The doc doing his thing. Also, please note the new cup holders and mugs – virtually spill proof. Genius.
The doctor is back and boy are we excited about that. On our way into Morro Bay the doc started running a fever and couldn’t hold a course to save his life. When we lifted him up, some of his insides rattled around, which is never a good sign.
The doctor is our autopilot – the Raymarine ST 2000+. He sits on our starboard bench and attaches to the tiller via a dog legged bracket that a gentleman manufactured for us in Portland. The doctor moves the tiller by extending or retracting a rod that keeps us headed on a preset compass heading. He is much better than either Jeff or me at keeping a heading, especially at night. He doesn’t do so well in big wind or big seas though.
Jeff did a lot of research to select the best autopilot for our boat. He opted to purchase the largest tiller autopilot on the market, even though we probably could have gotten by with the smaller and cheaper one. The Raymarine ST 2000+ is rated for a 10,000 pound boat.
The truth is that the doctor hadn’t been feeling well for quite some time. He would spaz out on us in the middle of long trips, even when the weather was calm, leaving us to hand steer. We didn’t realize how good we had it until he started acting up. Having autopilot contributes significantly to quality of life when you’re underway, especially if you have an overnighter.
The morning after we arrived in Morro Bay Jeff called Raymarine and explained the doc’s symptoms. We have a 3-year extended warranty, so any operations the doc needs are covered (thankfully). The guy in the service department told Jeff to get the doc in the mail immediately, with a written description of the problem and to plaster the package with Urgent Care. Once received, they could turn it around within 48 hours. Fortunately we had some friends in LA who were willing to be a mail drop for us so that the doc could come back home before we left the country (truth be told, we wouldn’t dream of leaving the country without him.)
If we were willing to wait longer (a couple of days) they could have sent us a shipping label (so we wouldn’t have to pay shipping), but time was precious. So that same day we walked to the post office, put the doc in an awkwardly shaped box and sent him off to Nashua, NH. Meanwhile, Point Conception was in our near future and we were not looking forward to being without the doc between Morro Bay and Lost Angeles.
Although Raymarine did actually “turn it around” (read: fix the problem) within 48 hours, they sent him back to us via ground shipping, which took a whole week. This was a fairly major inconvenience given our limited mobility and desire to leave the country, but we made it work. We were uncertain whether they would just replace the unit or send the doctor back to us…we were glad to see that it was the doctor himself (with his name still emblazoned on his side).
We are so glad to have the doctor back on board. I will never take him for granted ever again. I just hope he can keep it together for the next two years without losing it.