On the "pilot" setting you have to enter the course change. On the "course" setting the AP will follow however many way points you plug in. It will steer the boat right down the channel to my marina and make 3 90 degree turns doing it. The up side to having the AP interfaced is that it accounts for set and drift automatically. On "pilot", it will steer a straight line in the direction it was pointed but will drift off course over time due to current and wind. The down side to having it interfaced is that "garbage in equals garbage out". When that garbage happens to be a way point things can go really bad really fast. Some people feel it's not worth the risk. I think that the risk can be mitigated by good habits, double checking your work and proper watch keeping. Also, I had crew fall asleep on me one night and the boat was doing her own thing and kept doing it even as he slept. Luckily we didn't get ran over or hit a panga but at least the boat was going in the right direction and on the proper course. You just have to keep in mind that it's an electronic gadget and not give yourself over to it like it was a thinking crewman.