Meet our third crew member-ProVane installation-12/11/22

After we installed the new solar arch, soon after, we tried to install the Hydrovane wind vane that came with Athena when Mads bought her. You can imagine our devastation when it bumped into our brand-new solar panels and no longer fit. Doh! What a head slap moment! Minutes later, we were both scouring the internet for solutions. Mads got in contact with Hydrovane and received another bit of shocking news. For a short period, Hydrovane made two models, a smaller one and a larger one. We had the smaller one. The very kind person at Hydrovane also informed us that it's underpowered for Athena, and they no longer make that version. Another punch in the gut. It was possible to upgrade our old Hydrovane, but it would have been costly. So we did like so many sailors have done before us. We shoved it into the aft cabin for future Ava and Mads to worry about.

Cut to winter in Gosport six months later. Our sad, neglected wind vane still sat in our aft cabin untouched. We spent all winter contemplating if the upgrade cost was worth it, and then we'd be reminded of the solar arch conundrum. The wind vane would only work if we did a major remodel of the solar arch. That was not going to happen. We would have to come up with another solution for backup steering. It just didn't fit. Simple as that. Eventually, we cut our losses and reluctantly sold the wind vane.

Cut to again, summer sailing from the Isles of Scilly to France. Our autopilot broke, and we had no backup solution. Doh again! Being on the passage without an autopilot kicked Mads into gear to find a wind vane that could fit. Then, somehow and somewhere in the depths of the internet, Mads found the ProVane. The first time he mentioned it to me, I was skeptical. It was still quite a bit of money to gamble on a wind vane we had never heard of before. However, Mads was confident and excited about the design and the company. So, we decided to go for it. What a gamble it was! Now that she's installed and looking spiffy, I feel so silly for second-guessing it. Now, to put our money where our mouth is, we must do what matters: use it.