[AugustH]

A friend was motoring down the Strait of Juan De Fuca when a freighter that was ahead of him did a 90 degree left turn, and then swung 90 degrees back. He was intrigued by this, especially when his boat did the same thing! The compass spun, the boat turned, and he disengaged the autopilot and waited for things to settle down. That's when he heard something strange behind him, and turned to see a submarine surfacing. He had passed right over the sub, and the autopilot's compass reacted to the mass of metal below him.

Point is (besides a good story) that sometimes something outside the boat can make your autopilot act flaky!

August