Usefulness of Vane self steering

[swhfire21]

As I said, I was high jacking my own thread so here's what I've landed on:

I am moving forward with a tiller pilot and am acquiring a Raymarine tiller pilot. Looks pretty simple and handy to use.

The DC system on the boat is being updated to include two 12 V, 80 Ah (approx.) wet cell Interstate batteries (SRM-27) and a 20 A fixed smart charger (on a timer to provide 1 hr charge per day after first 24 hr initial charge each weekend). The charger will be fed from a 15A shore line (from a 15A dock receptacle) with a 15A breaker on the boat at the shore connection (I fit the boat last season with a 30 A fitting in case we change marinas in future). All of the nav lights had old style festoon bulbs (dimpled, not pointed) which have been difficult to find and were suffering from internal corrosion issues so I replaced them with Marinebeam LED lights. I also replaced all the interior lighting (five) with LEDs to minimize electrical load.

If Casey's book and everything else I've read is right I should be good for our foreseeable overnight adventures (24 hours off the dock at most). I am not counting on anything from the alternator at this point as the 9.8 Tohatsu only has a 6A alternator and only sees about 20 minutes of running time at each end of most trips.

Thanks for your help/guidance.

[swhfire21]

Finally got a decent day of sailing in and tried out the tiller pilot for the first time. It's exactly what I needed and was pretty straight forward to use. Definitely made things go easier and the sailing more enjoyable.

Thanks for all the help/suggestions.