[PUP] Emergency tiller

Sat Mar 15 06:47:08 EDT 2008

Patrick,

Love your tip.

"I also installed an old sailboaters trick.  I have a hole glassed in
through the aft end of my rudder that I can pass a line through.  I can
knot the line on both sides of the hole and pass the line through port
and starboard hawse pipes for an additional backup system."

This is a classic reminder of going back to basics that we should all
take on board in this age of so called sophistication.

As this subject has drawn so little comment, I am leaning towards the
notion that very few of us have had to use their emergency steering when
going to "war" on the high seas, let alone practice drills.

I lost my steering doing 8 kts rounding North Head at Sydney Harbor,
Australia. We were heading rock wards very quickly. The crew on the helm
(my fault ultimately) shaved the corner into the harbor too hard under
manual steering and the bolts on a poorly designed steering collar had
loosened, completely losing control. The rudder post is square, the
tiller collar is pipe bent, and is not square. This has now been
modified so flat surfaces on the collar now conform to the square rudder
post. My pucker experience led me to backing up with a new system for
any eventuality.

Your idea proposed is even more basic because it takes the control
opportunity back to the big flap we call a rudder.

Dennis Connor talks about 7 deg. I think he was talking about weather
helm on a well balanced boat up wind close hauled.

Cheers!

Peter

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Today's Topics:

   1. Fw: Communications along the way (Patrick Gerety)

   2. Re: Emergency tiller (Patrick Gerety)

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Message: 1

Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:45:25 -0700 (PDT)

From: Patrick Gerety <alohaboat at yahoo.com>

Subject: [PUP] Fw: Communications along the way

To: Passagemaking Under Power List

      <passagemaking-under-power at lists.samurai.com>

Message-ID: <764319.73602.qm at web35908.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I sent Scott an email direct a few days ago.  His response is so
interesting, I thought the whole List might benefit from the
information.

I would be interested in what other cruisers on the List use.

Patrick

Willard 40PH

ALOHA

La Paz, MX

----- Forwarded Message ----

From: Scott E Bulger <alanui at ocens.net>

To: Patrick Gerety <alohaboat at yahoo.com>

Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 11:12:33 AM

Subject: Re: [PUP] Nicaragua to Costa Rica via Gulf of Papagallo

>

> How do you contact your weather router while enroute?

Sat Phone and he will email info if needed.

> How do you keep in contact with PUP?  Through SSB email package?

Fleet 33 on my boat, or internet cafe on shore.  Occasionally I can get
a free wifi from the shore, but it's the exception rather than the rule.
I use Ocens email with compression and either iscribe or outlook as pop3
client.  Works great, but it's very expensive.  Phone calls are $2/min
and data is $4.00/megaBIT, not byte.  I've had bills as high as $200 for
very light use.  Every PUP email is precious if I reply by Satphone!

Scott

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Message: 2

Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:22:49 -0700 (PDT)

From: Patrick Gerety <alohaboat at yahoo.com>

Subject: Re: [PUP] Emergency tiller

To: Passagemaking Under Power List

      <passagemaking-under-power at lists.samurai.com>

Message-ID: <199395.87058.qm at web35913.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

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----- Original Message ----

From: "Truelove39 at aol.com" <Truelove39 at aol.com>

To: thataway4 at cox.net

Cc: passagemaking-under-power at lists.samurai.com

Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 4:32:09 AM

Subject: [PUP] Emergency tiller

>Seahorse  is a cutaway full-keel sailing hull with a rudder which is
about 7

>x 3 feet.

I'm having trouble picturing this.  The rudder is 7 feet by 3 feet?

 I thought I had a large rudder at 3.5 feet tall by 2.5 feet wide on a
40 foot boat.  I have a full keel that draws around 3'-8" depending on
load.

>it should be

>relatively  easy unless going astern as it is a semi-balanced rudder.

My rudder is also semi balanced.  It is easy to use even when going
astern since I rarely go more than a couple of knots when going in
reverse.

>Dennis Conner admonished his helmsmen never to use more

>than 7 degrees  of helm. That is evidently the point where the rudder
begins

>to slow the  boat.

Interesting information, didn't know that.  But I rarely use more than 7
deg. helm unless making a hard turn.  My boat tracks very true on
autopilot even in following seas of 15 feet, because of the long, deep
keel and rounded stern.  Yaw is never more than a couple of degrees in
those conditions.

I too have an emergency tiller.  It is made from 2" heavywalled
aluminum.  It is "L" shaped and the handle is approximately 3 feet long.
The tiller fits through a removable deck plate on the stern deck which
is directly over the rudder post.  They lock together via a machined
slot.  I can stand upright on the stern deck if I need to use the
tiller.

I have never used it so I don't know how well it works.  I should
practice with it before I "need" to use it.

I also installed an old sailboaters trick.  I have a hole glassed in
through the aft end of my rudder that I can pass a line through.  I can
knot the line on both sides of the hole and pass the line through port
and starboard hawse pipes for an additional backup system.

Patrick

Willard 40PH

ALOHA

La Paz, MX

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