[PUP] Emergency tillers

[Truelove39 at aol.com]

Hi Terry -
 
Great subject! 
 
I have used the emergency tiller on the sailboat just to see what it  is 
like. It would not be much fun to use for more than a few minutes;  but on this 
boat it's easy to rig a couple of lines from the tiller to the  winches. 
 
Seahorse also has an emergency tiller - a massive 2-piece affair  similar to 
the sailboat's. The rudderhead is in the aft stateroom and so  the tiller 
would be positioned between the berths. What we don't have (but  should) is a pair 
of tackles and a means of securing them although it  would be easy to do by 
fixing large eyebolts through the furniture. And, the  "tillerman" would need a 
handheld or some other form of comms in addition to his  "tea."
 
However, with good maintenance, I don't think there's much risk of  losing 
steering as much as perhaps losing the rudder itself due to crevice  corrosion 
of the rudderstock (if a tube) or rusting of the webs or welds inside  a foamed 
'glass rudder. Thankfully, ours is solid glass and the stock is solid,  so 
there's not much risk. 
 
Meanwhile I have steered the boat in calm conditions by setting the  helm a 
few degrees to port and varying the wing engine's speed so as  to steer a 
straight line. It doesn't take a large rudder angle to offset the  wing's thrust, 
at least on our boat. 
 
Regards,
 
John
"Seahorse" 
 
 
 
> Has anyone ever had to use an emergency tiller? If so, were you able  to 
do so successfully? This question applies especially to those of us with  
a single main engine and a large rudder. In my case, an Nordy 46. If one  
was using a wing engine and had to enter a large rudder angle to counter  
the wing's offset thrust, with a stubby tiller arm on a big rudder,  
well, I doubt even Arnold could hold that very long. So, rigging  
suggestions would also be interesting. Especially if anyone has ever had  
to do this in earnest. I'd be as interested in the things that didn't  
work as in the things that did.




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