Finally got to put my new Garmin autopilot to the test tues/wed. Had a long tuna run both days, roughly 52 miles each way. The ony times it didn't work well (twice) were when I was crossing the "bar" as we headed out of the river into the ocean. The time we wanted to cross coincided with a -3 to -4 knot current going out (that's pretty fast) and it tends to create some pretty sloppy conditions (as in a really nasty washing machine to 3-4' waves or just big nasty 8-10'ers. Both days we had only 3' swells, so it was more like 4-5' waves breaking here and there and coming from 3 directions. So, not the place for using an AP anyway. It was more of a hunt and pick which ones to go over and where to go over each at. We still ended up washing the rods/reels up in the rocket launcher.
Other than those two times, holy smokes!!!, what a wonderful tool. Once we crossed the bar, hung a hard left to get out of the influence of the river, I selected my offshore waypoin, hit the little button on the AP that said "Engage", and sat back. My job now was just to watch for dead-heads and play with the throttles to keep us from jumping the swells too badly. Once we got to the fishing grounds, that maintain course heading and zig-zag pattern were heavily used.
I have about 80 hours making the drive to and from our fishing grounds (it's about 2-3 hours each way) and these last two days were by far the most relaxing trips ever. An AP will not longer be "optional" on any more of my offshore boats.
Other than those two times, holy smokes!!!, what a wonderful tool. Once we crossed the bar, hung a hard left to get out of the influence of the river, I selected my offshore waypoin, hit the little button on the AP that said "Engage", and sat back. My job now was just to watch for dead-heads and play with the throttles to keep us from jumping the swells too badly. Once we got to the fishing grounds, that maintain course heading and zig-zag pattern were heavily used.
I have about 80 hours making the drive to and from our fishing grounds (it's about 2-3 hours each way) and these last two days were by far the most relaxing trips ever. An AP will not longer be "optional" on any more of my offshore boats.