remote steering or autopilot

[jimalbert]

Hey Guys... Merry Christmas.  I am thinking about buying either remote wireless steering or an autopilot for the boat.  She is a Starcraft Fishmaster 196 with a Mercruiser I/O.  This boat is fairly light and in rough lake conditions is thrown off course quite easily which prompted me to rethink an autopilot and lean toward a remote wireless steering system such as the intellisteer unit.  The other benefit of the intellisteer is that an autopilot controller can be added later if I choose to decide that is in my best interest.  Anyone have any experience with the Intellisteer products?

 

Thanks,

 

Jim

[Knotlost]

Nothing works good in rough lake conditions, not even human steering   Your not going to fix that problem, rethink what you want from a prospective of good conditions to make your decision.  

 

 

The intellisteer for a 19 foot seem a bit silly to me as your never far from the helm, a simple wheel break would work much cheaper, but that really depends on your fishing style.  Where an autopilot is working when you need it the most, and thats when you are busy and dont have the time to screw with turning the helm (landing or netting the fish). 

[rolmops]

There is another solution for this problem. I use my otter boats when it gets rough. They do a great job as stabilizers. I will let them out about a hundred feet on each side and my 19 foot Islander will cut a straight course through 3 and 4 footers. I have not tried anything bigger than the 3 -4 footers. I do admit that I combine this with trying to stay in a trough


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Edited December 28, 2016 by rolmops

[tim]

That's a great idea rolmop I'll try it on my Islander

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[outback kennels]

i have a 19 sea nymph and i use a kicker with a tr1 autopilot and it works great the auto pilot has 3 or 4 different settings u program for different wave condictions

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