A billion dollar suck up, a surprising cover of Louie Louie, and a book some folks seem to need… An interesting DIY wind vane, self-steering gear which seems to be based loosely on the Hebridean. For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure that the Hebridean just might be the best wind vane, self-steering gear available …
Some Caribbean history, a podcast of note, and in the “just like a really bad movie” department… As someone who keeps a weather eye out for the cost of self-steering gears, I find the current resale value of the Navik gear somewhat surprising. Not that long ago, the average price of a Navik ranged from …
A needful read, regarding AI/audio books, and the stupid, it burns… I’ve never been a fan of the Hydrovane self-steering gear as I feel they are overly expensive and prefer trim tab auxiliary rudder systems. That said, this guy seems to have built a hydrovane type gear for somewhere around $50. Which, judging from the …
I keep noticing that the cost of used self-steering gears continue to rise. For example, the Navik windvane which used to sell somewhere between $150- $500 dollars is now selling for somewhere between $400-$1000 dollars (check here for a price spread on used Naviks). While it still might be the best deal going for a …
You might want to check out. Sensible, simple, and cheap. Better yet, it should cost you less than $60 or so in materials and a couple of days of work. Considering that the cost of used vane gears (Aries, Navik, Windpilot, Atoms, Hasler, etc) are getting more expensive and hard to find, this gear makes …
I spent a good portion of yesterday making copious amounts of sawdust as I whittled the laminated wood into something that looks like a self-steering gear. There’s a lot to be said for an angle grinder and a flapper sanding disc. Talk about a mess. Honestly, the best part of the day was jumping overboard …
Today the plan is to glue up the self-steering rudder, continue thinking about a hard top Bimini and dodger. The current Bimini is fugly and not strong enough to carry solar panels. I have a few ideas but it remains to be seen whether they are cunning or “cunning” if you know what I mean. …
I’m currently waiting for a dry day so I can glue up the three boards set to become the new self-steering gear for the Islander. I’ll be upfront and say that I currently have a severe case of workshop envy. Which is not to say you can’t build a self-steering gear or dinghy on a …
I currently have three 1 x 12 planks sitting on the starboard side deck which are slated to become the Islander’s new self-steering gear. While I find the cost of the planks ($37 each) a bit depressing the upside is the entire self-steering gear will only cost somewhere around $300 dollars and a few afternoons …
