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Another item I installed before the Bahama trip and that we should of had a long time ago was a tiller-pilot ....

like the Ray Marine 2000 above. When I posted the install some questioned the location vs. installing it on the port side. For me this side has been ideal. I tend to sit on this side and there were many times where I would have to quickly detach it and hand steer. Doing that was easy sitting here as I'd leave the left end in the socket I made and just lift the tiller end off the tiller and move that end back by the ladder with it resting on top of the lazarette. I never had a problem doing this even under some extreme situations where I not only had to man the tiller but would also have to reach over and turn the outboard one way or the other to assist in steerage. Doing all of that from the port side would of been awkward for me. Also if I needed the tiller-pilot to take back over for a minute I just reached back and pull the tiller side forward and put it on the pin on the tiller and it was back in business.

There was also concern about where I put the plug, arrow, but as you can see it was always protected by the cup holder I have there so never a problem. One thing I do is I leave it plugged in all the time and at night I'll lift the laz. Hatch and put the tiller-pilot in there and keep the cord in the corner of the hatch where there is no pressure on it when closed. I put a toggle switch just inside the laz under the hatch and when I store the unit I turn it off with the switch. This way I don't have if draining the battery in standby and I don't have to deal with the plug every day. I'd put it on a switch circuit if you are out day after day.

The other thing that came up is that with the unit on the hatch you would have to remove it to say store fender or get into the laz. Not true as you have to also lift the tiller to get in the laz and they both just go up in unison so there is no need to remove it to get into the laz for most things.

I keep the outboard clamped so it needs some pressure to turn it but still don't want it locked down as I often turn it one way or the other which really helps the tiller-pilot in handling some situations. I usually look and see if the tiller is neutral most of the time. If it isn't and is always to starboard or port to handle the current seas/wind then I'll turn the outboard a little to help it.

In extreme seas where the waves/wind are producing large waves and the boat is falling off one way or the other sometimes the outboard will then turn on its own due to the forces that are happening. The bungee seems to help some in those conditions but still allows me to reach over and hand steer if I have to and some times I had to use the outboard along with the tiller to overcome conditions are where I needed to turn the boat very quickly. A few times I connected the connector, see the mods section, that connects the outboard tiller to the rudder tiller. That allowed the tiller-pilot to handle some conditions on its own since it was turning both at the same time and in the same direction.

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