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I am passavily looking for wind vaine type self steering gear, for my DE32 located in Portland Maine. Does any one have wind steering gear that worked well? has anyone used gear on any DE that did not work well.
Thanks in advance for any comments and help
P.S. if anyone wants to sell there unused gear I mahy be interested
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I fitted a Norvane a year ago and am so far very pleased with it - http://www.selfsteering.com . Previously used Aries on two boats and Cape Horn on another. It is relatively cheap.
It seems lightly built compared with the Aries but works the same way. It is all stainless (quite a lot of it castings) and is easy to pull the paddle up out of the water (to a vertical position) when not in use. It does it's job well on our DE32, even in light air, down wind. I haven't used it in bad weather or big seas yet. We converted back from wheel steering to tiller, partly because of less clutter and ease of self steering connections. She is so well balanced that a wheel is a waste of space and more stuff to go wrong.
I also have a cheap tiller pilot mounted on a bracket on the stern pulpit so that (with the vane removed) I can attach it to the Norvane. This alows self steering when motoring (or sailing if you want) on a compass course with very little electrical power needed, as the power comes from the paddle going through the water. All the tiller pilot has to do, is flop the vane bracket back and forth.
The Cape Horn has a built-in tiller pilot attachment - but the Cape Horn is really best for wheel steering and particularly center cockpit boats, as it has it's own (vertical) quadrant which is then connected to the one on the rudder shaft. So no lines to the wheel other the control ones to the helmsman's position (and if you loose a steering cable it will still work!).
The Aries is the 'orginal' and possibly the best, but any that are around still, are pretty difficult to renovate as they were made of a mixrure of s/s and Al which created huge corrosion problems. Also - it was difficult or impossible to get the vane out of the water if need be. Parts are, however, still available form Cornwall,UK.
Tim - DE32 'Pelli'
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I've been in correspondence with the folks in the UK and Denmark and there are lots of parts available and I can even retrofit the hinge to allow me to lift just the servo rudder up. Not sure if I want to go that route though.
Tim is right, the mixture of stainless and aluminum can be a problem. Fortunately the one I picked up had minimal corrosion and I was able to clean it up with relative ease.
There is another boat at the same club as I keep mine that may be selling their vane. It was mentioned to me through another person so I don't have any details on it yet but I'll let you know when I get home if it is still for sale. I do know that it is on a 35' boat so it should be suitable for a DE32. I'm just located in Nova Scotia so shipping shouldn't be too ridiculous.
Cheers,
Scratch - DE32 "Orion"
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That would be great!
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No problem, I get home the first week of March so I'll do some digging then. I'll track down the people selling the vane and get back to you.
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hey guys 🙂 I just realized that this was under the equipment and vendor reviews... I am going to move it up under the general forum. This forum is more for your reviews of some specific piece of equipment or of a vendor such as a marina or manufacture.
Scott
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I've got a Monitor on Bodhran and am very happy with it. Other than chafing through a couple of control lines that I had set up too tightly, it's performed flawlessly for many thousands of miles now. That being said, pretty much all the servo-pendulum windvanes work great. It's all about the installation and keeping friction to a minimum. I picked up my Monitor used for $1500 back in 2005. Used marine stores normally have a windvane or two sitting around somewhere. I wouldn't worry about the brand so much as the condition. That being said, I'm pretty impressed with the pricing on the Norvane. I've never seen one, but it looks like it'd do the trick and you can pick up a brand new one for the price of a used Monitor.
BTW I glassed in two 1.5" PVC tubes that run from the cockpit sole back through the transom. On the Monitor this allows you to run the control lines from the base of the frame, through the transom to blocks right below the wheel and up to the wheel adapter. I've only got 4 blocks in the whole system and I feel that it really helps my light air performance. It also elminates having to derig you monitor between passages so that you don't trip on the contol lines all the time. I assume that this scheme would work with other vanes as well. Just something to think about.
Jason
DE32 Bodhran
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Jason,
I remember reading somewhere how you had glassed in the tubes. I thik this is a fantastic idea. I'm going to see if this would be possible on Orion.
Scratch - DE32 "Orion"
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