New Raymarine AutoPilot (tiller pilot) ST2000+. Expedition Lifeboat Conversion Ep95 [4K]

[@michaelyoung7261]

This is the earliest I’ve made it to a video, and I must say, Alan definitely is deserving of all this spoiling he’s receiving; I’m sure it will make Alan a more effective adventure companion.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Cheers

[@PsRohrbaugh]

Ah, more magic from Pin & Tiller.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Ha!

[@davidnelson3411]

Great video.

[@coolzoom10]

Hello Alex, I've been watching for a couple years now but my first time commenting. I have the ST2000+ installed on my sailboat, and it has given me good service. As for the directions given on the pilot, it will hold a course well once you set it, but don't rely on the bearings it gives you. I've found it best to set the course I like using compass or other reference, then set the autopilot. As to your math, assuming a 1.5" offset, the hole would be at 17.9", so not much of an appreciable difference. Fair winds!

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Cheers for the input

[@dcallan812]

Alan is growing into a real proper boat, at this rate he will be a ship soon. Great update 2x👍

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Alan will still lean in to his turns! A boat forever.

[@casperhauser6560]

Hello Alex, it gives me great pleasure to watch you with your boat project. I've been working on mine for 2 years, unfortunately I won't be able to set sail this year. So I wish you all the more success for your goals.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Cheers and good luck with yours

[@ĶČXXĻ-ĀxÐ]

You might want to consider making yourself some washboards for when you are in a seaway with the door or doors open. They can be clear polycarbonate or acrylic. You could make them as tall as you want. It could make a lot of difference if it prevents the interior or crew getting soaked from some chop or obnoxious wake. I know you plan on Northern climes. But it could be advantageous to get some magnetic screens for your doors and hatches also. In order to prevent insects and move air at anchorages during summer months.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Good thoughts.

[@bramlinssen6940]

The amount of care you put into alan is commendable, and you are a worthy servant to him.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

The correct noun.

[@stevec-b6214]

This is a great channel! so much interaction with your audience. love it.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Careful what you wish for!

[@friedtomatoes4946]

I really like how quick you are to respond to comments. This is one of my favorite projects. Kind of funny that I asked if you were going to install an autopilot literally the day before you uploaded this xD keep up the good work! Edit: oh hey I ended up in the video! Neat

[@friedtomatoes4946]

I also really like how clean your electronic work is now. It's really cool to see your skill set improve as this project goes on.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Cheers

[@snowgorilla9789]

YOU WILL LOVE THE AUTO PILOT, mine steered better than I could.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Encouraging.

[@155stw]

A rectangle peg in a round hole. Hooray for Alan!

[@Grantly]

Porthole or two wouldn't go amiss 👍

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

I may consider for the hatches.

[@salamander5703]

I'm sure the tiller geometry is fine, but if you want to be really pedantic, you could us a clamp like a strong P clip on the tiller so the hole for the autopilot peg is offset by the same distance from the tiller arm as from the rudder centreline. Then the autopilot peg lines up exactly the same as if the tiller was on the rudder centreline

[@juliusgauckler3144]

Hello Alex. You are using that axial blower to pull the hot air from the engine. Axial blower create a higher differential pressure, but a lower maximum flow compared to fans of similar size and power(P-Q curve) - and it depends on the impedance eg air resistance of the duct and the tightness of you engine compartment what the flow will be and what the best choice is. I highly recommend a „automotive grade“ one with ball bearings since they are typically specified and tested for -40…80 deg C. Most fan or blower with sleeve bearing (especially non-automotive) have reliability issues with the cold (or changing) temperatures. The lubricant was lost in our thermocycling tests.since the goal is to prevent overheating around the engine maybe a Temp-sensor with an upper limit alarm would make sense.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Hi Julius - yes, these are well made Sanyo Denki blowers, with a wide temperature range and ball bearings.

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Alex, I fitted a Simrad TP10 to my Drascombe Lugger. A somewhat unusual thing to do apparently! When positioning what I learnt was in fact that if you set the attachment point to the recommended 18" along the tiller then it was useless. Due to the light weight of the Lugger in comparison to the

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Good tip. I'll see if it struggles with my rudder.

[@williamdowns1917]

The autopilot will be a welcome addition as you pointed out for letting you multitask while at the helm. I agree that it's too bad it isn't more flexible in geometry as it seems like it's somewhat in the way.

[@MrMarkRoads]

At least you're on the move. Got you off of Alnmouth doing 1kn, 1225 UK time. It's hard to live vicariously through Alan when he's tied to a dock.

[@darthmemeious9526]

Your project reminds me of the boook “the martian” from andy wier. As he has to convert a rover into a place to live and cross large distances . Plus the “square peg in a round hole problem” reminds me of apollo 13 disaster. Where the crew had to fit a square co2 filter into a place where a round co2 filter goes. Godspeed my friend. I will be there for every step of the way

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

I enjoy the spartan space module references.

[@darthmemeious9526]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals wow, truly a man of culture

[@brucebeckley-ww6ph]

Hi. Long time viewer, first time commenter. I really enjoy the videos. After thorough consideration I have concluded Alex is a closet doomsday prepper and Alan his mobile bunker. The Artic, a professional survivalist choice.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Cheers

[@nraynaud]

Adding a point for the special autopilot tiller: its neutral angle (going straigth) doesn't have to be the axis of the boat like a manual tiller would be, so maybe by rotating it (for example havint the neutral angle 20° to the right) you might be able to find a more confortable position for tiller+autopilot. It might help the space issue a little bit. A first position idea that comes to mind would be to affix the satic point of the autopilot to the transom and compute the tiller angle offset from there (90° beween autopilot and tiller in the neutral position, and 18inches tiller).

[@gafrers]

The machines are taking over. Save yourself. it's too late for Alex 🤣 Great episode and upgrades as always

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Alan's sentience is a forgone conclusion..

[@KnightsWithoutATable]

Pro electrical tip for you mate: Did you blunt all of the screw tips? You are in a vehicle, so those wires are going to move around and can even expand and slide into the box over time because of vibration and the circuit turning on and off thousands of times. You never want sharp things inside of junction boxes or conduit as it will damage the wire insulation eventually and cause problems. Just blunt the tips of the screws with a file or an abrasive and you should be fine. The sides of the screws aren't sharp enough to worry about unless the box is really full. In future, I would try to either trim the plastic crews off or only use machine screws in electrical installations as they are less sharp. If you have to cut them, you still have to take the sharp edges off, of course.

[@baldbastardo]

Alan's coming along nicely. Little by little it's becoming civilized. Are you keeping track of material costs? That'd be interesting to know for us viewers while your labour hours just might be depressing to know for you. The effort involved in home builds is crazy and something many people don't think about.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Costs yes. Labour - too frightening to consider.

[@jonnytootall1239]

How strange is it that I first saw one of your videos this morning and then saw you sailing past Bamburgh castle this lunchtime, also have a bit of video👍

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

I'd love to see it/ potentially license it from you!

[@jonnytootall1239]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals it’s only a very short iPhone video and you can have it, no need for license or anything the quality is not great, but you are welcome to it. Do I upload it to KZbin? You will have to excuse me as I’m not that savvy when it comes to these things

[@MrMarkRoads]

Bad weather for you Saturday here in Arizona too. Hilary Becomes Category 2 Hurricane and Is Expected to Strengthen. By the time it gets to me it just be a considerable amount of rain. People drive their cars into flooded roadways here. Then they drown.

[@COM70]

I crewed on a small wooden sail boat from Dublin to Svalbard in 1990. One of the sheer luxuries we has was to use the exhaust to dry our sox and boxers on when the engine was running. You have a tailor made blow dryer, and all you need is some way to direct the hot air, and some way to hang clothes. Beats putting your balled up wet socks under your arm pits and crawling into your damp sleeping bag to dry them. Interested to see if you think this is a good idea ?

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Sounds like blissful luxury.

[@oldman1944]

Thanks for the quality videos Alex, really enjoying this series. A couple of small concerns - I'd consider going over all of your electrical connections and making sure they are 100% sealed from the environment. Salt water in a cabin tends to slowly migrate its way around to every surface and connection, easily finding its way through tape and enclosure seals, and pretty quickly will start causing problems with high resistance joints. Also, those cheap boost converters are very poor quality and I'd be hesitant running anything important from one. They are typically capable of roughly half of what the sticker claims, and often use low quality components. I'd also look at a much higher quality fan and wiring if you are relying on that to keep your engine running. Also feel free to ignore all of this if you feel inclined ;-) Go well good sir.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Thanks for both the approval and concern. Within realms of reality, yes ensuring good weather seals and a polycarbonate back cover for the electrics panel is fitted soon. On those little converters, there really are as many reviews saying they're great and often over-perform their rating for years. Big name components can be awfully built too, as some KZbinrs find when they take them apart. Aside from the mislabelling fiasco, I've never had one of them miss a beat over a decade of use in the Arctic and other projects. From USB versions to their 12V units. Always a first time though. I use Victron for things like radios.

[@nixynew732]

Loving this series, great to see such detailed long form content as opposed to the short snippets often found on other similar videos, I am learning a great deal! I wondered, how much does it cost to keep Alan in the mooring you are at? Thanks.

[@elin_lyze]

It might be a better idea to use a powerful fan (the one you have probably fine) to push air into the engine bay. This will create positive pressure and force more air out of the engine bay (through the heat exhaust you have). It will also push colder outside air into the bay maybe also helping to keep the temperature in the engine bay down a bit more. You also put less heat through the fan that way since it will only have to deal with cold air.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

This won't work unless there's a hermetic seal in the bay, which is a pipe dream. Otherwise it'll push dirty air into the cabin.

[@elin_lyze]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals those are very good points, my bad! :)

[@Fantic156]

Hartlepool Marina is great, 'specially having (what used to be) a few cheap hotels dotted about!

[@lv_woodturner3899]

A very interesting video. I can imagine opinions on auto-pilots would be a good way to start a bar fight. I appreciate the frustration of having to work in Alan with the tools and materials on hand, which may often be insufficient. You must have a very long to-do list. Glad the latest DC-DC converter worked as labeled. Sad that I am in the US, so no option to drive over to work as crew for a leg.

[@SkipperSmudge]

Hi Alex you say “ steel plate” to mount the autopilot I hope you mean stainless steel as if you use mild steel it will dramatically affect the internal fluxgate compass and possibly make it impossible to hold a steady course - you will find this out when you do the calibration circle when setting it up for use. It what I was saying when you put the steel beam across the stern. Dick

[@marcuspickering2998]

Alex, I am based in Edinburgh. I have a rib, 1960’s motor cruiser, and a mirror sailing boat. I achieved the huge Heights of AYA power boat level two about 16 years ago, and I’ve been motoring around Scottish waters ever since. I’ve been in some fairly heavy seas in my 27 foot motorboat and love a challenge I’m 49 years old, fairly functional, self-employed, always up for a new adventure, and a beer in a new Harbour. if you need crew, give me a shout. Marcus.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Kind offer! Not on the move for a while, but email me via website and we can stay in touch.

[@Sturb100]

The first thing to fail on the automarine is the little rubber bands inside that turn the gears. Very easy and cheap to replace but hard to find, so perhaps worth getting spares in now.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Do you know where to source them?

[@whatname4341]

Where will your sleds be stored? Up on the top? Also will you do a video about your strategy for dealing with different ice conditions when sailing Alan?

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Probably on the middle racking, and then used for storage. Strategy? Avoid the big bits. Unless we want to lock in, and in that case, find a very big bit.

[@esahg5421]

every lifeboat ought to have auto pilot. in fact auto rescue if possible

[@nraynaud]

for the square peg in a round hole, remember that you can melt PVC pipe offcuts with a hot air gun and squarize them, you get a bit of a stonger ad-hoc part while not using your wallet.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Sounds toxic fumey!

[@nerome619]

With such a powerful extraction fan you will need a means for air to get into the engine bay as well.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Yes there's plenty. You overrate my ability to air seal.

[@matthewwakeham2206]

If I were me, and I probably am, I would give the autopilot a bit more current/voltage headroom with the heaviest guage cable practical to use. The starting current for the motor is probably a fair bit more than the maximum of 1.5 Amps quoted and giving as much headroom as possible will give the longest life and most reliability and least amount of fuse blowing (in heavy seas). I do understand that you are not me but I just thought I'd unload my musings here and maybe people can tell me I'm an idiot and it'll all go to feed the algorithm.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Certainly agreed. The wires can handle four times that, and for main wire run, ten times that.

[@JoniFili]

Before heading to the Big North, get a spare kit of gears and replacement belts.

[@baxterscientific]

Maybe you can epoxy some magnets to the outside of Allen and then some steel for magnets to magnetize to when door is open. In emergency you can just pull door closed.

[@nigelfrith]

Really like you videos and enjoying following along. One thing I wish you had done is have a way to rig a down wind sail, nothing to complex but some way to hoist a sail for purely down wind work, also, with the shop of the boat, I am sure you are expecting the risk of roll-over to be quite high and some of the strapping down leave me a tad nervous in that situation, you may also want to have a hard hat to wear in really rough conditions in case you get caught out, as well as a way to strap yourself to a bed perhaps? anyway - keep on going and lets hear more "ALAN!" :-)

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

A kite has always been a thought, but the rig for a sail would be a major installation in a space-limited area.

[@greylocke100]

Please don't forget to put in an in-line fuse for the auto pilot. And have some spares set to hand close by.

[@pontuswendt2486]

14:19 Where did you find the steel door restraint? Looks nifty! AMAZING video!!!

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Just an online chandlery

[@pontuswendt2486]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals Ok, thanks.

[@ptonpc]

Are you going to put some netting or bars across the open hatchways? I just have a vision of something important (or person) falling out due to swells.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

It's much higher than wire equivalents on yachts. I could always do more, but in the end they can cause their own issues, and sometimes you just need to ask people to not fall overboard.

[@MrMarkRoads]

As of 1700 hours UK time AIS has you still in Hartlepool. Waiting for your departure.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

No can do. Crew limitations. Trying to sort asap.

[@MrMarkRoads]

50.6k of us waiting with bated breath.@@AlexHibbertOriginals

[@billhoggy4461]

Hi great video how did the Wynns oil leak stop do

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Well it's in there. We'll see the next time we rev it up!

[@baxterscientific]

That offest tiller weld looks like a failure point. You may want to gusset it with some better welds and material. If that fails you will have no autopilot and if you are far from shore that would be a pain. Just a thought.

[@salamander5703]

Or carry a second tiller?

[@rogergregory5981]

Regarding your new fan you should be blowing cool air in not sucking it remember your physics a double in air temperature will double its volume, and that would mean it would only half as effective and as temperature difference increases effectiveness will decrease and fan motor will also suffer from rise in temperature

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

The air seal of the bay would need to be fair better to achieve flow up the duct in that config. The fan is rated to 70degC.

[@Spirit-Rodman]

Looking at your strive to lower noise from the engine you should be using sound absorption on the inside of the engine bay as well as a sound barrier. It is very difficult to reduce the noise unless you have a complete airtight enclosure. I have a company manufacturing attenuators for ventilation systems on Teesside and have a boat at Hartlepool. I dropped round to see you last week. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance. Tim

[@Jehty_]

Hasn't he already installed the sound absorbing material in the engine bay?

[@Spirit-Rodman]

@@Jehty_ He has a barrier. Most boats as well as sound barrier enclosures also use sound absorption. As the sound bounced against the mat it is reduced by sound absorption.

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

I have foam in already for high frequencies, but help or additions always welcome.

[@JamesPearson92]

Are you still in Hartlepool Marina? Ive only just came across your channel!

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

I'm not. Alan is.

[@JamesPearson92]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals I will go and see Alan when I go fishing 🤣🤣

[@pepperspray7386]

according to the Simpsons, an inanimate carbon rod is the best thing to hold hatches closed/open.

[@lowend5566]

In rod we trust

[@sethg6157]

The fan makes me nervous. Im always leary about power draws that could be forgotten. I know I've left the light on in my car enough times to know the sorrows of having the get the jumper cables from the boot and saddly wait beside my car for the kindness of strangers. I imagine passerbys on the ocean ready to offer a friendly jump are rather more rare. Then again im sure Alans batteries are rathee more dependable then my Kia haha

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

You'd need to be deaf to leave it on.

[@lewisf1988]

if you can make up a cad model of an adapter for the fan to the hole i can 3d print the adapter and give you it when you are in stonehaven!

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

If only I knew how! Thanks though.

[@lewisf1988]

@@AlexHibbertOriginals if you can get me the dimensions I’ll look into it for you if you like

[@davidrice7414]

Alan seems to be quite spoiled

[@pcat1378]

Only because he killed his SON!! RIP ALANSON

[@normanboyes4983]

The autopilot is a really the most useful upgrade, as it releases you from such a mind numbing, time consuming and relentless task. A shame there is insufficient room aft of the rudder shaft to mount the autopilot there, rather than intruding into the cabin

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

Yes indeed on both counts

[@shaneoneill9450]

Do not let it lock up tight or right or left it destroys itself

[@benderbender1233]

✌😎

[@beakyturbot]

Not really feeling the fan solution. I appreciate you have a keel cooler so it is only to move out the ambient air from within the box (and the box is a relatively small volume) but it still seems very Heath Robinson. (Is the keel cooler actually doing its job?) Also the turbulence in that elbow connection must reduce efficiency dramatically. Funny things fans, you read the specs and the volume they are meant to flow, even with large domestic extractor fans, and think you will be pinned against the grille as you pass them. This seems never to be the case and a fart will linger for far longer than the specification suggests the air should have long left the building.

[@beakyturbot]

And are you blowing air into the box as well as extracting it?

[@AlexHibbertOriginals]

It works - lots of flow. Many mini projects here are DIY. There's always the option to buy or commission ready made units for everything on Alan, but that's not the project really.

[@111elf1]

buy a 90°, don't use a T junction for airflow. the airflow using an angled piece are much better!

[@salamander5703]

PS - if the tiller arm is 1 1/"2 offset from the rudder centre, make the P clip so the peg is also 1 1/2" offset - to the left of the tiller arm viewed from above.

[@OriginalWillowbark]

Left hand down a bit