remote yacht controller

[jcchev]

Anyone have experience with the Yacht Controller or other related technology? These apparently allow you to control your boat's movements in a docking situation from anywhere on the boat. I'm looking for solutions to poor visability from flybridge and lower station on a 47' Chris Craft Commander Aft Cockpit.

jcchev

 

[Pascal]

those gizmos aren't cheap... jsut put a set of engine control in the cockpit for when you need to back into a slip... or a camera hooked up to an LCD panel

that said, i'm suprised you dont' have good enough visibility from your lower helm, on most hatt. the view aft thru the saloon is good enough to back in, even on those with pilot house and galley up.

 

[jcchev]

those gizmos aren't cheap... jsut put a set of engine control in the cockpit for when you need to back into a slip... or a camera hooked up to an LCD panel

that said, i'm suprised you dont' have good enough visibility from your lower helm, on most hatt. the view aft thru the saloon is good enough to back in, even on those with pilot house and galley up.

This isn't a HATT, Pascal, rather a Chris Craft Aft Cockpit. She has a built-in bench seat across the aft end that totally blocks the view of the cockpit and stern. I did just determine that this can be removed, however.

This is a boat I'm scheduled to purchase subject to survey and I'm just checking on solutions to some of my concerns. I suspect the CCTV and cockpit controls will be the answer.

Many thanks,

jcchev

 

[ThirdHatt]

If the boat happens to have Mathers Electronic Controls you can just buy the remote control and plug it in to a pigtail at any station you wish. Those remotes are a little over $2k.

I would shy away from the wireless ones. Too risky!

 

[jcchev]

If the boat happens to have Mathers Electronic Controls you can just buy the remote control and plug it in to a pigtail at any station you wish. Those remotes are a little over $2k.

I would shy away from the wireless ones. Too risky!

She doesn't have electronic controls...just the old Morse cable controls. From what I've read on this forum, I'm kinda glad!

jcchev

 

[REBrueckner]

Depending on just where you need to back in, you can frequently use a "marker" like a piling or an old 8ft antenna mounted vertically at the end of a finger pier, to spot your position as you enter...as long as you visually check the slip before entering, to be sure there is not an obstruction present like a dinghy, you can simply use the "marker" as your guide....

Although I had good visibility aft from the flybridge of my older style 48 HATT YF ()1972) I always used that piling because I could not see both sides of the slip simultaneously and still face forward for positive hands on morse controls....I knew if I had a foot clearance from that piling I had a foot clearance on the opposite side finger. No reason to bother twisting and turning.

I always liked the 1970's 47 Ft commanders....solid hulls with superior gelcoat but way underpowered with 283 HP 8V53's.

 

[ThirdHatt]

She doesn't have electronic controls...just the old Morse cable controls. From what I've read on this forum, I'm kinda glad!

jcchev

LOL, if you are glad that you don't have electronic controls why would you even consider an electronic remote control to control your boat? While it is true that the ZF Mathers electronic controls had some issues in the earlier software versions, the current 91101 software that was released about 6 years ago has been dead reliable. The only issues these days is when owners cheap out and elect NOT to install a $150 alternate power selector switch which will automatically pull power from a second independant battery bank should one bank fail and not produce adequate voltage. Also, these controls work down to around 10 volts, so if you have a 32v system or a 24v system on your boat, the electronic controls would often still work if a 24v or 32v bank was pretty dead but still had as little as 10 volts.