Review - Lowrance Autopilot, Hydraulic Pack for Outboards

After over three decades of driving boats and fish guiding all over the BC coast, I never thought I needed an autopilot system - until I actually got one.

But now, I often refer to my Lowrance autopilot system as hands down, the best single boating/fishing purchase I have ever made.  And as the proud owner of a mini-fleet of two boats, I’ve made lots of those kinds of purchases.

This autopilot system is literally like having an extra person onboard who can actually drive a boat. And in my opinion, it is far better and cheaper than hiring a deck hand. First, it takes up way less space,  always does what I tell it to, and gives me almost no attitude whatsoever, which is something I will get into later.

The system I have is the Lowrance NAC-1 Hydraulic Autopilot Pack for Outboard Motors, which is paired with my Lowrance HDS Live MFD.  It is rated for boats up to 30 feet, and mine steers my Yamaha 200 outboard and 9.9 kicker. See video at the end of this article.

The components besides the Lowrance HDS Live MFD (which is covered in a separate review), consist of  NAC-1 Autopilot computer, Point 1 Heading and GPS Sensor, a bluetooth antenna, a bluetooth remote control fob, a secondary reversible hydraulic steering pump (with associated fittings and lines), and a standby/auto switch.

Installed NAC-1 Autopilot computer, and secondary steering pump (small cylinder to the left).

The autopilot computer itself as well as the secondary hydraulic steering pump, which plumbs into your main steering system, are relatively small and compact.  But depending on the configuration of your boat, as always, there will be some fiddling around with position and ways to mount them according the space available. Mine fit nicely out of the way in the cuddy cabin and right behind my main dash (as shown).

The Point 1 Heading and GPS Sensor is the same puck used by the GPS/MFD, so chances are you already have one. If you choose to add the wireless remote control fob however, you will need an additional bluetooth puck (as shown below).

Finally there is a small, separate red standby/auto switch to be installed which turns the autopilot on and off. This can be accomplished from both the MFD screen as well as the separate standby button. There is an initial calibration sequence to complete which sets up the autopilot computer to the Point 1 Heading and GPS sensor, which is an easy and straightforward process.

In terms of operations and features, this autopilot can do a lot of things, such as steer to a waypoint, compass heading, a saved route or a cursor placement. My main uses for it however, are relatively simple.

I primarily use the “Heading Hold” mode, which means the autopilot will hold the boat on the heading it was on when it was activated, and stay there until it is turned off or instructed to do otherwise. I use this mode 90% of the time I am trolling for salmon, and it has been a literal game changer.

With Heading Hold activated, I am basically freed from the helm to go set gear, tie up gear, help guests fight and land fish, make small repairs and whatever else I may need to do, knowing that the boat will stay on course. And as simple as that may sound, this capability alone made this entire system well worth it for my application. Even in choppy and windy conditions, and moving at a slow trolling speed of just about 2.5 kts, the heading hold feature works like a charm and changed my entire fishing operation for the better.

In fact, even when I am at the helm, I now prefer to use the autopilot. This is especially handy in choppy conditions, where I would otherwise be constantly steering the boat to stay straight in the chop which can get kind of tedious and tiring after awhile.  The 10 degree course alteration buttons work very well at slow speeds, and if I need to make bigger adjustments quickly, it is fast and easy enough to just hit the Standby button, alter course manually, and then hit the button again to return to Heading Hold mode.

The addition of the remote bluetooth fob takes all this to the next level, as I can perform all the functions of the autopilot from anywhere on the boat - not just on the MFD screen.

Again, despite all the features of this system, the Heading Hold mode alone has been worth the price of admission, and it is literally like having another person aboard who is competent to drive a boat, which is an extremely useful and somewhat rare thing to find. 

After three years with the autopilot, it is still surprising to me how much of a physical and mental break it is to not have to steer all day long. Again, this may sound kind of silly, but until you try it, you just don’t realize what gets lifted off you when you can be free from the helm anytime you want to be.

As previously mentioned though, I do fight with the autopilot once in awhile too.  On occasion, at the end of a fishing day, I have taken off for home without noticing that the autopilot was still engaged. When this happens, as the bigger outboard is running at full speed, I do not hear the secondary steering pump as it tries to keep you on the course it was set on. Instead, the boat just seems to handle in a really strange way, which is hard to figure out at first until you realize that you are indeed fighting the autopilot, and it is winning. I’m sure this is not the best thing for the hydraulic system, but I have done it a few times, and everything has emerged unscathed.

As for the other features of this autopilot, for my situation, I really can’t anticipate a time when I would use them. All the waters of the inshore BC coast all the way up to Alaska has enough logs and other woody debris floating around in it that running around on solely on autopilot at 20-25 kts is generally not be the best idea. If I was running a larger cruising type boat at 10 - 15 kts on multi-hour transits, I might consider plotting a course for the autopilot to follow. But that is not my current situation, and I definitely do not foresee adding another boat anytime soon.

That said, on my longer runs home, I often use the autopilot intermittently, as frankly, it steers the boat in a straight line as well or maybe even better than I do in virtually all conditions.  Along those lines, at higher speeds, I also notice that the 1 degree course alteration buttons work better than the 10 degree alterations as the added speed makes that a more severe correction. I keep my eyes peeled though, and am always ready to hit Standby and swerve around logs as needed.

Adding an autopilot system to your boat is a significant investment. If you’ve never had one before it can be a difficult decision to make, as it really hard to know all the benefits of having such a system. Again, in my case, even just using the most basic feature of the system, I continue to be surprised at how much easier, enjoyable and productive a boating day is made just by not being constantly tied to the helm.

I suppose the easiest way to imagine this is first, just think of the luxury of having someone you trust automatically taking over the wheel anytime you choose to step away from it. Or, imagine those times you are on someone else’s boat as a guest or passenger and how different that feels to being the one solely responsible for all the driving. In my experience, it is hard to overstate this difference and benefit.

Finally, although it might sound like it, I was not sponsored nor paid by anyone for this review, and have paid full price for all the equipment mentioned. And it’s been worth every penny.