INSTALLING AN AUTOPILOT

Rick Channon makes solo boating simple with a Raymarine Evolution Autopilot

When I wrote an article a couple of years ago about my annual boating costs, I remember closing the piece with the caveat that my expenses excluded upgrades and toys, as these were discretionary spends. As if to prove the point, this year's winter projects alone have exceeded my usual total annual spend - but they've all been by choice rather than necessity.

I blame the weather. A long grey winter meant I needed a project to cheer me up. Just to reinforce the situation, my boat, Greyfin, was laid up for the winter in a magnificent position with glorious views over Mylor Marina in Cornwall, which encouraged me to spend far too much time in the cockpit, drinking cups of coffee and dreaming up jobs to do. Very often, they are jobs I can do myself, like adapting the galley with extra cupboards or modifying the helm seat to flip up. This year though, it was going to involve a significant upgrade to the nav equipment, with new and rearranged instrumentation underpinned by the addition of an autopilot system - and that's work that sits squarely outside my capabilities.

The rationale for getting an autopilot was to assist me as a single-handed boater. I like to potter along, taking in the sights and sounds but if I'm doing that for two hours straight, clinging to the wheel can get a bit tedious. Although

I live in a popular Cornish boating location, I'm often the only one out and there is very little to avoid or alter course for - in other words, ideal autopilot country! I could just let the system take care of the steering while I focused on navigation, scenery and comfort.

PICKING MY AUTOPILOT

The first job was to engage Billy, an electrical engineer who runs BT Marine in Falmouth.

He did a quick survey to ensure that it was a viable project on my boat with accessible cable runs and suitable locations to fix the hardware.