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   Hi All
Over the bank holiday we had a trip up to Portishead from Cardiff in Bristol Channel, not a big trip but the furthest we’ve been in years with this and that going on and general family life.

Thinking what could improve things and make life easier for me, similar to the previous question but how have you fixed the tiller when sailing as mine tends to bear off if left?

And as the tides are interesting in the channel, how have you set the depth sounder off set, water line at 2 m giving 20cm leeway of 1.8m draft and an easy calculation of taking 2m off the tide or set to below the keel and add 2m onto the tide?

Cheers

Stu

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stownsend Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Commander Joined: 12 September 2011 Status: Offline Points: 111	Post Options Post Reply Quote stownsend Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Settings… Posted: 27 August 2025 at 18:06
	Hi All Over the bank holiday we had a trip up to Portishead from Cardiff in Bristol Channel, not a big trip but the furthest we’ve been in years with this and that going on and general family life. Thinking what could improve things and make life easier for me, similar to the previous question but how have you fixed the tiller when sailing as mine tends to bear off if left? And as the tides are interesting in the channel, how have you set the depth sounder off set, water line at 2 m giving 20cm leeway of 1.8m draft and an easy calculation of taking 2m off the tide or set to below the keel and add 2m onto the tide? Cheers Stu

Bitbaltic Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Captain Joined: 26 November 2011 Location: South Wales, UK Status: Offline Points: 181	Post Options Post Reply Quote Bitbaltic Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 September 2025 at 08:06
	Can’t help on the tiller, I’ve never tried to lock mine off- being on the helm is where the missus is most comfortable at sea so it’s pretty much always manned. Very rarely use a tiller pilot, which would be the non-human fallback I guess. My depth sounder is calibrated to the waterline.
	Hanse 301 'Karisma' \| https://sailingkarisma.wordpress.com/

Mergus Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Lieutenant Joined: 02 May 2024 Status: Offline Points: 22	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mergus Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 04 September 2025 at 09:21
	I have also an Raymarine ST2000 autopilot (I do often single hand sailing where autopilot is a must). And that naturally solves the problem. However, in the first years when it malfunctioned I made a line from the tiller to the cleat and then to the winch. Allows quite dedicate adjusting. I think the echosounder calibration is something where we all have an own view. I also have it set to the waterline so that I at least know how much water there is (and calculate the draft myself). But there is multiple views on this an none of those is better than the other

stownsend Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Commander Joined: 12 September 2011 Status: Offline Points: 111	Post Options Post Reply Quote stownsend Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06 September 2025 at 09:00
	Thanks both, I’ll play around with the calibration and see what works for us. I’ve also got the St2000, plugged it in and it didn’t turn on, power to the socket, usually the connectors on the plug are a bit grubby so have cleaned them up with contact cleaner, will give it a try when I’m next down the boat. Cheers Stu

sailingfree Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Commander Joined: 20 May 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 103	Post Options Post Reply Quote sailingfree Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 September 2025 at 12:34
	For what its worth, I set my sounder to the waterline, and I know if it drops belwo 1.5m then I'm getting close to the bottom. For the tiller, Dragonfly had a tiller line and a clamp on the tiller when I first got it, OK for short periods away from the tiller, but she would usually round up after a minute or so. I installed a TP32 tiller pilot prety soon afterwards and thats worked fine in most conditions allowing me to sail single handed.

mjo Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Lieutenant Commander Joined: 17 May 2016 Location: Baltic Sea Status: Offline Points: 55	Post Options Post Reply Quote mjo Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 17 September 2025 at 15:26
	Last winter I got rid of my ST2000+ (it started to set hard rudder to the side suddenly more and more): I replaced it with EVO 100. Well, no cheap idea and some work to install all the components and the Network. But it rewarded me this summer, the steering is much more better than with the old one. Edited by mjo - 17 September 2025 at 15:28

stownsend Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Commander Joined: 12 September 2011 Status: Offline Points: 111	Post Options Post Reply Quote stownsend Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21 September 2025 at 11:28
	Thanks both, gone for the water line and use 2m as rough calc with some error margin. So far fitted a cleat to the tiller not had chance to make the rope bridle. Cheers Stu

sailingfree Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Commander Joined: 20 May 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 103	Post Options Post Reply Quote sailingfree Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 22 September 2025 at 07:19
	Stu, FWIW this is what dragonfly had on the tiller originally. https://www.davisinstruments.com/products/tiller-tamer It was fairly easy to adjust to keep a course for a short time. Pete



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