New Compac 27 Owner

[capnbgm]

My wife and I are in the process of buying a Compac 27.  We have been looking for a reliable pocket cruiser for a while and when we discovered the C27, we felt like we had found our boat.  I would appreciate any information as to what we can expect from the boat for coastal cruising on the southeast coast.  What kinds of conditions will the boat tolerate, etc.?  Specific question:  I want to install a Raymarine EVO 100 autopilot on the boat.  How hard will it be to run the wiring for this device?  Thanks so much.

capnbgm

[SteveA]

The EVO 100 system was about the first thing I added to my 27.  I use it mostly when single handling and setting sails or when I want to step away from the helm for awhile.  The install was pretty straight forward.  The compass has to be isolated low in the boat and away from the engine.  I mounted the P-70 on the coaming on the starboard side about even to the wheel.  I have wondered about adding the rudder sensor which is not part of the package.

Steve

[wes]

I recently installed the Raymarine as well. It's not a beginner job, and takes the better part of a weekend and some facility with tools as well as Seatalk (NMEA 2000) data cabling.

Drilling the Edson pedestal for the stop pin was a little tricky, and fishing the motor cable down the inside of the pedestal without getting tangled in the steering cables was very tricky and eventually required dropping the sheave plate from below the pedestal. You can also run the cable down the pedestal guard but this involves removing the guard and drilling a hole in the cockpit floor.

A new electrical circuit is required. I used a spare breaker in my 12v panel, which isn't that easy to access in the 27.

This is a moderately challenging project, not for the faint of heart. If uncomfortable, you might have to have a marine electronics tech do it. They do this installation all the time.

As far as southeast cruising, where are you located? I'm in coastal NC, and the 27 is totally capable of the bigger rivers and sounds here, and of course most of the ICW. I would probably not take it outside into the open ocean, but plenty of people have sailed them across to the Bahamas, being VERY careful to wait for a good weather window. It's not really a blue water boat.

Wes

[deisher6]

Hey Captbgm:
Running wiring through the pedestal guard is a good option.

Wes did a super job of installation of his autohelm from scratch. 

I reinstalled one on a C-27, the PO had run the motor control wires through the pedestal guard.  I added wiring for a Garmin Montana gps also through the guard. 

regards charlie

[wes]

Some photos of my Raymarine installation:

Degree of difficulty 1.0 (assembly of motor to wheel; follow simple instructions and you can't get this part wrong):



Degree of difficulty 2.0 (alignment pin attached to pedestal; position is critical but Raymarine instructions are clear):



Degree of difficulty 2.0 (control head; putting a hole saw to your boat):



Degree of difficulty 8.0 (feeding motor cable through pedestal; risk of tangling up your steering cables):



Degree of difficulty 6.0 (electronics package and compass; knowledge of 12v wiring, proper fusing, and basic boat networking):

[capnbgm]

Very helpful.  Thanks for the photos.