sailing casita

Casita came with an Alpha Marine Systems Alpha 3000 autopilot installed. This is an older system (installed in the 80s) and has a reputation for being robust, reliable, and not very power hungry. Unfortunately we were never able to get the system working to our satisfaction.

Some of the problems we had were due to poor installation, which we improved where we could, and others were due to components malfuctioning. We had problems with the drive unit linkage assembly (mostly just bad installation and adjustment), control box failure (bad resistor), wired remote failure (broken wire in remote, then broken wire in receptacle), and compass failure (teeny tiny wires as fine as a hair inside the compass had broken). We were able to fix everything ourselves except for the compass which we sent to the manufacturer for repair. However, even after it was repaired we weren’t abe to keep the compass calibrated (maybe due to poor location, too close to our iron ballast).

Even with the various issue we had experienced we were planning to keep the Alpha 3000, but then we found out the manufacturer had closed up shop and we couldn’t find anyone providing support or service. We felt lucky that we were able to diagnose the control box failure and that it was a simple fix, but we might not be so lucky next time and if the compass should fail again I’m pretty sure we would be out of options (we tried and failed to get it repaired locally before sending it in). We have a Monitor Windvane so the autopilot is not our primary self steering system, but being shorthanded we need a reliable backup system. Plus, even though we are a sailboat and we’d love to say we sail all the time, the reality is there are plenty of times when we motor.

All of this is to say we decided to install a more modern autopilot and chose a Raymarine Evolution system. We already have most of it installed and we should be receiving the final component tomorrow, hopefully we will be doing the calibration and testing the system out this weekend!