my log for the exact date, I think it was early 1998. NOT as old as dirt, like me, but back there.

I do still remember the first test sail with it. We pulled out of the marina in the south end of San Francisco bay. I set a course for the San Mateo bridge and engaged it. We sat there for some time as it steered us directly through the center of the span with us not touching it a bit! For us, it was magic.

I guess we are lucky at how well it has worked for us. It has been wonderful in all types of conditions. We once took a rouge wave hit that had our spreaders hit the water. When she came upright, we just took off like nothing happened. Well, the boat did, us not so much.

At one point, I did rig our tiller pilot on a board below deck in the aft cabin. I used an engine control cable to drive the air side of the vane. It worked well, but have taken it apart as I just never used it that much. Now if I do use it, mostly when doing short motoring, I just rig it as normal on the aft cabin top.

Greg