half the price of a Monitor.
Brian
NORVANE Self-Steering Wind Vane. Stainless steel, servo-pendulum. Powerful, sturdy and reliable for sailboats 20’ to 60’
WINDPILOT
http://www.mindspring.com/~waltmur/Self-Steering/
Equipment: Choosing and fitting a wind vane « Hot Shot Kaskelot
A few Superlatives
Cruising Sailor • View forum - Windvane Forum
http://www.selfsteer.com/
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[tager]

All that stuff about your playboy bunny is really not flattering. I hope it is some kind of joke.

[mitiempo]

Tager
He's not being serious - they are really quite good cooks.
Brian

[EpicAdventure]

Originally Posted by tager

All that stuff about your playboy bunny is really not flattering. I hope it is some kind of joke.

... since it would be tough to maintain an adequate watch?

[sailingdog]

Of course, you could make your own... sheet-to-tiller isn't hard to setup on a lot of smaller boats... sheet-to-wheel is a good deal more difficult.