T&T: Trouble with my steering

[Peter Bennett]

Monday, March 26, 2007, 5:34:19 PM, Saltt14 wrote:

Sac> Hi everyone
 
Sac> Well, we took our new boat the "SNEAKY WEASEL" 40' Marine Trooper for our
Sac> first ride today and we discovered a problem. We have absolutely no steering when
Sac> we back up! No matter which way we turn the wheel the back of the boat always
Sac> goes the same way? When we go forward it steers but not at all in reverse.

This is entirely normal.

When going ahead, the rudder deflects the discharge current from the
prop to one side or the other, forcing the stern to move in the
opposite direction.  Going astern, the rudder is not in the discharge
current, so has very little effect.

With a single-engine boat, you will probably find that the stern wants
to move to one side consistently when you go astern - once you know
which way it wants to go, you can use that information to advantage.
If you find that the stern goes to port when you reverse, you should
try to arrange moorage so that you can land port-side-to - then when
you "apply the brakes" by going astern, the stern will be pulled into
the float. In this case, you can make very tight turns to starboard in
confined spaces, but will have considerable difficulty doing the same
to port.

If you have twin engines, O'm told that it is best to leave the rudder
centered for low-speed maneuvering, and steer using the engine
throttles.  (For stern-drives, other rules apply...)

(I'm switching from a boat that went to starboard going astern to one
that goes to port - I'm expecting considerable difficulty adapting,
especially as I still think in sailboat terms, where the rudder has
much more effect, even with the engine in neutral, despite the fact I
sold my last sailboat in 1998.)

 

-- 
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI    Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lien Hwa 28 (AKA Polaris 30) "Sea Spray"
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter 
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca