The Admiral and I were out sailing a couple of weeks ago here in North Carolina and I asked her to hit the autopilot. As soon as she did the boat immediately began doing donuts in the water!! What the heck?? (Actually, I didn't say heck?)

Needless to say we dispensed with the idea of using the autopilot the remainder of the sail; it is the below deck type BTW.

Last week I had an electronic technician stop by to give me his assessment of the situation. The first thing he did was to check the fluxgate. No problems there. The next area that he checked was inside the lazerette, right below the pedestal. Within moments he said "Come here and take a look at this Glenn!" What had happened was the epoxy that Catalina used to install the block of wood that was attached to the underside of the sole of the cockpit became detached. I am thinking, no, correct that, I know that with all of the spare parts, lines, PFDs, etc being stored down there something had knocked it off. Really an easy fix. He just reattached it and it is just fine. This block has a pivoting and articulating arm attached to it that, in turn, attaches to the rudder. I am considering the idea of placing a basket or some sort around it so that this does not happen again. Just an idea.